He Brought Me a College Guy, Saying I’d Never Touch Him—But I Kept Him Chapter 01

He Brought Me a College Guy, Saying I’d Never Touch Him—But I Kept Him Chapter 01

Every time Nathaniel Hawthorne brought a girl home, he would also bring some college guy my consolation prize.

“I need freshness, you need company, we each get what we want, no hard feelings.”

The last time, he took it too far.

He brought another male student to me, speaking in a gentle, coaxing tone.

“We didn’t plan for this, but it happened anyway. She won’t keep the baby unless I give her a real commitment. Let’s get a temporary divorce.”

“Before we remarry, you can spend time with him. I won’t stand in your way.”

Privately, his friends asked him, “Nate, you knelt in that chapel for hours to win her over. You’re really okay with this?”

“And you haven’t even told the guy to stay away from her?”

Nathaniel just took a slow drag of his cigarette.

“I don’t have a cuckold fetish.”

“You know Isabella has emotional boundaries. She won’t touch them.”

“Smart move, Nate. You bring them home, and if she doesn’t use them, that’s on her, not you. Genius. Absolutely genius.”

Everyone expected me to do what I always did. I’d write a check and send the guy away.

Instead, I looked up and smiled. “Okay. If that’s what you want.”

—

Nathaniel froze, cigarette hanging from his lips.

The living room went dead quiet for a second.

Clara was the first to speak. “Sorry, what did you say?”

I put my phone down.

My gaze swept past Nathaniel and landed on the male student.

“I said okay.” I looked him over. “He is pretty cute.”

Someone sucked in a breath.

“She actually agreed?”

“No way. She’s not kicking him out this time?”

“Nate, did you hear that?”

Nathaniel’s expression didn’t change much. That faint, mocking smile stayed on his face.

Cassidy Morgan tightened her grip on his arm. “Nate, if she’s finally okay with it, you should be happy.”

Nathaniel didn’t answer.

He crushed out his cigarette in the ashtray, walked over to Julian Ashford, and clapped him on the shoulder. “Take good care of Isabella.”

Then he wrapped an arm around Cassidy and headed upstairs.

I looked away and turned to the young man still standing there, the tips of his ears turning bright red.

“Do you live on campus or here?”

He swallowed hard. “Either here or on campus, doesn’t matter to me.”

“Then stay here.”

With that, I turned and walked down the hall.

Behind me, whispers broke out.

“No way, she’s serious?”

“Before this, she’d tear into all of us when this happened.”

“Come on, trust Nate. She always acts like handing out checks makes her better than everyone, like touching one of them would make her skin crawl.”

“Last time, she didn’t even give the guy money. Just had security throw him out.”

“She’s probably just putting on a show to get back at Nate since that girl is pregnant.”

I kept walking.

Their words pricked my back like needles. Not painful, but everywhere.

They weren’t wrong. I used to be insufferable.

Too proud, too stuck up, too convinced that saying “I have boundaries” would protect me.

Every time Nathaniel brought someone home, I’d hand over a check with a cold stare and have them thrown out.

I thought that meant I was winning. That at least I was cleaner than him.

And look where that got me.

Cassidy’s belly was growing.

What did my precious boundaries actually protect?

A signed divorce paper. An empty bed. A room full of people watching my marriage fall apart and laughing.