The Love Of Money - S02 E186

Story 1 month ago

The Love Of Money - S02 E186

Read Story: SEASON 2 EPISODE 186

I leaned back against the half-wall that bordered the rooftop and took a swig of my own beer, eyeing my brother in amusement. “I’ll take relationship advice from you when you stop being an idiot yourself.”

While I’d been gallivanting around Europe, Richie had decided to unburden himself of his high school relationship. I mean, it made sense. Long-distance rarely worked, and he was eighteen—a young man with a bright future and a world full of options. Still, from what I remembered of Megan, who he’d brought to my house during the first party, she’d been sweet as hell and doted on him constantly. Plus, she’d been cute as a button.

“I can’t believe you gave up that little redheaded cutie.”

Richie gaped at me. “What!? That was mutual! Besides, how much were we really going to see each other? It’s not like I’ll be going home all the time.”

I snorted and held up a finger. “First of all, Mom said it definitely wasn’t mutual. She told me Megan was crying her eyes out for days.”

The mention of a crying girl suddenly had me flashing back to Danni and her tears over brunch as I broke things off with her. She’d also been a sweet, doting cutie.

Careful, I told myself. That pot’s starting to sound an awful lot like the kettle.

I shook off the thought and pressed on. “Second, I’m pretty sure your rich brother would’ve let you take a helicopter home.”

Richie gave me a guilty look.

“Relax, dude. I’m just giving you a hard time.”

“Yeah, well,” he said, smirking now, “speaking of helicopters home—Mom’s getting annoyed that you haven’t visited her in months.”

“Shots fired,” Jonah muttered.

“I think she wants to do something special for your birthday,” Richie said.

“Oh, that’s right! You’ve got a birthday coming up next month!” Jonah’s eyes lit up.

“Dibs on planning that shit!” Dillon said immediately.

I inwardly groaned. I’d never been much of a birthday guy.

Not that I had any say in the matter. I had a strong suspicion that Erin was cooking up something special.

“Get in line,” I said. “You’ve got at least two other people who’ll probably want that spot, and if I’m being real with you… they’d win.”

“Bro,” Dillon said, leaning forward. “You can’t let Natalie plan this thing.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’ll probably be boring as fuck!”

“You don’t know that.”

“You can’t let Emily plan it either,” Kwan added. “Same reason.”

“Relax,” I said. “It’ll probably be Erin. Maybe Emiko.”

“That’s who I’d get to plan mine,” Dillon said, clearly a little too enthusiastic about the idea.

“Let’s not get off track,” Kwan said, smirking. “What’s the deal? Are you and Natalie gonna be a thing or not?”

“I honestly can’t tell you,” I said.

Kwan and Jonah both rolled their eyes.

“Look, I’m sorry! Like Vikram said, I’m involved with more than one woman. I’m not sure a girlfriend-type relationship can survive that kind of thing.”

Vikram sat with his elbows on the table, peeling the label off his beer bottle in slender strips. “You mean to tell me you don’t plan on giving all that up just to settle down with one girl? Shocker.”

“Exactly!” I said, pointing at him.

“I get it,” Jonah said with a shrug. “It’s just that you’ve been waiting so long for Natalie.”

“If I may,” Chandler began, his voice calm and deliberate, “there is something to the expression ‘variety is the spice of life.’ No one’s denying that Marcus would be giving up an awful lot for the sake of a relationship with one woman. Most men would give much to be in his position.”

He had everyone’s attention now.

“However,” he continued, “there is also virtue in seeking the love and loyalty of one woman. King Solomon—said to be the wisest man who ever lived—once wrote, ‘He who finds a virtuous woman finds a wonderful thing.’”

He lifted his beer slightly before taking a sip. “I’m not saying Marcus should give up the opportunities he has now… only that he shouldn’t lightly shrug off the beauty of a long-lasting bond with another. Beauty fades, and the libido wanes. Carnal pleasures are fleeting. Companionship is something that truly lasts.”

The table went quiet for a few moments.

“Well said,” Jonah murmured.

Chandler tilted his beer toward him in acknowledgment and drank in silence.

“Bro,” Dillon finally said, breaking the quiet. “If you don’t at least bang Tara before you settle down and get whipped, I’m gonna be so disappointed in you.”

“Well, you might be in—”

“Heeeeyy!”

Dillon cut me off as he jumped to his feet and pointed toward the gardens, where six lithe, feminine figures emerged from the shadows of the garden.

The one in front was Honey. She wore a simple wraparound skirt paired with leggings and a loose-fitting top that stopped just above her waist, leaving a few inches of bare midriff visible. The shirt’s plunging V-neckline showed off a generous sweep of cleavage.

Flanking her on her left and right were two women whose presence mirrored the gentle grace of Jonah’s girlfriend.

The first moved with the coiled energy of a storm at bay—tall, all muscle and honeyed skin. Low light caught in the curls that framed one side of her face, the other shaved close in a sleek undercut. She was dressed in a shimmering gold bikini accented in red, with a bangle on her ankle and nothing else. When she smiled, it was slow and knowing.

The woman beside her was her opposite—long and lean. Her face was a study in angles, complementing a slender yet strong build. Every line of her body was as pale as it was sharp, as though she’d been carved from moonlight. Bare feet whispered against the stone with each step, platinum hair braided down her back. She held herself with a silent poise that seemed to quiet the very air around her.

Behind them came the others—a slow ripple of color and contrast. One with deep auburn curls and a smile that radiated warmth, with hips that always seemed to sway a little. Another, small and dark-eyed, with a blonde pixie cut that made her look about five years younger than she probably was. And last, a dancer whose dark waves and liquid movements drew our lustful stares. Her body was built for sex with hips so exaggerated from her thin waist that she almost looked like she stepped out of a comic book.

All together, they looked like they’d been summoned from some hedonistic realm.

“You boys ready for some entertainment?” Honey asked.

Without waiting for a response, the women moved toward us.

Dillon stared in awe. “Yo… what the fuck is this?”

Jonah watched in curious amusement. “She said there was going to be a surprise. I didn’t know it was going to be this.” He looked at me. “Do you recognize any of them?”

I shook my head. “They all look new to me.”

“Rose sends her regards,” Honey said, giving me a smoky, sultry smile, “and wishes she could be here. But we had some friends who wanted to meet you. I hope that’s okay.”

My immediate thought was for Natalie. She was somewhere in the building, hanging out with Emily. My sister and my potential… whatever Natalie was supposed to be… had decided tonight would be a good time to get to know each other a little better.

If she came to the rooftop, what would she think of this situation?

I had to remind myself that if Natalie were going to be my girlfriend, she would have to be okay with this sort of thing.

Honey’s gaze swept from me to Jonah, then to Vikram.

“Oh, don’t worry,” she purred. “You all have permission to play.”

Vikram looked unconvinced. “Venus—”

“Said that if you don’t cut loose and have a little fun, she’ll break up with you. Feel free to text her if you want.”

Vikram pulled out his phone to do just that, but there was already a message waiting for him. He looked up at me, eyes wide. “She… she’s right.”

I looked back at Honey and smiled. “By all means… welcome to the party.”

Honey curled her fingers into the collar of my shirt and tugged me closer to her as three of the women slinked past us. For a second, I thought she was going to kiss me, but she simply stared up at me with her pale green eyes. “Erin told me to make sure you end tonight fighting for your life, so you forget about everything else.”

“That’s going to be a tough promise to keep.”

The soft tilt of her head as she smiled at me suggested that she was up for the challenge.

And then she slunk past me and slid behind Jonah so that he was sandwiched between his girlfriend and the extremely curvy Brazilian woman.

The tall, slender woman with silver-white hair and pale skin encircled her arms around Kwan, moving like liquid in time with a beat that I had just now realized was coming from the speakers installed in strategic places on the rooftop. Someone had initiated music.

The first one I’d noticed with coffee-colored skin and a toned, athletic physique had taken Dillon a little further away from the rest and was currently grinding against him.

The pixie-haired blonde had crawled onto Richie’s lap and was running her hands up his chest as she proceeded to initiate a lap dance.

That left the lush Latina woman, with her generous curves and voluminous hair, to approach me, her amber bedroom eyes radiating heat as her mouth curled up in a flirtatious smile. Reaching me, she hooked her index finger in the collar of my shirt, already stretched by Honey, and pulled me into her.