The rest of the evening went by fast. Even though I enjoyed my night out with Kevin, I was stressing about the whole exclusivity thing with the guys. How had we not talked about that yet? God, I hoped they didn't assume we could all have someone on the side. I mean, we'd talked about finding a dom for me and a slave for them; they couldn't honestly think we would sleep with anyone else to "try them out," so to speak?

Shit. That wouldn't be good at all.

It was late when I got home, and with how tired I was, I thought I would fall asleep at once. But no, the goddamned thoughts wouldn't leave me at all. Not once– not for a single second.

I think it was closer to five AM when I was too exhausted to keep my thoughts going. And I slept for too freaking long, waking up around three in the afternoon. Well, damn, I only had a few hours until I would meet the guys. Okay, a couple more than a few, but I had stuff to do before that, like going through the list more thoroughly and write down notes.

Making myself breakfast, even though lunch or even brunch was more suited for this hour of the day, I sat down on my bed and eat while going through the mail sent by Callan.

By breakfast, I meant peanut butter and jam sandwich, which was my go-to. Let's just say it was the ideal food for a broke college student living in New York City.

I scribbled a lot down while I studied the list. I had questions for quite a few of these things I didn't really know what they were, a few strong noes, and some things I wanted to talk with them further about before deciding.

A blush had kept me company through the reading, mostly because I kept envisioning myself with them doing several of the things that were written in the email. Yes, the fucking blush. Tonight, though, I would take on enough foundation and concealer to hide it. I didn't need my every emotion to be clearly written on my skin.

My phone buzzed in my hand, and I tapped the text appearing on the upper screen.

Gideon will pick you up tonight. Be ready at 8. See you at the club, Bella.

A smile had automatically appeared on my lips when I saw it was from Callan but froze when I read that it was Gideon who would come get me. Not that I didn't like Gideon, not at all. He was fucking hot as all hell, but he was a bit intimidating. Okay, Callan was intimidating– Gideon was downright scary. Though he wasn't scary in the way that I thought he would hurt me, unless it was the good kind of hurt, but just...uh... how he always looked so angry, I guess? Frankly, I couldn't really put my finger on why Gideon was scary, only that he was. He had this kind of dark vibe about him–It looked like he could kill a man with his bare fists, and it felt like it was something he could do without guilt or losing any sleep over it.

I think it might be good to spend more time with Gideon, even if it is a ride to the club. Well, of course, it's a good idea to spend more time with him. Hell, I've agreed to spend one night with him–alone– each week. Even though he didn't say much in words, he was great at communicating through that kiss we'd shared back when they had propositioned me. Just the thought of the kiss... I shivered, lost in the memory. He kissed like he owned my mouth– fuck, wrong word, he definitively didn't own me, not one single part of me. And then there was his voice, so damn quiet, but so fucking deep. He had this kind of bass to his voice that would make girls within hearing range go crazy with lust, and their panties get soaked with wetness– I knew mine did. Baby girl...I had always thought nicknames like that, among gorgeous and Bella, was derogatory and objectifying– but when these men said it, I damn near burst with how turned on I get.

These three successful, dominant, and powerful men wanted me. It was a dizzying thought.

Kevin rang via facetime a couple of hours before Gideon would pick me up. He was once again disheveled. I was guessing things with his guy were still going well.

I'd already been in the shower before he called, and I was clean and smoothly shaved; a girl had to be on the safe side. We never knew when it could happen.

"I hope you're going to do something different with your hair than that birds' nest," was the first thing he said, smiling teasingly, though I was sure he wasn't actually joking.

"No, Kevin, I'm going with wet, unbrushed hair. Of course, I'm going to fix it. I hope I'm not dragging you away from Thomas?" I asked, putting extra effort in saying his name correctly.

"It's fine. He's in the shower right now. Are you ready for tonight?"

"As much as I can be, I guess. I'm just so jittery like I can't sit still."

"Probably the anticipation. I haven't said this, but Emma, you're a fucking badass." When I laughed, he continued. "Seriously, it takes guts to put yourself out there like that. And I know how uncomfortable you can get in a new setting, so that makes you twice the badass."

"Thank you, that's really nice of you to say. You're a good friend, Kevin. I think the universe gave me a gift when I met you.

"Oh please, we met while we worked together cleaning up puke from the café's floor. That wasn't the universe–that was Oliver refusing to help out." I chuckled because it was true. It had been my first day at work, and an older gentleman had puked all over the floor. Poor guy had been mortified and apologized profusely. Oliver wouldn't go near the scene, and I ended up helping Kevin. We weren't immediately friends or anything, but we did have a common dislike for a particular person, and we bonded over it.

I was never one to talk ill about a person– unless they were complete asshats. Oliver was one of those asshats.

"So, did any of your men say something about what to wear?"

"No, but we're going to be at the club, so something black and sexy," I answered.

"Black and sexy coming right up!" Kevin was practically bursting with glee. In another life, he must've been a stylist.

We went over a few selections and ended up with a tight black dress. The hem of the dress was in a vee shape, the edge of the dress was on one side, and the other exposed one of my legs entirely. I had to be honest, it looked hot.

I thanked Kevin for helping me once again, and it probably wouldn't be the last time either.

It took a fair amount of time to do my makeup, and I did take a little extra foundation and concealer. My eyeshadow was smokey, and my lips a slight pink.

Calming down my hair took time as well. I left it straight and free.

I used the same heels I had on at dinner Thursday night because who had more than one pair of black open toe heels?

At the sound of knocking on my door, I jumped, unaware of how late it had gotten.

This was it, the final step until we made this arrangement official. I just hoped it all worked out, but I was afraid they didn't want the exclusivity I needed.