Page 166 of Sincerely, Butterfly

“But they don’t!” I groan.

“Weknow that. But they don’t. They’re not mind readers, Nola. You can’t do this forever. You have to take that step at some point. It’s been almost six months. Rip off that bandaid.”

I stop walking, biting my lip as I think about what she’s saying.

“You think it’s time?”

“Yes.” She nods. “Plus, they’ve been cautious, staying away from girls and everything. So, there's not really anyone else you could add to your list, even if you wanted to. At least not anyone they’ve been with recently. I mean, you could find out all the girls they’ve hooked up with in the past and start offing them, but girl, I highly recommend against that option because that list would be the length of a log book.”

“Thanks for the reminder,” I say with a blank look.

“I’m just saying.” She laughs, grabbing my shoulders. “Why not ask them to hang out with you for Mardi Gras? I’ll even make myself scarce and give you all some privacy.” She wiggles her brows.

I smile, a rush of excitement hitting me. “Okay,” I laugh.

“Yeah?” She grins. “You’re going to tell them?”

“Yeah.” I nod, giggling. “I think it’s time.”

“Ahhh.” She pulls me in for a hug. “I’m so excited for you. This is going to be amazing. Trust me.”

I really hope she’s right.

The guys are all standing around Sylas’ car the next morning when I pull into the student parking lot.

Despite still being annoyed with Jasper, I can’t stay mad at them. “Mardi Gras is tomorrow,” I say as I approach them.

They all turn to face me. Sylas grins, and my heart kicks up. “Hey, Lola Girl. Uh, yeah, it is,” he chuckles.

“I was wondering…” I chew on my lower lip. “If you’re going to the parade, then maybe we could go together?”This isn’t weird. We’ve been hanging out a lot lately.

The three of them share a look before Jasper speaks. “We’re not going,” he mutters. “We have work.”

“Oh.” Disappointment weighs me down. “Can’t you take the day off?”

“No,” Wesley replies. “We have jobs. We can’t just take time off whenever we want to.”

They’re working, right? They own the damn companies. They have other people running it for them. I know they have some involvement, but not enough that they don’t have any free time.

“Okay…” My shoulders slump. “I just thought maybe…”

“Maybe, what?” Wesley raises a brow. “That we’d go with you?”

A wave of anxiety hits me. “Yeah… why not?”

Wesley snorts, and it’s like a stab to the heart.

“Why are you being mean?” I ask, my brows pulling together. They’ve always had this standoff-ish vibe to them, and besides their dirty, cruel words when engaging in bedroom activities, they’ve never actually been mean to me.

“No one is being mean. We’re just stating facts. Not all of us have time to waste,” Jasper says.

He’s kidding, right? They party all the fucking time! Yet they can’t spend one night with me?

“Okay.” I nod, trying to hold back the tears.

I don’t say anything else, just turn around and walk away. I’m not going to beg them or make a fool out of myself.

But I’m done being a pushover. I’m Nola fucking Edwards, the damn Butterfly Killer, and I should be shown some respect.