It just takes one night to let me fucking prove this feeling I would give to you

Nick blinked, and yawned. He felt sluggish and tired, the aftereffects of a night of partying. All the drinks that he’d had the night before had caught up with him, and right now he just wanted to lie in bed.

That’s when he sensed the presence of someone next to him in bed. He immediately assumed it was Mary, then his thoughts quickly shifted to Gina. He turned over in bed, still tired and confused, not even really considering that it could be reality. He was just imagining it, after all…

“Mm… Good morning, honey. Did you enjoy the party?”

Nick woke up faster than if he’d had a bucket of ice water jumped on him.

“What the hell?! Vivian!?”

Nick’s mind was racing as he scooted out of bed, trying to figure out what the hell was going on. His memories of the night before were a blur, but…

“Our… isn’t? Tonight? Not? …What?”

Vivian giggled and sat up in bed, holding the blankets over her chest as her eyes twinkled. “Were you planning on speaking in complete sentences?” She teased.

Nick slowly shook his head. He was just glad he was fully-dressed. As his heart slowed down, he looked around the room, and realized he was back in the Master’s Suite. Mary was snoring away in the bed next to his while Holly was locked up in her cage, and none of the other girls were around. And yet, somehow, Vivian had wound up in bed with him after the party.

“Last night… last night, I…”

He rubbed his throbbing skull and tried to figure out what was going on. But his thoughts were definitely a blur right now.

He looked up Vivian’s giggling face.

“…What happened?” He demanded.

Vivian batted her eyelashes innocently at him. “Did you forget?” She chirped. “When Dakota called an end to the party and sent all of us home?”

Right… Nick was recalling it all now. As the party wound down, Dakota had instructed everyone go back to their rooms. And when Mary raised the point of tonight being Gina’s night with him, Gina stepped in and said that since it was a fancy, mature party, it wouldn’t be classy for her to just go up to the Master’s Suite like a common hookup, and Dakota agreed. So for once, Nick had gotten a night off without having to entertain female company.

And yet, somehow, Vivian had snuck her way into his bed…

…Wait.

“…That doesn’t explain anything!” Nick sputtered, narrowing his eyes. “How did this happen, huh? What are you doing here?”

“Here’s how,” Vivian chirped, holding up a shiny golden key. “I wanted to sneak in and have some fun, that’s all.”

Nick remembered from the sheet, one of the items for sale. A key to enter the Master’s Suite one time only.

Vivian: 2200 BP – 500 BP = 1700 BP

She would make a purchase like that so easily? It seemed a little…

“You’re just throwing money around to sneak in?” Nick got up and started pacing back and forth, again happy that he was still dressed. “You could have just knocked on the door, you know…”

Whether Nick would have let her in or not was definitely in question. But it still seemed like the smarter move, compared to what was happening now.

“But then it wouldn’t be a surprise,” Vivian purred. “And I just… love surprises.”

She batted her eyelashes at him again and crawled forward across the mattress. Then she rolled her shoulders and dropped the blanket.

Nick quickly covered his eyes out of reflex… only to see that Vivian was wearing a sleeveless tube top and booty shorts. She wasn’t naked at all, just trying to tease him! The little vixen!

“Vivian!” Nick’s face flushed in embarrassment. “This… is this really how you wanted to start our date together?”

“It is memorable,” Vivian said, swinging her legs off the bed and hopping to her feet. She sauntered over to Nick and rubbed her fingers down his cheek, sending him a heated gaze.

Nick turned his head away and blushed. “Hey, you know,” he stammered. His headache from the morning was making him feel awkward and confused.

Vivian was looking right at him. He was used to his mornings being slow and relaxed, shining in the afterglow. But right now, she was coming on hot and strong, trying to push forward and make him hot and excited. Not the kind of behavior he anticipated in the morning.

“Uwah…”

Mary sat up in bed and yawned, rubbing her eyes. “So loud… guys?”

She looked drearily up at Nick, and saw that he was with… Vivian of all people!?

“HUH?!” Her blood ran cold and she stiffened up, nearly falling out of bed just like Nick had earlier that morning.

“Mary,” Nick winced.

Vivian just laughed.

The night before, when everyone returned to their bedrooms, Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin walked back into the Candy Suite.

It had been completely trashed, not that a room covered in candy wasn’t a little strange already. She looked around confused. Didn’t Dakota say that her room had been cleaned by Dawn and Sylvia? And now it had been trashed.

Frosting was smeared all over the ground, and all the gumdrops and gummy bears were mauled to pieces. The large lollypops were smashed up, and chocolate littered the ground.

How curious.

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin stepped forward into the room, looking down at the bed where her roommate was curled up tight in a ball, wrapped snug as a bug in a rug while at the same time shaking with rage.

The assassin smirked in amusement.

“Gotta say, Mary, you really are a great cook!” Vivian purred, taking a bite of Mary’s nicely-prepared omelet. “I think I’m falling in love if I’m being honest!”

“Eh!?” Mary’s face turned red in shock. “L-love? I-I don’t-!”

“She’s not being serious,” Nick assured his wife from across the table. “It’s Vivian, she’s just playing with you.”

“I’m completely serious!” Vivian’s mouth formed a wide “O” in surprise. “Mary’s a sweetheart! In fact, I think I’d replace my private chef with her if she’d take the job!”

Vivian leaned back in her seat and cast a look at Mary as the redhead’s eyes swam in her skull. She struggled to process what was going on.

“P-private… what!?”

“Yeah, think about it,” Vivian shrugged, taking a sip of the coffee Mary had prepared for her. “You’re gonna need a lot of money to take care of all those little rugrats you’ve got growing inside there, don’tcha think?”

Mary’s hands shot to her belly and she blushed.

“Vivian, Mary gets enough teasing from Rose,” Nick said. “You don’t need to pile on the heat like this, you know.”

Vivian shrugged. She still wiggled her eyebrows at Mary regardless. The redhead’s blush deepened.

“Somehow, Vivian, I don’t think you’re being serious,” Nick said, turning his focus to the heiress next. “And honestly, I don’t appreciate you trying to steal my wife out from under me!”

He tried to put a joking tone into his voice to let everyone know he wasn’t serious, but his words had a slightly more cutting edge than he’d anticipated.

Mary’s face lit up with surprise and glee. She cradled her cheeks and smiled at the thought of Nick standing up for her like that.

Vivian just smirked. “Hey now, I’m no thief,” she said, clicking her tongue. “You’re welcome to come along for the ride you know.”

She blatantly cast her eyes up and down Nick’s body and licked her lips exaggeratedly. “I’m sure we can think of something you can do while you’re there.”

“Yeah, I’m sure,” Nick said, rolling his eyes. “You sure you need Mary and I? Wouldn’t we just be taking time away from Octavia’s duties?”

He didn’t miss the twitch in Vivian’s eye. But she kept herself focused and laughed it off, shaking her head.

“Oh, believe me, if I could, I’d love to have Octavia as my private chef,” she assured them both. “After all, she’s a pretty good cook, too! She makes this delicious mac and cheese with bacon flakes and oregano, that… ah, I’m getting ahead of myself.”

She shook her head and laughed it off. “Octavia’s got other responsibilities around the house though, don’t worry,” she assured them. “She doesn’t need to come between what we’ve got.”

Mary blinked. Her face went pale. “You mean… wait, are you looking at me!?” Her eyes quickly shot to her husband. “Shouldn’t you be proposing that stuff to Nick?!”

“Way to throw me under the bus,” Nick teased her back.

Vivian smirked in amusement. “Aw… you two think I’m such bad company?” She held her hand over her heart. “That wounds me, my darlings, it really does…”

She shook her head.

“Can you tell me something?” Nick pressed. “I want to know, what’s your game here?”

Vivian blinked innocently. “What do you mean? I’m not playing any games,” she crooned, shaking her head.

Somehow he found that hard to believe. He could feel a very obvious streak of teasing and joking coming from the heiress, and it bothered him greatly.

“Vivian…”

“I mean it!” Vivian said, her eyes widening genuinely. “I’m enjoying my time with you here, Nick, and even you, Mary! That’s why I snuck up into your bed.”

“Wasn’t it just to tease the two of them?” Holly asked, peeking in from the kitchen with a suspicious (and yet, giddy) expression on her face.

Vivian turned to the petite girl and batted her eyelashes playfully. Then she shook her head and turned back to Nick and Mary.

“I wanted to get to know you a little better, that’s all,” Vivian replied. “Today’s our date night tonight. The early bird gets the worm, that’s the saying isn’t it?”

“You spent 500 BP to sneak your way into the Master’s Suite, and you weren’t even planning to get up to anything?” Holly sounded pretty disappointed.

“I just loved the taste of Mary’s cooking last time I stopped by for dinner,” Vivian giggled. “But no… that wasn’t my intention.”

She shook her head again.

“Nick… I’ve got a date planned for us tonight,” she said bluntly. “It’s not in that Dream Alley place, unfortunately. Would you believe I can’t afford it? Me, of all people! This is quite the strange economy you’ve got here.”

She leaned back in her seat and took another sip of coffee. She shook her head.

“But this now… this is a lot more fun,” she murmured, stroking her chin thoughtfully. “Assuming you’re okay with it, of course?”

“Okay with what?” Nick asked, confused. “You mean, spending time with you on a date?”

Vivian shrugged. “Obviously.”

“You think I wouldn’t go for that without a move like this?” Nick sounded genuinely surprised. “You didn’t have to make some big ‘shock and awe’ performance.”

Vivian shrugged again, and smiled a catlike smile. “Memorable though, right?”

She set down her coffee mug and hopped up, skipping around the table. She leaned over behind Nick and started to massage his shoulders.

“Just think,” she hummed into his ear. “A date with me, doing all sorts of fun, playful things… things you’d never get to do with a regular girl…”

Nick shifted awkwardly in his seat, not sure what to say to her suggestion. If Vivian really was just trying to wow him with some rich girl theatrics, that probably wasn’t going to go well. Nick wasn’t opposed to spending time with her, obviously. But he didn’t think she needed to throw her money in his face in order to win him over.

“…Whatever you have in store, I’ll try to enjoy it,” he said honestly, scooting over his chair and turning his head to look her in the eyes. “You don’t have to **** yourself.”

Vivian smirked. “Oh, believe me, I’m not,” she assured him, patting him on the cheek. “I’ve got some fun things planned! We’ll both like it, I’m sure.”

She sure sounded convinced of the greatness of her plan. That was a good sign… or was it?

Honestly Nick couldn’t even be sure at this point. But he had been waiting all week for this. Of all the new girls in his harem, Vivian was the most proactive. Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin may have charged at him like a bull in a china shop, but Vivian… Vivian’s approach was more seductive. More suggestive. Like she was building him up for something.

And a part of him was curious to see just what she would think of for their date together, given what she’d gone with in the past.

“Are you ready to go?” He pressed.

Vivian giggled. “Absolutely,” she nodded. She winked at Mary and patted the redhead on the shoulder. “We’ll be going now, honey,” she purred. “Don’t wait up. I promise I’ll get our boy back to you by a reasonable hour.”

“O-our…” Mary stammered out. She was still a little behind on the conversation, and her eyes kept dancing between Vivian and Nick.

“Sure thing!” Vivian crossed her arms over her chest. “He’s your husband, after all. And he’ll be mine soon enough…”

The “mine” in her statement sounded so possessive that Nick wasn’t sure if she was making a statement that she was planning to steal him away from Mary, or join her as a second wife. Knowing Vivian it could honestly be either.

He didn’t want to confront that right now though.

Mary swallowed, feeling somehow like the ball was in her court. She **** a shaky smile to her face, trying not to look so nervous about a statement that could potentially be taken as a declaration of war from a woman who could buy her entire home state.

“You guys… h-have fun?” She stammered, her voice cracking.

“Oh, we will!” Vivian chirped, approaching the door. She cast her head back over her shoulder to give Nick a smoldering gaze. As soon as she got permission from Mary, it was like the redhead ceased to exist in her world.

Everything was about Nick now.

“You might want to get changed,” she urged him. “Something a little more… casual.”

Nick looked down at the rumpled tuxedo he was still wearing from the night before. In his relief to be dressed, he’d completely overlooked what he was dressed in.

“R-right,” he stammered, nodding.

Vivian stepped out of the Master’s Suite to give him some privacy. He could hear her humming on the other side of the door, though, in the entryway.

She wasn’t letting him escape.

Nick and Mary looked at each other and shared a sigh.

“You’re telling me,” Holly nodded in agreement, walking over to the two of them. “That woman is a real handful!”

“…Then why are you smiling from ear to ear?” Mary asked, looking at her best friend suspiciously.

Holly blinked, and flashed an innocent expression.

“What do you mean?” She asked, batting her eyelashes.

Mary scrunched up her face in suspicion.

“What? It’s so hot!” Holly held up her hands defensively. “The idea of a sexy, rich heiress barging in, stealing Nick out from under us, because she’s just go the resources to do it…”

“No one is ‘stealing’ me out from anyone!” Nick protested. “Vivian likes to play around, but she’s not going to do something like that!”

“There, see? He’s even defending her!” Holly gestured at Nick like he was making her point for her. “She’s got her hooks in him all over again!”

Nick sighed and shook his head. There was no reasoning with Holly when she was like this unfortunately, even if she wasn’t completely serious.

“…Anyway, you guys don’t have anything to worry about,” Nick assured them both, going to get changed. He was so used to the presence of both women in his life now, and his sexual relationships with them, that any semblance of modesty he used to value around them had completely faded at this point.

Nobody was complaining.

After Nick got dressed, he turned to the two most common women in his life. Both were looking hopefully at him, but the hope in their eyes couldn’t be more different.

It was Mary who relented first, and she gave him a sigh.

“I’m not going to make a stink,” she assured him, rolling her eyes. “I’m not worried. I know Vivian is just playing around, and I know you wouldn’t really… you know. Leave me for her.”

“No chance of that!” Holly laughed.

Mary leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. “Enjoy your date,” she teased, batting her eyelashes. “Don’t be too easy for her.”

Nick laughed back at that, and went out to go greet Vivian.

She looked him over, studying his outfit with a practiced eye as she tapped her chin.

“What?” Nick was starting to feel defensive. “You don’t like it?” Fine, he was the kind of guy who dressed casually for a date. It wasn’t like he had an issue with it. If Vivian wanted to use her standards as a fashion designer to judge him, well-

“…I think I’m under-dressed,” Vivian said, gesturing to her tube top. “This outfit is good for catching fellas off their guard… but I should wear something a little more stylin’ for our day together, don’t you think?”

Nick blinked. “I mean… if that’s what you want?” He said, not sure what other response he could give her.

“Let’s head down then!” She turned on her heels, which he was just now noticing she was wearing (like she wasn’t tall enough already!) and stalked towards the elevator.

When they reached the lounge, she made a beeline right for her room with Nick tagging along behind her. It was only when she knocked on the door that he realized the danger ahead of him.

“Wait, Vivian-”

It was too late to stop her. The creak of the door opening cut him off, and Nick suddenly found himself eye to eye with the last person he wanted to see him on a date with Vivian Carrington.

“Mornin’ Teach!” Vivian greeted Amelia with a friendly wave and a cheeky smile. “Nick and I were just getting ready for our day together! Mind if we come inside?”

Amelia’s face was a sheet of ice as she burned two holes into Nick’s skull with her piercing gaze. She said nothing, leaving him to stew in the uncomfortable atmosphere as she stepped aside and let them into the Garden Suite.

Nick swallowed his doubts and uncertainties about the upcoming date. After everything that had happened last night at the fancy party he’d hoped that Amelia would have defrosted somewhat, but then again, his stepmother was always a cold, harsh person and he doubted much would change that in one night.

Hopefully his date with Vivian wouldn’t make things worse. But just as he was getting comfortable with that idea, when he entered the suite and saw Vivian heading for the closet, and Amelia making no moves to excuse herself, another thought crossed his mind.

Wait… she’s not going to stay here while Vivian is changing, right?!

And if that thought wasn’t terrifying enough, the fact that Vivian would be changing in front of him in the first place, Amelia or no Amelia…

He found himself in a position that many would find envious, but for him, just felt like a prolonged bout of ****.