’ ‘Then I wore it for my king, my emperor.’ She said with the utmost sincerity. He had been joking but she was clearly not. ‘Mel,’ he said t...ken aback, ‘but I’m not your anything, I am your friend, your really, really good friend, but nothing more.’ ‘Oh so humble you are Brandon, but you and I both know this was your doing. Before you say it was not, trust me I would know, this was your doing. You gave me the greatest gift anyone could ever receive and it was given long before you started this. Tierney emerged from a cluster of girls who were practicing basket tosses before the commotion of Eloise’s strip show halted practice in its tracks. “I think we ‘ought to let Miss Fresh Meat here get to work.” Tierney punctuated her degrading comment by blowing a high-pitched, shrill note from the shining whistle that was hanging around her neck. This prompted a Pavlovian shift of attention from all the girls on the field to hang onto the Cheerleader-in-Chief’s next words.“Everybody inside!”***. I laughed. “You’re supposed to all sweet and innocent at your age. They were when I was eighteen.”Amy shook her head laughing. “We are sweet but innocent? What’s the point?” she replied. “Your generation held back for the right person to come along but we want to enjoy life. Experience it first and then settle down with the so-called right person.”I finished my coffee without responding. “Apart from the abrupt ending, did you enjoy our fuck earlier?” Amy asked. I looked at her then looked away.. And why.“Tiffany, why are you doing this?”Tiffany patted her long blonde hair. “Just look, Louise. He’s sales manager of a successful software company, loves to ski, and he owns a boat. How big does a boat have to be for it to be called a yacht?”“How in the world would I know?”“And he’s only 25.”“Only 25? You’re 16!”The two girls were at Tiffany Mansfield’s computer, logged into MateMatchers.com. Using a photo of her older sister and the made-up name of Kathy, Tiffany had created a totally.