It didn't take much for Bo to fall asleep, it was almost 1 by then and after all the drama from the day he felt drained.
After he said yes to the trial, the energy in the room shifted. The women stopped coming at him like he was a fresh steak and they were starving wolves. Instead they pursued him through comfort. they gave him space not physical space, but something quieter, gentler. They stayed close.
Cuddled up.
elio was first to nustle up to bo, she was the type to ask for forgiveness before permission.
The rest followed her lead.
Not all of them could fit on the bed, but Bo didn't mind. He was comfy, curled in the middle while the rest found their places. All seven stayed in the room. It was a big bed. Five of them smushed themselves in, claiming spots beside and around him. The others made a blanket pile on the floor, wrapped up in each other like a tangle of warmth.
to bad he didn't have a choice because of the trial.
Bo was the first to fall asleep, But he wasn't the first to wake up.
As he scanned the room, unease settled in. The ease he felt last night was gone, and the emotions that had flooded him whatever comfort, warmth, or thrill had drained out, leaving him hollow.
The presence of all these women made everything feel too real. A reality he wasn't ready for.
Which meant... yes. His five-year relationship was over. That part wasn't a dream. But absurdly, that wasn't even what sat heavy on his chest.
The day after losing the woman he planned to marry, his mind was stuck on something else entirely.
The two wishes.
And what we...? That can't be right.
He shook his head, trying to knock the thought loose.
This cannot be right.
There's no way I can get two wishes.
Matter of fact, this was all weird.
Too weird.
Bo woke up feeling... calm. Way too calm for someone who just lost everything. The kind of calm that doesn't make sense. Not after five years of building a life with someone. Not after watching it all go up in flames.
And yet, there it was. Stillness.
No anger. No sadness. No grief clawing at his chest.
It was like those emotions had been gently plucked from his body while he slept.
Then it hit him.
They said they fed off desire.
Desire. Emotions. Feelings.
His eyes slowly scanned the room again. The women were draped around the bed, soft limbs tangled together like cats in sunbeams. Peaceful. Dreamy. Beautiful in a way that made his head feel cloudy just looking at them.
He didn't feel anything. That was the freaky part.
He knew he should be angry. Should be devastated. Panicked, even. But it was like all those heavy feelings had been packed in a box, sealed tight, and pushed to the back of his mind.
He still had those emotions he just couldn't feel them.
That was the terrifying part.
It was like someone reached inside him and hit the mute button on his soul.
His breath hitched.
This wasn't peace this was his heart wrapped in gauze, muffled but still bleeding.
He clenched his jaw, heart starting to thump a little faster.
He had agreed to this. Agreed to the trial. The two wishes. The challenge.
But now, for the first time, it felt real.
He hadn't just signed up to sleep in a house full of bombshells. He signed up for something else. Something deeper. Stranger.
Something that could mess with his mind.
Bo sat up fast, bristling as if cold water had been poured down his spine.
He didn't shove them away. Didn't need to. They just slid away from him, slowly, gracefully, like silk. sated with smiles that reached there eyes.
That scared him too.
Sayaa was first to reach a hand out to embrace the fleeing Bo. but thought twice when he recoiled from her touch.
He needed to breathe.
Now.
One of them-he didn't even look to see who-murmured something and pointed vaguely toward a door. The bathroom.
"he looks sick!" Noelani remarked before he enters the bathroom.
The moment the door shut behind him, Bo leaned against it and stared at the floor, chest rising and falling in shallow breaths.
A shower sounded like a good idea.
A very good idea.
Because right now, he needed to feel something that hadn't been tampered with.
Outside the bathroom, the room slowly began to stir. Limbs stretched, hair tossed over shoulders. No one said anything at first. The silence felt like leftover warmth-heavy and lingering. But it didn't last.
"he looked sick," Tiara murmured, eyes still half-lidded. "I hope we didn't drain him to much."
Noelani yawned, tangled up with Alani on the floor. "He moved like he was on fire. Didn't even touch us. Just peeled away like we were toxins."
Alani frowned. "You felt that too, right? His heartbeat sped up the second he made sense of it."
"Yeah," Sayaa chimed in. "He realized it. That we dampened his emotions."
"That's normal," Elio replied, brushing a lock of hair behind her ear. "They always realize it. Always freak out the first day."
"Which means we're on track," Leilani said with a shrug. "Thirty days might actually happen this time."
That got a chorus of hums and nods from most of the group. A sense of ease settled into the space like fog after rain.
But not everyone agreed.
Leilani stayed curled up, arms wrapped around her knees. Elio leaned against the wall, arms crossed, chewing on her bottom lip.
"I don't like it," Elio said. "He's too self-aware."
"That's a good thing," Tiara argued.
"No, it's not," Leilani said softly, echoing her sister's concern. "That awareness? That's what breaks them later. He's already spiraling. You can feel it."
Amaya rolled her eyes. "So what, we baby him? Walk on eggshells?"
Sayaa sneered "cause I walk on egg shells for no man. If he breaks after one night at least we won't go hungry for a while."
Some of the woman smiled even Alani chuckled until.
"No," Elio snapped. "We watch him. Closely. He's not like the last one."
Everyone fell silent at that.
The last one.
Nobody wanted to say his name.
A soft knock against the wall broke the tension.
Noelani stood near the bathroom door, listening. "I'm just gonna check."
She knocked gently. "Hey... Bo? You okay in there?"
Inside, Bo jumped like he'd been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
"Y-yeah! Yeah. I'm good," he said too quickly, voice cracking. "Just... just thinking. I'll be out in a minute."
Noelani raised her brows but didn't press. She turned back toward the others with a lazy shrug. "He's freaked out."
"Obviously," Leilani muttered.
"He'll settle," Alani said, more to reassure herself than anyone else.
But Elio's eyes stayed glued to the door. "Or he won't."
The hot water wasn't helping. If anything, it made his thoughts swirl faster. Bo leaned forward, hands pressed to the shower wall, steam curling around his face.
You signed up for thirty days of this. Thirty. Fucking. Days.
But suddenly clarity.
Aaron.
his name rang bells in his brain.
His old war buddy. The one guy who might actually understand what the hell was happening or at least help him laugh through it. Just thinking of Aaron's voice-loud, sarcastic, always ready to stir the pot was enough to jolt something like hope into Bo's chest.
He felt something spark in him. Something real.
He shut off the water, grabbed the nearest towel, and yanked the curtain aside.
That's when he saw them-his old work clothes, folded neatly on the counter. Khaki pants. Faded blue polo. The ghost of a company logo cracked across the chest.
Bo froze, staring at them like they were haunted.
Those clothes were a reminder of who he used to be. Of who he refused to be again.
That job had drained him. Left him bitter, exhausted, and invisible. He didn't fight his way out of that life just to crawl back into it even for comfort.
this sudden surge of emotions after being deprived of them caused him to feel drunk, every emotion hitting twice as hard now that hes not surrounded by them.
He left the clothes where they were and wrapped the towel tighter around his waist.
No turning back now.
He opened the door and stepped out.
Seven heads turned.
The room went silent.
There stood Bo-half-naked, dripping water, a towel hanging low on his hips. His skin was deep and smooth, glistening under the warm light. Every muscle on his chest and abdomen was sculpted like it had been carved from stone. His broad shoulders, thick arms, and solid chest demanded attention whether he wanted it or not.
He was bald, with a well-groomed beard that framed a strong jaw.
He looked like a damn warrior.
And for a long second, no one said anything.
Then-
"Damn," Alani whispered, not even trying to hide it.
"I thought he was fine before," Sayaa bit her lip, eyes sweeping over him. "But this is disrespectful."
all of his physic was draped in his royal burger uniform so non of them seen this coming.
Elio blinked once, deadpan. "This is dangerous."
Leilani just smiled, slow and knowing. "You can borrow mine."
A few of them giggled.
While tiara hissed out a moan through teeth clamped lips.
Bo, entirely unaware of the way his presence filled the room, just stood there, flustered.
"I, uh..." He cleared his throat. "Forgot my clothes."
He didn't wait for a response. Didn't want one.
"Just... gotta get to my car real quick."
And with that, he turned on his heel and bolted for the tent flap leaving behind a trail of water, stunned silence, and seven very entertained women.
Bo barely made it to the door before the air shifted.
Smoke, thin and silver, snaked up from the ground like it had been waiting. It twisted in the air, rolling and curling until it formed something solid.
Sayaa.
She stepped out of the smoke like a ghost from a flame calm, collected, a smirk teasing her lips like she'd been watching the whole time.
"You forgot something," she said, holding out her hand.
Bo blinked. "What?"
"The key to your car," she replied smoothly, like it was obvious. "I'll grab the tent. You're stuck with us for thirty days anyway so," Sayaa words were just tools in her art of seduction. "it's not like we're going to be staying behind this dumpster forever." her body was draped over him as she finished speaking.
Bo was to in shock by the impromptu magic show.
Before he could respond, she plucked the keys from his hand with a wink and vanished back into the alley like smoke returning to ash.
He turned around just in time to be intercepted.
Tiara and Noelani swooped in, giggling as they tugged him toward the living room couch like kids dragging a toy they weren't ready to put away.
"We'll keep you company," Noelani purred, settling onto one of his legs.
Tiara wasted no time dropping into his other lap, her warmth pressing into him as she leaned in close. "Just until Sayaa gets back," she added, not meaning a word of it.
The others followed slow, sensual, magnetic.
Their hands were soft, their eyes glowing with that heat again. They weren't being forceful-at least not physically. But the pressure, the weight of all that attention, it was like gravity.
They wanted him.
and this time it was impossible to keep his body from reacting, feeling desire burn inside him like a active volcano.
And worse they were feeding off of that wanting. Off of his wanting.
Bo clenched his jaw, a bead of sweat sliding down his temple.
They were hot. Beautiful. Powerful.
And he couldn't do it.
Not right now. Not like this.
He placed his hands gently on their waists and lifted both Tiara and Noelani from his lap with surprising ease, no doubt its because they let him. stepping out from between them with polite determination.
"I need space," he said, trying to keep his voice calm, respectful.
The room stilled for a moment.
That only made them want him more.
Desire pulsed like a second heartbeat in the room. The more he resisted, the more they fed. The more they glowed.
Bo's skin buzzed with tension, the air heavy with heat and invisible hands he couldn't push away.
And just when it felt like he might drown in it, might give in and ravage them all.
Sayaa appeared again, this time without the smoke, her voice slicing clean through the moment.
"The tent is in your trunk now," she said, playful eyes on Bo's bulge almost jotting out of his towel.
Dropping the duffle bag she found in his back seat at his feet. The bag hit the floor with a thud the sound of a lifeline tossed to a drowning man.
Cool.
Steady.
Grounding.
But the air still tasted like honey and hunger. And thirty days stretched before him like a minefield.