Chapter 5: The Heartbreakers' Confessional
The moment hung between them like a held breath. David could feel the heat of his own confession still burning on his tongue, and Mia's eyes held something he couldn't quite parse. Then the noise of the atrium rushed back in, filling the space between them, and Mia smiled, shaking her head.
"You always did know how to make a girl feel seen, David. Even when you never said a word." She squeezed his arm. "Come on. The Heartbreakers need to debrief their newest member."
They rejoined the group, and David found himself on the couch again, wedged between Tasha and Renee with the warmth of their bodies pressing against him. The violet light had shifted toward magenta, painting everyone in sunset colors. Renee was describing her ideal challenge in graphic detail, and Simone was laughing so hard she had to set down her drink.
David felt the words building in his throat. This was the thing he had never been able to ask anyone, the question that had lived in his chest like a stone. But these women had claimed him. They knew his secret. They had named themselves after him, kind of.
"What's it actually like?" The words came out before he could stop them. "Sex, I mean. What's it actually like for you?"
The laughter around him died slowly, like a flame running out of oxygen. Tasha's head tilted. Simone raised an eyebrow. Renee slowly turned to face him, her expression unreadable.
"For real?" Renee asked.
"For real." David could feel his pulse hammering. But he didn't look away. "I've seen it on screens. Movies, TV, porn. I've read about it. I've analyzed the physics and the biology and the cultural context. But I've never had someone tell me what it feels like. Like actually feels like, from the inside."
A long silence. Then Tasha spoke, her voice soft.
"It's like being underwater. In the good way. The whole world goes quiet and there's just this one fact of another person, this one set of hands."
"It's a power exchange," Renee said, more seriously than David had ever heard her. "You're giving someone permission to see you completely. And they're giving you the same thing. When it's done right, it's the most honest you'll ever be with another human being."
Simone was quiet for a moment, her dry humor tucked away.
"It's like a meal you cook together. Sometimes it's a quick snack, sometimes it's a seven-course dinner that takes all night. Either way, you're both at the table."
David absorbed their words. He had expected jokes, deflection, the kind of locker-room banter he'd always been shut out of. Instead, they had given him pieces of themselves, honest and plain.
Mia spoke last. Her voice was quiet, almost reverent.
"It's being known. When someone touches you like they actually see you, like they want every part of you, not the parts they think you should be... it's the closest thing to being safe I've ever felt."
She looked at David directly, her dark eyes steady.
"I'm glad it's gonna be them," she said, nodding at her friends. "I'm glad you're learning from us. From women who actually care about you. Not from some game or some tutorial or some woman who's gonna use you and leave you emptier than before. You deserve to learn it the right way."
The words settled in David's chest like something warm and solid. He opened his mouth to respond, to thank her, to say anything at all, when a voice cut through the nest of warmth like a blade.
"She's right, Dupree." Remy's voice came from directly behind the couch, smooth and loud, pitched for the cameras. "But you'll never learn it from… them."
David turned. Remy stood a few feet away, arms crossed, that practiced smile on his face. The magenta light carved shadows across his sharp cheekbones, and the gold ring on his pinky caught the glow.
"The fuck do you want, Remy?” Renee's voice had dropped into something flatter, harder.
"Just a moment of David's time. That's all." Remy spread his hands with an act of openness. "I came to admit something to you.”
"Admit it then," Simone said. "We're listening."
Remy looked past them, his pale eyes fixed on David.
"I underestimated you. Completely. I looked at you and saw an easy mark. An easy win. A guy who'd be gone by the second week. And you beat me. Cleanly, in front of the whole house, with nothing but your words and your truth." He paused. "I respect that. I respect anyone who can take a hit like that and come back swinging."
David watched the man's face carefully. The words were smooth, practiced.
“Thank you. But with all due respect, where are you going with this?” David said.
“David…” Mia started.
“I got it. I’m hearing him out. Besides…” David started then whispered to Mia…
“Time to play the game, huh?”
Mia's hand found David's knee, a brief squeeze that said go on, I've got you. She gave him a small nod, her dark eyes steady on his face.
David turned back to Remy. The man was still standing there with that practiced smile, waiting like a patient predator. The cameras had drifted closer, sensing the tension. David could feel the weight of the house's attention settling on them.
"Alright," David said, pushing himself up from the couch. "Let's hear it."
Remy's smile widened, a flicker of triumph in his pale eyes. "Not here. The bar's got a quiet corner. We can talk like adults, away from the peanut gallery."
"He's not going anywhere with you alone," Renee said flatly.
"Renee." David held up a hand. "I got this."
"You sure, rookie?"
"I won the last challenge. I think I can handle a conversation."
The Heartbreakers exchanged glances. Mia gave him another nod, slower this time, her expression unreadable. Tasha bit her lip. Simone just raised an eyebrow, a silent warning.
David followed Remy across the atrium. The bar was a long curve of polished black stone, and Remy led him to a small alcove near the far end, away from the main clusters. Two stools sat empty, waiting.
"Drink?" Remy asked, already signaling the bartender.
"Water's fine."
"Water." Remy's lip curled, but he ordered it anyway. "Virgin daiquiri, then. Let's keep the theme going."
The bartender set two glasses down. Remy took a slow sip of his amber drink, studying David over the rim.
"You know what I see when I look at you?" Remy said finally.
"Someone who beat you a few hours ago?"
Remy laughed, a short sharp sound. "I see a guy who's been hiding his whole life. And I mean that as a compliment. Not as a backhanded one. You've got all this raw material, all this potential, and you've just been letting it rot in a server room somewhere."
"Why do you care?"
"Because I'm a student of people, Dupree. It's my business. I read people the way you read data patterns. And you're a fascinating pattern." Remy leaned forward, his voice dropping. "You've never been touched. Not really. Not the way you want to be. You're walking around with this charge in you, this hunger, and you have no idea what to do with it."
David's jaw tightened. "Is this where you offer to fuck me?"
Remy blinked, then let out a genuine laugh.
"Haha. No. God no. I’m strictly a pussy lover. But I appreciate the directness. That's what I'm talking about. That honesty, that... raw energy. You've got something, Dupree. Something that would make you dangerous in this game if you knew how to use it."
"And you're going to teach me?"
"I'm going to give you information." Remy swirled his drink. "I've been with more women than I can count. I know what they want, what they respond to, how to make them feel like the center of the universe. That knowledge is worth something in this house."
"What's the price?"
Remy set his glass down. "Simple. When we end up in a challenge together again, and we will, you don't try to humiliate me. You win clean or you lose clean, but you don't make a spectacle of me in front of the house. That's it. That's all I ask."
David studied the man's face. The arrogance was still there, but beneath it he caught something else. A crack of vulnerability, quickly hidden.
"You're scared of me. I didn’t try to embarrass you.” David said slowly. "You did it on your own. You lost. You lost once in front of everyone and you're scared it'll happen again."
Remy's jaw tightened. "I'm not scared of anything, Dupree."
"No, you are. And that's very interesting. Because you could just ignore me, treat me like a fluke. But instead you're here, offering me something, which means you've already done the math and decided I'm a real risk." David picked up his glass, took a sip of water. "I know a little something about math."
A long silence. Remy stared at him, his pale eyes flickering with something between annoyance and grudging respect.
"Fine," Remy said finally. "You're right. I underestimated you once. I'm not doing it again. I'm offering you a resource. Take it or leave it."
"What exactly are you offering? Information about women?"
"I've the best. I've learned from the best, slept with the best. I can tell you how to walk, how to talk, how to touch. What to say in the moment. What not to say. Everything I know."
"And in exchange, you want me to not embarrass you in challenges."
"Requires a mutual respect. You respect my game, I respect yours."
David felt the weight of the offer. This was the thing he had been craving, the knowledge he had been too ashamed to seek. And it was being handed to him by the last person he expected.
"Why me?" David asked. "Why not teach someone who actually has a chance of winning this thing?"
Remy's smile was rueful. "Because everyone else in this house is a game player. They're all performing, all the time. You're the only one who's real. And real is rare, Dupree. Real is valuable."
He set his glass down and extended a hand.
"So. Truce?"
David looked at the offered hand. He thought of the Heartbreakers waiting by the couch, of Mia's steady gaze, of the stranger in the booth who had touched his face and told him not to perform. He thought of his own hunger, the thing that had driven him here.
He took Remy's hand.
"Truce," David said. "But I'm still not letting you talk about them like that again."
"Them?"
"The Heartbreakers. My friends. You disrespect them again and our truce is dead."
Remy's eyebrows rose. Then he nodded slowly, a flicker of respect crossing his face.
"Heard. Loud and clear." He released David's hand. "So. First lesson?"
David felt his pulse quicken. "I'm listening."
"Women in this house, in this game, they're not just wanting a man who's smooth. They want a man who sees them. Who makes them feel like they're the only person in the room." Remy leaned in, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial murmur. "You've already got that part down. That's how you won the challenge. The trick is learning how to transfer that into physical attraction. That's what I can teach you."
David's heart hammered painfully. This was real. This was the beginning of everything he'd been too afraid to ask for.
"First lesson," Remy continued. "When you're talking to a woman you want, don't think about what you're going to say next. Listen to what she's actually saying. Watch her body. She's telling you everything you need to know. The way she's standing, the way she's looking at you. Even the way she's touching her drink."
David absorbed the words like a man drinking water. He thought of the stranger in the booth, the way she had asked to touch his face. He thought of Mia's hand on his knee. The signals he hadn't known how to read.
"How do I know if she's interested?" David asked.
Remy smiled, and for a moment he almost looked sincere. "She'll make it impossible to miss. That's the secret, Dupree. When a woman wants you, she's not subtle. She's giving you green lights, green signals. The problem is most men are too scared to look."
Minutes later, when David was on his way back to the group, two voices called his name:
“David?”
He turned around. Looking back at him were twins.
“Hi, David.”
Diana and Daphne were very attractive twins with light brown eyes, medium length blonde hair and pouty lips. They had athletic yet muscular builds, like they played sports growing up. They were gorgeous. And all he could do was wave.
The twins stood shoulder to shoulder, mirror images in the magenta light. Both wore matching black tank tops that hugged their athletic frames, both had the same small gold hoops in their ears, both were watching him with identical expressions of amused curiosity. David's wave hung in the air between them like a dead thing.
"That was quite a wave," the one on the left said.
"Very enthusiastic," the one on the right agreed.
"Sorry," David said, lowering his hand. "I'm not usually good with crowds of two or more."
The left twin laughed, a bright sound that cut through the ambient noise of the atrium. "I'm Diana. This is my sister, Daphne."
"We know who you are," Daphne said. "The whole house knows who you are now. The man who took down Remy."
"The man who told the truth in a booth," Diana added. "It's a good story. We like a good story."
David felt the familiar heat rising to his cheeks. But Remy's words were still fresh in his mind, a new lens over his eyes. He forced himself to actually look at them. They had a confidence in their posture, a casual readiness like athletes waiting for a game to start. Their eyes held his without flinching, and there was something in the way they stood, angled toward him, open and unhurried.
"Thank you," he said. "I didn't plan it. It just came out."
"That's the best kind," Daphne said. "Unplanned. Real."
Diana stepped closer, her head tilting as she studied him. "You’re the only man in Mia's group, right? The Heartbreakers?"
"How'd you know about that?"
"The whole house knows. You made a name and a handshake in one night. That's efficient." She smiled. "Also, we saw you practicing. It looked like you were trying to teach a cat a card trick."
Daphne snorted. "Diana."
"It's true. His form was all over the place. The shoulder bump was good, though."
David found himself laughing, the sound surprising him. "Renee's been drilling us for the better part of an hour. I'm still missing the second finger snap."
"Show us," Daphne said.
"What?"
"The handshake. Show us what you've got."
David glanced back toward the couch. The Heartbreakers were still clustered there, but Tasha was watching him with an amused expression, and Renee was smirking into her drink. Mia's gaze was steady, unreadable. He turned back to the twins.
"Okay. But it's a four-person handshake. I might need to improvise."
"Improvise, then."
David stepped forward and held out his hand. Diana took it, and he walked her through the sequence as best he could, the thumb lock and the finger snaps and the wrist clasp, his movements fumbling but determined. Daphne watched, her lips twitching.
"You missed the shoulder bump," she said.
"There's a shoulder bump?"
"Renee clearly thinks so. She helped create it.”
David looked at the two of them, their matching smiles, their easy confidence. And something occurred to him, a shift in his perception like a new dataset loading into view. They were both touching him. Diana's hand was still clasped around his wrist, and Daphne had drifted close enough that her arm brushed his. They had approached him, called him over, asked him to show them his handshake.
Remy's voice echoed in his mind…
When a woman wants you, she's not subtle.
"I think I'm missing something," David said slowly.
"What's that?" Daphne asked.
"I don't know yet." He looked at Diana's hand on his wrist, at the way she hadn't let go. "But I'm starting to see it."