Chapter 7
7
Taylor
“L ance, get it! Get it!” Payton shouts as Lance bounces the basketball past another frat, sprinting across the Alpha Theta Mu driveway, and when he reaches the basket, he jumps, hitting the ball against the backboard before it sinks in the net.
I know that’s called a thing—a layup?
Whatever the hell it was, my fellow skins are going wild as they high-five, fist-bump, chest-bump.
This really isn’t my vibe.
I’m not sporty or fratty, but since Atlas started dating jocky Alpha Theta Mu’s Troy Locklear, we’ve become closer to a lot of the frats, like Lance. They’re actually pretty cool, so I don’t mind getting out of my comfort zone and hanging with them occasionally. Especially because it sort of forces me to let go and enjoy the moment.
After all, that was the whole point of coming over here—to get my mind off my stepbro. Not really my stepbro, yet , but considering our parents are engaged, we basically are.
He’s probably gonna fuck her.
It’s a thought I’ve had one too many times since I arrived at Alpha Theta Mu.
Who is this Mila person anyway? I mean, I know what Brenner’s told me about her. She’s an art major, rock-climbs with friends, plays Fortnite and Witcher 3 , and enjoys jogging.
But now I’m actually gonna meet this girl he’s told me so much about, more than he tells me about most of the people he wants to screw.
Not that it should matter. Not like I meet up with every guy or girl Brenner hooks up with. Still, now that I know what that mouth is capable of on a dick, I can’t stop thinking about what he must do to a pussy.
Fuck you, Bren. You show me how good it can feel, how hot it can be to have you swallowing me, and now leave me fucking stranded.
We agreed not to mess around—for a damn good reason—but it doesn’t change how it feels in my gut.
Whatever. Enjoying Brenner swallowing my load isn’t enough to fuck with what our parents have.
“Nice shorts,” one of my fellow skins tells me, and I notice the bulge I’m sporting.
This is all Bren’s fault. Of course, I can’t fucking say that to anyone.
I release a nervous chuckle, and the guy fixates on me, his brow creasing. Is he expecting an explanation?
“Just, uh, been a minute since I’ve…”
The hell? I was gonna say jerked off , but I stop myself because it’s not true. It’s really just been a minute since Brenner has milked the cum out, and I don’t know that I’ve ever had so many boners just walking around as I do now.
Also Brenner’s fault.
For whatever reason, my comment catches the guy’s attention, and he won’t stop looking at me. But as the game starts again, fortunately, I go back down before anyone else comments.
After our game, I chill with the frats around the front yard. We still got that good Georgia heat, so even the shirts have become skins, and some of the girls from the nearby sorority are heading this way, their timing almost too convenient.
I settle on the front porch steps, grab my vape from my bag, and take a drag.
Before I started hanging around Atlas’s frat friends, I wouldn’t have felt comfortable around a bunch of bros and jocks, but they’re not bad, and I realize that maybe I had some bullshit stereotypes in my head. That frats aren’t different from oddballs like Bren and me.
That guy who commented on my erection steps away from a group of guys he’s chatting with and comes over. “Pot?” he asks.
“The legal shit.”
“Eh, I’ll take what I can get.” He settles on the porch beside me. “Unless you don’t want to catch my cooties.”
“More concerned about viruses, actually,” I joke, passing it to him, and he takes a hit.
“They say vaping’s bad for you.”
“And alcohol’s what? Best friend to the liver?”
He laughs, showing off a gorgeous smile. “Guess not.”
In the past, I wouldn’t have given his pretty smile that much thought. I’ve noticed attractive guys before Brenner and I started doing stuff, but now, it brings to mind this thing we were exploring. The questions that linger.
“I quit vaping for a bit,” I confess, “but started again after a cruise over the summer. And I figured I’d treat myself to it today, you know?”
Because apparently not having Brenner’s mouth on my cock means I need something in mine.
Gorgeous Smile Guy winces.
It reminds me of the way Brenner was when we first started talking. I’m not chatty and definitely don’t wear my heart on my sleeve, but Brenner picked up on it, asked questions, probed where most people would have accepted my curt, basic responses.
It’s weird having this guy look at me like this, as though he’s picking up something from my awkward shifts and twitches.
“You seem like a lot of fun,” he finally says.
My expression twists up.
“What?” he asks. “You don’t hear that a lot?”
I shake my head.
I know I’m not a big talker, but this is ridiculous, even for me.
“I have a kind of superpower,” he goes on. “Like a sixth sense about people.”
“Think you’ve had a little too much of that,” I tease, taking my vape from him.
He chuckles. “See, I knew right away you’d be funny.”
His gaze shifts to my crotch, then meets mine, and suddenly I’m not looking into his eyes, but at his mouth, like my body’s curious if that mouth could do for me what Bren’s did. I lick my lips, and he grins.
“What?” I ask.
“That was it.” He spins on his ass and lies back, resting his head in my lap.
That’s bold.
Who the hell is this guy?
“What are we talking about?” I ask.
“My superpower,” he says, flashing those pearly whites.
My cheeks warm because it’s clear he gets what’s going on with me in a way only Bren has picked up on.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable,” he says.
I glance around, wondering if anyone’s overheard us, but he didn’t really say anything, and no one seems to give a fuck about the guy with his head in my lap.
“I’m not uncomfortable,” I tell him, which seems to please him.
As I take another hit, I notice this intense look in his eyes—determined, even—and it picks at something in me. Not just how horny Brenner’s made me, but that he’s hanging out with this Mila fucker. If he’s running around hooking up, then I’m free to do whatever I want too.
And no, this isn’t about petty vengeance. But if Gorgeous Smile Guy wants to do some of the things Brenner did with me, maybe that would help me get my mind off my future stepbro, which would be great for both of us. And really, this guy too.
Besides, he’s hot. And I’ve been chatting with him for less than five minutes, and he seems fun too.
“Your name is Taylor, right?”
“Christ, you seem to know a lot about me for a guy whose name I don’t even know.”
“Well, that’s something I can help you with. I’m Dax.”
Holy fucking hell.
I burst into a laugh. “No fucking way.”
Wild to think Brenner mentioned the guy before I came here. Too much of a coincidence.
His head shifts against my crotch. “What is it?”
“I know who you are.”
“We’ve definitely never met, so I’m assuming my reputation precedes me.”
“You know Brenner Dean?”
It takes him a moment, which tells me the guy’s likely got a list as long as Bren’s. I see the wheels spinning and the aha moment before he says, “Yeah, I know the guy. We hooked up last spring after chatting on Grindr. He leave me a glowing review?”
Now he’s got me smiling. “Oh yeah. You made the top five, for sure.”
“Top five? That mean I gotta kill four other fuckers?”
“It means I’m not telling you where you fall on the list, but you’re up there. He had fun. I thought you went to another school.”
“I was at Georgia State, but my brother goes here, and every time I’d come to visit, I’d get so fucking jealous, and the guys are so good to me, so I applied here. Then I was at a party—that Task Frat Challenge thing—and at an after-party, and oh my fuck, I had the best time. It was like the universe was telling me this is where I belong.”
“A lot of great sex?”
“It was more than that.” His eyes are all lit up, practically sparkling. “Let’s just say I had a ton of fun and learned this is where my kind of people are at.” I wait for him to explain, but he says, “So you and Brenner are good friends?”
“That’s an understatement. He’s my best friend.”
“Oh, wait, wait,” he says, readjusting his position, rolling toward me and resting his elbow next to my hip as he props himself up. “You the guy he had to text to tell you he wasn’t coming over to play…?”
“ Remnant . Yes, that was me. I’m his best friend, and now his roommate too.”
“So how’s that work? Like when you bring people back to the apartment?”
I tense up. It’s something we talked about, but that was before we couldn’t stop getting each other off. “It hasn’t come up yet, but we figured we’d give each other a heads-up and a chance to beat it.”
“Like, you listen to each other and jerk off?”
“Not that kind of beat it!” I say, laughing again, and I can tell by his pleased expression he enjoyed making the pun. “It’s all good, though. I found someone else to play Remnant with, and he told me all about you guys afterward. Well, not all about it.”
I’m trying to backtrack, since maybe Bren shouldn’t share as much as he does about his sex life, but Dax says, “It’s cool. I don’t mind, and I’m sure I even said something to that effect to Brenner afterward. We’re similar. Chill about stuff like that.”
They are. And I’m noticing, with him hovering around my crotch, they’re similar in other ways too. Like the way he’s keeping me stiff.
If we did anything together, it wouldn’t mean much to Dax either. He would be the perfect guy to explore with, now that Bren’s off-limits.
But even considering fucking around with this guy feels like a betrayal.
Like I’d be fucking cheating on Brenner?
Fuck, my best friend would give me such hell if he knew that.
I shake it off.
“Why did you just do that?” he asks.
“Huh?”
“You just shook your head.”
“Oh, you noticed?”
“You’re real interesting, Taylor. And like I said, fun.” He leans closer, and I feel the heat he’s giving off.
The guy’s hot as hell, and there’s definitely a vibe here. It’s not like Brenner-and-Taylor vibes, but maybe it could become something like that. Well, maybe not that, but something better than the relationship I have with my hand at the moment.
“I hear a bunch of guys are heading down to Crave tonight,” Dax says. “You’re gonna meet me there.”
“You mean, will I meet you there?”
He smirks. “Sorry, didn’t mean for it to sound like a question.”
As I laugh, that smile returns. “Fuck, never met a stranger, have you?”
“Or a dick I didn’t like.”
Again, his gaze is right on mine, in a way that makes me a little nervous, but also excited at the possibility that I might get some action tonight. And with a guy Bren’s already vetted, so I know it’ll be good shit.
Maybe just what I need right now so I don’t lose my mind when Brenner tells me he wants to be tongue-deep inside Mila tonight. When I wind up having to leave our apartment, just to be thinking about how loudly he’s making her call out…fucking scream his name.
Shouldn’t piss me off, but I should be the one calling out his fucking name.
Wait, what? No. What the hell has he done to me?
Still, if he’s gonna have fun, why shouldn’t I?
“Sure,” I say. “I’ll be at Crave.”