Chapter 29
Miles
T he past few weeks of being Dax’s boyfriend have been so much fun.
Not the fucking…well, not only the fucking. Staying up too late, watching shows together. Hearing him tell me about the drama at his job. Or just talking about the ridiculous shenanigans his fratbros are always getting up to.
And the cuddles. Especially the cuddles.
I’m actually eager to get up in the morning, not forced to because I had some hellish dream about Mom.
I even find myself spending more time with my friends.
I’m not really one to meet them out unless there’s something going on, like the auction or a TaskFrat Challenge, but since Dax and I became an item, I’m making more of an effort, which is why I’m meeting them at the coffee shop near campus today.
“Just need to post an assignment real quick,” Caleb says as he settles at the table we grabbed.
“It’s cool,” Tatum says, absorbed with his phone. “I have to let a few of my followers know they need to pay extra for my VIP video.”
“Speaking of sexy content,” I say, “I need to send you the videos Dax shot of me working.”
Since we became official, Dax has been eager to record with me when I’m inspired, which has become more frequent lately. Then I just send the file over to Tatum, and he does his magic and takes his cut.
Tatum drops his phone in his lap, pouting. “This sucks for me.”
“What are you on about?”
“ I was your designated cameraman before you got all lovey-dovey with Dax.”
“Aw, are you jealous you’re having to share recording me with my boyfriend?”
Tatum glares at me. “Obviously, I’m jealous about the part where he’s getting to sit on your dick.”
“Maybe that’s why it could never work. Dax doesn’t just sit.”
Tatum rolls his eyes. “If he’s made you this corny, then I think I’m gonna quickly become unattracted to you.”
“Liar,” I tease.
He doesn’t deny it, just takes a sip of his pumpkin-spice latte. “So after we finish here, you guys want to come back to my place for video games?”
“That sounds cool,” Caleb says, shrugging as he closes his laptop.
“You know I’m shit at those,” I remind them, as if they need it.
“That’s right,” Tatum says. “So let’s play something competitive, and then how about we place bets for, oh, I don’t know, maybe I get a bigger cut every time I sell a piece?” He shoots me a mischievous look, and I can’t help but laugh.
“If you want a bigger cut, you should just ask.”
“Nah. My OnlyFans is going pretty well. Did you see my last video? Had two Zeta Taus tag-teaming me. Speaking of…”
I already know where he’s going, so I spit out, “No.”
“But Dax seems like he’d be—”
“No.”
“Maybe I could watch—”
“No!”
I’m surprised by how harshly that last one came out, and even as I responded, I realized he wasn’t being serious, and Caleb is snickering at my expense. Fair enough.
“You know I was teasing you, right?” Tatum says.
“Yeah, I’m not sure why I reacted that way.”
“I have an idea,” Caleb chimes in.
“I do too,” I admit. “Looks like I’m totally obsessed with Dax Armstrong. Guess I have been for a while, but now I don’t feel weird about it.”
“Why did you feel weird?” Caleb asks.
I don’t really want to get into that with them, considering they don’t know about that night I followed Dax home and all the strange shit that pulled us together.
“Anyway,” I say to change the subject—and to keep on brand, in the least slick way possible, “I can’t play video games because I’m going to Alpha Theta Mu after this.”
Tatum cringes. “The fuck?”
“You think those guys are a bunch of dicks,” Caleb adds.
“Eh, I mean, I was a dick myself to the Alpha Theta Mus, so I get it. And the ones who hated me most graduated last year anyway. Of course, there’s still Damien.
The other guys seem guarded but willing to be cool with me as long as Dax is.
You guys interested in coming by? Now that we’re an item, our friends will need to learn to get along. ”
“I don’t know if I should,” Caleb says, still feeling guilty about what went down last year. I know he feels like crap, but it was an accident.
“Come on,” I insist. “I know you want to.”
He twists his lips up before conceding. “Okay, I’d be down.”
Tatum follows with, “Yeah, I know you’ve hung with them a few times, but no harm in having extra security.”
Caleb and I exchange a knowing look. “Oh, you gonna take on Damien for me?” I ask.
“Yes, and if he starts anything, I’m gonna pull down my pants and take whatever punishment you deserve.”
“You’re a real hero,” Caleb observes.
“Anything to get you guys out of trouble. And if his stepbro happens to walk in, then I’ll just have to let them both give me what I deserve.”
“It is Alpha Theta Mu,” Caleb jokes. “You know what goes on with stepbrothers there.”
They do have a thing for stepbrothers winding up together.
Not that there were many: Troy and Atlas, Ash and Colin, and then Brenner and Taylor—though they weren’t even Alpha Theta Mus.
Just hung around there a lot. And I don’t think they were stepbros when they first met, but became stepbros afterward, which in a way makes the case for it even stronger.
Caleb says, “Speaking of Alpha Theta Mu, have you seen the whiteboard?”
“Whiteboard?” I ask.
“Yeah, they have a board they put guys’ names on when they start hooking up with guys.”
“I’m pretty sure that’s a rumor based on an inside joke.”
“Well, maybe I can look for it while we’re over there.”
“And I’ll let you know whose name to add,” Tatum jokes—the joke being adding names to a whiteboard, not so much figuring out who’s queer in the house.
We catch up a little, finish our coffees, then head over to Dax’s frat house. It’s particularly busy today, everyone trying to get in some last-minute hanging out before Thanksgiving break. I recognize a lot of the guys, some from other frats, and now I’m bringing my Omega Psi buddies into the mix.
There’s only one guy I’m looking for, though, and when I don’t see him right away, I’m on edge. Tatum and Caleb run into some frats they know, so I ditch them to find my guy, my anxiety mounting.
Breathe.
I take measured breaths before I spot him in the kitchen, leaning against the pantry as he chats with Aiden, Damien, and Andy. Of course he’d be talking to Damien.
When Dax sees me, his eyes flare, that bright smile flashing across his perfect face.
I sidle beside him, hook my arm around his waist, and tug him close for a kiss, which he eagerly receives.
I planned on it being a quick peck, I figure he did too, but I wind up lingering too long and giving him more tongue than either of us expected.
“Hi, Miles,” Aiden, now an official Alpha Theta Mu, says suggestively, winking.
Damien doesn’t look nearly as amused by my intrusion. “The polite thing would be to say hey to us and then kiss your man.”
He’s not wrong.
“Maybe if you kiss all my friends first, that would make Damien happy,” Dax teases, clearly an effort to lighten the mood, and I can’t help but laugh at the way Damien huffs.
“Guess Tatum won’t be adding your name to the whiteboard,” I joke, which gets Dax laughing. God, I love making him laugh.
My hand gravitates to his ass, and as I grip it firmly, I take a deep breath—the first real breath since I got here.
“You going home next week?” Aiden asks. Of all the guys here, he’s been the most welcoming, which surprises me because I was a real dick to his brother last year. Although, his brother was an uptight stick-in-the-mud, while Aiden’s a lot more chill.
As nice as he is, he’s touched a tender nerve. “Nah. I usually bow out. Dad asks me to come, but…” I trail off mid-sentence, surprised I even said that much, and now I’m trying to find a way out. “I…” This is really fucking with me.
But Dax turns to me, sensing I’m struggling, and he reaches back, placing his hand over mine on his ass, offering a soothing stroke. I didn’t even realize how much tension was bundled up in my chest until it releases.
“Sorry, I lost my train of thought there,” I recover. “I’m probably gonna stick around campus. Get some new works finished.”
The holidays are hard on both me and my dad, and if I’m around Dad when he’s in a sullen mood, I’m always scared we’re gonna drag each other into some dark pit of despair.
Dax offers another stroke, and when I look at him, I see the warmth in his expression—reading between the lines in a way only he can because of how I’ve opened up to him. Because of how I trust him.
“Okay, well, that was weird,” Damien observes, which doesn’t really bother me since I’m always weird.
“I thought I was being polite by not asking if you were excited to get back to boning your stepbrother over the break.” I’m not being an ass, well, okay, maybe a little, but come on. If he’s gonna give me hell, it’s only fair.
“What the—”
“You think I don’t know what you Alpha Theta Mus do?”
The other guys in their crew are all smiley—when that’s part of your frat’s rep, you just have to own it, right? But not Damien.
“The idea of doing anything with Brady makes me want to throw up,” Damien insists.
“Kinky,” Dax jibes.
“You too? Really?” Damien bristles. “ Oh my God. If you knew how much I hate that pretty boy, you’d know how far off you are.”
“Did you just call your stepbrother a pretty boy?” I ask, which makes him flinch.
“Yes, but not like, I think he’s pretty.” The group erupts into laughter, and Damien chews his bottom lip. “Laugh it up, fratholes.”
The conversation shifts to everyone else’s plans over the break, and when the guys decide to head out for pizza, Dax and I can finally break away so that I have him all to myself once again, pulling him into a hallway and taking that mouth I’ve been away from for too long.
“Mmm… Someone missed me.”
“Someone’s going to miss you a lot when you go home.”
Dax rolls his eyes. “It’s not like I’m gonna be gone long.”
“I know. You’ve just spoiled me. I’ve gotten to have this ass every night, and now I’m gonna be deprived of it.”
He tilts his head, a mischievous expression on his face. “Maybe that’ll make it more fun when I get back and you reclaim what’s yours.”
“Fuck, you always know how to word things to excite me.” I snatch his hand and draw it to my crotch so he can feel what he did to me, then plant a kiss on him, shoving him back against the wall as he continues stroking me, the sensation of fabric against flesh sending a rush through me, and I’m already precoming when he stops.
“What the hell are you doing?” I ask.
“We gotta have dinner.”
“You’re just gonna get me all excited like this and leave me hanging?”
“See, you know exactly what I was doing.” He locks gazes with me, looking so damn proud of himself.
“Ass.”
“That’s all that’s on your mind now, isn’t it?”
“Yes.” I hate to admit he’s got me wrapped around his finger, but I love it too.
“Well, while you hang with this, I’m gonna change…by myself…because I don’t trust us alone together when you’re this hard.”
“I bet you don’t.”
He moves close again, offering another stroke against my cock.
“I’m gonna torture you all through dinner…
and then we’ll see just how wild you are when I finally let you take my ass.
” His lips are millimeters from mine, his eyes full of that familiar desire I’m desperate to satisfy, but again, he tears away from me.
I take his hand, squeezing gently before saying, “Be quick.”
“I know for a fact that’s not how you like it,” he teases.
I notice we’re still holding hands, so I reluctantly free him so he can get ready. A part of me wants to follow him, but I must admit, his way sounds more fun. It always does, really.
Sighing, I return to the living room to search for my buddies. On the way, I check my phone, discovering a text from Tatum: Found someone to record with, so don’t wait up for me. xoxo
I text back: Have fun.
“Hey, Miles?” a familiar voice says.
I cut a look to Damien, who approaches quickly, at the sort of pace that has me on guard, ready for a fight, if that’s what he wants.
He stops short of me, his jaw clenched as he whispers, “Just so you know, if you hurt Dax, I’m coming for you. You break his heart, and I break you.”
I don’t know what he must think of me, but he looks a second away from following through, and really, as intense as he’s coming off, his loyalty to Dax, his instinct to protect him, is admirable. Reminds me that even when I’m not around, he’s got people who have his back.
“You know, Damien, I think I like you.”
He blinks a few times, his eyes wandering as if he’s trying to reconcile his threat with my response. “Um…”
As he struggles with that, I see Caleb chatting with some guys.
“I gotta go see if Caleb wants to get pizza too, but I appreciate this chat.”
While he stands there, looking like he needs a system reboot, I pat his shoulder, then join my buddy.
Maybe I am cool with all the guys at Alpha Theta Mu now. At least in my head.