Chapter 9
CHAPTER NINE
Bennett
This is what it feels like to be a guy who gets sex easily. I fucked Rhodes no less than three times last night and again in the shower this morning. It’s sex like I’ve never had before. Rough and unhinged. I feel entirely out of control when I’m inside him, and he thrives on it.
After, I’m afraid I’ve hurt him. Especially because he’s limp like the day he was born, with no muscle control at all.
In the shower, I practically dove to catch him before he slammed his head on the tile floor.
It was so alarming that all the dogs were practically in the shower with us, and he was slurring, trying to assure them he was okay.
They didn’t believe him. They remained on the floor of the bathroom until he was on his feet again.
I mentally decide that sex away from a soft space isn’t going to be beastly like that. My heart nearly stopped when I thought I hurt him. The absolute panic in my head had me ready to call 911.
Thankfully, he’s on his feet and walking fine, even with a bit of a tenderfoot as we let his pups use the outdoor facilities and get their morning zoomies out. I watch Rhodes closely, something he doesn’t miss and finds amusing.
He pulls me against him and bites my lip. With the way my cock jumps in excitement, you’d think I hadn’t gotten off four times with enormous, world-changing orgasms in the last twelve hours. “I’m fine. Deliciously sore, but perfectly good. Stop looking at me like I’m going to collapse.”
“You did in the shower,” I point out.
“Take that as the compliment it is, Bennett. You fuck like a demon, and I’m happy to be possessed.”
A shiver of pleasure races down my spine. Wow, that is a compliment for someone not religious at all. I’m definitely spiritual, so I recognize that it’s high praise and still feel chills at his words.
“I’m good and looking forward to a repeat, Bennett,” he murmurs against my mouth. “Over and over and over again. Understand?”
“God, you’re going to make me hard right now,” I whine.
A cold nudge on my side where my shirt has risen makes me jump. I think this is Sugar, who has a large stick in his mouth. I can’t see the tag on his collar, though.
“Babies demand attention,” Rhodes says, letting me go.
We spend the next twenty minutes throwing sticks and balls for the dogs. Apparently, some of them came out with toys from their bags. I’m not surprised I hadn’t noticed since I was so focused on Rhodes.
The pups gather a lot of attention as they run around and wrestle in the grassy area.
I think it’s their playfulness that has people laughing and smiling, stopping to watch them.
I smile smugly, thinking to myself that people shouldn’t be so judgmental.
Just because they look scary doesn’t mean they aren’t sweet.
Likewise, just because someone looks sweet and soft doesn’t mean they can’t tear your throat out. Just saying.
We head inside for breakfast, my hand in Rhodes’ and the pups surrounding us. Their circle is tight as we move through the halls to allow people to pass, though there’s always one between us and whoever is passing. I wonder if that’s their instincts or if that’s how Rhodes trained them.
Breakfast isn’t held in the same dining room. We’re now on a large sunporch that’s maybe three-seasons. The furniture looks more outdoorsy. The kind you’d find in a garden.
A rich person’s garden. Not like the hard plastic set that I have, but a garden all the same.
They’re covered in white linens, and the porcelain is all mismatched, yet they clearly go together. I’m guessing they aren’t mismatched at all, but a dozen different sets purposely on theme so they can be mixed together to give the appearance of whimsy.
It’s cute how they don’t realize their efforts aren’t seen through.
Breakfast is sit-down, but it’s served family style with plates in the middle of the table to help ourselves. The dogs have their own table, though it’s in the form of a picnic. There’s a tablecloth spread out on the floor with a dozen plates of various foods on it.
I’m not the only one enthralled by the way they circle it like perfect ladies and gentlemen and wait patiently until Rhodes tells them they can eat. I’m equally mesmerized by how they don’t scarf down a single dish in a race for fear that someone else is going to take their share.
“That’s impressive,” Bethany says as she joins us at the table. “I’ve never seen animals so well-behaved.”
“I think the first step is to not consider them animals,” Rhodes notes as he watches them slowly circle the dishes and take turns. “I treat them as I would humans, including teaching them manners.”
“They display better manners than most people I encounter daily,” Heathcliff says with a sigh.
“I understand that we supposedly live in a much more advanced society than was here in the early 1900s, but the respect and manners have definitely fallen away to a much ruder, far more entitled way of life.”
I nod. That’s incredibly true. Sadly true.
Some of the messages I get certainly chip away at my faith in humanity.
Not to mention the way people lack the ability to read basic instructions.
When the very same page that a person uses to contact me through my website states that doing so and asking for a bonus scene that can only be accessed via my free newsletter and any messages to the subject will be ignored and deleted, but still expecting an answer to their messages asking for access to said scenes makes that person all pissy because I didn’t provide good customer service to their inquiry, it has me seriously questioning the school systems. Read, people.
That’s one of the very first things you learn in school. Read.
The second thing is comprehension of what you read. Just because you don’t like the information provided doesn’t mean you’re going to get a different answer when you blatantly ignore the instructions to begin with. That’s a reflection of you and will never result in special treatment.
Anyway, what’s the topic again? This subject always gets my panties in a knot.
“What’s on the agenda today?” Sara asks as she and her wife join us at the table.
“I’m still not sure why we agreed to come to a weekend-long reunion to see a bunch of people we didn’t like to begin with,” Dianna mutters as she takes her seat.
I grin, looking at Rhodes. I’d been asking him that same question.
“Lloyd,” Sara and Bethany say together.
Rhodes snorts, nodding. “That man is infuriating. Somehow, he made me think I cared what other people thought of my successes in life because here I am.”
“Ain’t that the truth,” Bethany says.
“He’s rather good. It took him a three-minute phone call to accomplish that,” Sara says, sighing.
“He plays us like a violin.” Bethany laughs.
“Speak of the devil and he shall appear,” Dianna says, nodding to the very man they’re talking about.
Lloyd approaches with a big smile. It’s friendly enough, and I don’t get the impression that he’s entirely fake. I’m pretty sure that’s a genuine smile.
“Good morning, ladies and gents. I trust you slept well?” Lloyd asks.
“How did you get roped into organizing this?” Bethany asks.
He laughs. “To be honest, I don’t know. I think Dean Franklin used some weird hoodoo on me, because I’m pretty sure I said I didn’t have time.
The next thing I know, there’s a file of contacts and information in my email, and I’m making phone calls.
” Lloyd frowns. “Here we are, though. It’s…
nice to see familiar faces and catch up. ”
His gaze has left our table, looking over our heads.
I’m slightly surprised that he’s looking at the four men from childhood who Rhodes and his new friends don’t like.
It’s on the tip of my tongue to ask if they had any friends outside each other, and if not, then how did they have so much power over the school?
Is it really just a game of who has the most money? Have they now been surpassed? Apparently, Elin has, but I suppose old loyalty dies hard. Especially when that loyalty is built on the cruelty toward others that they bonded over.
“If I were in charge, I’d have forgotten a few invites,” Bethany mutters.
Lloyd nods absently. “I tried. Dean saw through that.”
“Dean Franklin wasn’t here when we were. I’m sure that their records don’t hold them accountable for their actions at all. I doubt there’s even mention of it,” Dianna says.
“‘Boys will be boys,’” Rhodes and Sara say together.
The smile they share isn’t a happy, fond one.
“Anyway,” Lloyd says, turning his attention back to us. His smile is back in place. It’s the kind of smile I immediately respond to with one of my own. “Perhaps I’ll be able to catch up over dinner. A host’s duties never end.”
“It’s your reunion, too,” Heathcliff points out.
“Is it?” Lloyd muses as he turns away with a smile.
“Isn’t it?” I ask.
Rhodes snorts. “It is. That’s his way of saying he doesn’t get to enjoy it.”
“Ah.”
“What is after this?” Bethany asks as she reaches for the makings of eggs Benedict.
“Polo. Or maybe cricket,” Bobby answers. “One morning is one, and the other is the other. I don’t remember which comes first.”
“Rich kids really play those things?” I ask.
They look at me with laughter in their eyes. I smile, shrugging. My smile climbs when Rhodes’ hand lands on my thigh and he squeezes gently. I’m pleased when he doesn’t take his hand away.
“Yes,” Bethany says. “It’s our version of gym, I suppose. We didn’t have a basketball team or whatever. We had cricket, polo, and swimming in the winter months.”
“Huh,” I answer. “That sounds… exciting.”
“I promise, it’s just as exciting as it sounds,” Sara assures me.
I don’t really care what comes next. I’m actually enjoying the conversation with these people. The other two couples from last night join us after some time, and we linger around the table until it’s clear we need to leave to let housekeeping clean up.
The fields are through a path in the trees. They’re beyond the dorms and a short distance along a well-trodden trail that opens into a beautiful green grassy area with bleachers. In the distance, I can see stables where I’m guessing the horses are kept.
“Who signed up to play?” I ask. Rhodes looks in the direction of what I assume must be a locker room or equipment building of sorts. I’m somehow not surprised to see the four men who must have been real assholes back in high school in polo uniforms.
That actually explains a lot about how they managed to manipulate the student body. It wasn’t just money. It was their status within the school. They weren’t football stars because this kind of school doesn’t have football. But they were the equivalent of a quarterback and his entourage.
The kinds of people who could do no wrong because they were important and talented. Popular. Though maybe a different kind of popular, because the word alone indicates that people wanted to be them or be friends with them. That doesn’t seem to be the case in this situation.
Then again, we’re twenty years in the future. Perhaps it was different back then. In fact, I’m guessing it was. They continue to move around these people as if they still hold all the cards in their hands. As if their hold over their peers remains.
They haven’t quite figured it out yet, but they’re living in a very different world now. Even if they’re back on their old stomping grounds. Their peers remember, and their memories don’t paint them in a positive light.