Chapter 28
AREK
Kylen is in one of the little courtyards littered throughout the frat house. This is the same one I joined him in a couple months ago.
He’s there with Kole. They’re studying for finals, as I should probably be. Instead, I’m inside, sitting in a randomly placed chair in the hall, and watching my man as I try to ignore the itch of needing to kill the woman who touched Kylen as a child.
I can’t just take off at night and deal with her. We’re more than eight hours south of where he grew up. That’s more than an overnight trip.
Patience in this sense is not something I excel at. Not when it comes to protecting someone who belongs to me. Kylen is mine more than anyone else alive. He’s mine to protect. Mine to please. Mine to take care of.
His eyes rise and meet mine through the glass, and he smiles. It’s accompanied by pink cheeks, of course. I smile in return because he’s fucking adorably hot. Everything about him. His shy innocence keeps me hard all the damn time.
My phone rings, and I fish it from my pocket. A video call from my siblings. It’s weird missing them. I always miss them when I’m away, which says a lot since, according to experts, I don’t have the capacity to feel like that.
All three siblings are there when I answer, and my little box completes our quad group. My sisters are smiling, but Orev looks just as detached as I do. He’s there, so he has no reason to miss my siblings.
“Where are you?” Rosalie asks.
I glance around and then shrug. “Sitting in the hall.”
Both sisters frown. “Why?” Adalaide asks.
I hit the button that flips the camera so they’re looking at my view of Kylen in the courtyard. A chorus of “Ohhh,” responds as I flip the camera back.
“He’s adorable,” Rosalie says, grinning.
I nod. “He is.”
“When do we get to meet him?” Adalaide asks.
“I don’t know.”
“You’re bringing him home for Christmas, right?” she asks.
“No. I’m going home with him.”
The smiles on my sisters’ faces disappear. While Orev wasn’t smiling, his blank stare turns into a frown.
“You’re seriously not spending Christmas with us?” Rosalie demands.
“I’m not leaving Kylen,” I respond, shrugging.
“Why can’t you bring him?”
“I will, but probably not until after Christmas. He wants to be with his family.”
“And you don’t want to be with yours?” Rosalie demands.
“Of course, I do. But I’m not willing to be away from Kylen right now.”
Orev nods as if he understands. He probably does.
“You’re telling our dads,” Rosalie says. The background behind her blurs and rushes by until she stops at the couch where our fathers are sitting. Dad Oakley is sitting in Dad Loren’s lap. I have more memories of them sitting just like this than I do of them in any other position.
Rosalie leans in and shares the screen with my dads.
Dad Oakley smiles widely as Dad Loren rests his chin on Dad Oakley’s shoulder.
A smile barely touches him, but I know that little smile means far more than if he were plastering a wide one on his face.
The wide smiles are rarely genuine, and when they are, they’re not sane. You know, generally speaking.
“Hi, baby,” Dad Oakley says. “How’s school? Getting ready for finals?”
I nod and shrug at the same time. My major is criminal psychology.
It’s fascinating to look at criminal cases from the perspective of neurotypical people.
They often see something wildly different from what I see, and it’s fascinating to listen to their justification of their thoughts while simultaneously refusing to listen to someone else’s whose opinions differ.
“It’s fine,” I answer. “Grades are good. Finals shouldn’t be too bad.”
“Good. We can’t wait for you to come home. I’ll have a fresh batch of cookies waiting for you,” Dad Oakley says.
I sigh. There’s very little I miss more when it comes to food than my Dad Oakley’s cookies.
He’s got this online pop-up bakery that he and Uncle Imry do together.
Uncles Avory and Ellory are often involved, though they both insist it’s not their thing.
Uncle Ellory just enjoys making penis-shaped cookies.
“I’m not coming home right away,” I tell my dads, and both of their smiles disappear. Dad Oakley’s fades, but Dad Loren’s simply erases, and his eyes narrow. “I’m going with Kylen for a while, but we’ll be home after.”
“After Christmas,” Dad Loren says.
“Yes.”
Silence meets my answer.
“That’s not acceptable,” Dad Loren says after a minute has passed.
“Okay,” I answer.
His eyes narrow dangerously now, and I try not to smile. I wouldn’t put it past my dad to tie me up and force me home. My sense of boundaries is far more solid than my father’s. I’ve always found it amusing.
“A week,” I tell them. “I have something to take care of in Kylen’s hometown, and I’m not willing to wait longer than necessary.”
Orev nods his agreement. Even Adalaide does. Rosalie doesn’t, though not because she doesn’t agree. She does. She just wants me to come home now.
Dad Oakley’s expression turns from sad to concerned. “What happened?”
“He’s sitting in the hall,” Orev says, which is basically telling them I can’t talk freely right now.
“Why are you in the hall?” Dad Oakley asks.
As I did with my siblings, I turn my camera around to give them a view of Kylen. He looks up just as I do and flashes me a shy smile before burying his face back behind his tablet.
“Ah,” Dad answers.
I turn the camera back just as my cousins turn the corner. “There you are,” Okello says in exasperation. “You’re late!”
A heavy sigh leaves me as they lean down to press their cheek to mine so they can look into my phone. Okello smiles hugely. “Hi, Uncles. Cousins.”
My sisters and Dad Oakley smile in return. Orev and Dad Loren have nearly identical expressions—bland with an eyebrow raised.
“Hey, Kell,” Adalaide greets.
“I’m stealing Arek now. He’s late for family bonding time,” Okello announces.
“I hate family bonding time,” I mutter.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Okello says, and kisses my cheek. They wave at my family, and I end the call without another word to glare at Okello.
“Come on.” Without waiting for my answer, Okello grips my wrist and drags me to my feet.
Daxton stands passively off to the side, hands in his pockets, watching with amusement.
I glower at him. Once, I used to appeal to him to be on my side.
It didn’t take me long to realize that he’s always on Okello’s side, even if he doesn’t like Okello’s side.
“I’m not leaving this spot,” I insist and relieve my hand from their hold. Not harshly, because I wouldn’t actually hurt my cousin. Even if they annoy me.
Okello frowns. “I know you don’t actually hate family time.
” There’s hurt in their voice. I can hear it.
It’s the one emotion I’ve committed to memory with all my cousins.
It sounds different on every one of them, which is inconvenient, but because I love my family and I don’t want to hurt them in any way, I’ve spent a lot of time learning what their hurt sounds like.
I glance at Kylen. “I don’t,” I concede, “but I’m not leaving Kylen.”
“So bring him with,” Okello says, beaming again.
“He’s studying,” I argue weakly.
“A few hours,” Okello argues. “Come on.”
There’s honestly no use arguing. Okello won’t let it go. Besides, this seems like a good enough excuse to have Kylen in my arms again.
Without answering them, I walk to the courtyard and pull the door open. Kylen was already looking up since Okello stepped beside me. He’d been watching me.
I stand over him and lean down to place a kiss on his mouth, my hand around his neck. He smiles, even as his cheeks turn my very favorite shade of pink. “Feel like taking a break?” I ask.
Kylen nods. “Okay.”
“My cousins are bullying me into family time.”
He smiles. “Sure. I’ll just pack up.”
“Want to bring your things upstairs? I can wait at the front door for you.”
“Yep. Okay.”
I kiss him again, this time letting my mouth linger over his.
I’m trying not to be obsessive about him remaining in my sight. It’s difficult because I know his predator is still out there. She’s free. Unpunished.
I’d like to say that my concern is for all the other kids she’s likely abusing, like she did Kylen. People like her never stop at just one. Especially not when they’ve gotten away with it for as long as she has. Something my brother confirmed.
However, I don’t care about other kids. I care about Kylen. I care about punishing his abuser. The kids who will be freed after or spared from her abuse, and the adults who have carried around the same burden Kylen has for years? That’s all happenstance.
Okello grips my arm in their hands as we head for the front door. As if they’re afraid I’m going to slip away.
“I’m going to revoke your permission of entrance into DIK,” I mutter.
They laugh. “That’s okay. Emric will give it back after break when he’s inducted.”
I scowl at Okello and then Daxton for never keeping them in check.
Thankfully, it’s not Emric at the door in nothing but a sheer strip of fabric. He’s probably already at Okello and Daxton’s apartment. Juno probably is too.
Today, it’s Marlon. Interestingly, he’s not in something skimpy or provocative. He’s in one of those strange foam suits. You know, like bananas or carrots. This one is a fish.
“Let me guess,” Daxton says. “You’re a marlin?”
Marlon rolls his eyes. “Clever, aren’t they?”
Okello laughs freely. “I love it!”
Marlon sighs as he opens the door. “I’m honestly not sure if this is worse than my dick hanging out with a string of beads hanging from the hammock tip, suggesting that I’m coming,” he grumbles.
Okay, that’s funny. I remember laughing riotously at it. The laughter continued throughout my following class, and I found myself chuckling under my breath periodically as I thought about it.
I don’t know who thinks of these costumes, but Emric aside, they’re often funny. We have a ShareIt account dedicated to our initiates’ costumes, and it’s nearly as popular as our porn accounts.
We’re not waiting for more than a few minutes when Kylen joins us with Kole looking grumpy at his side. She doesn’t want to go. That’s clear. It’s also clear that she’s not willing to let Kylen go anywhere without her.
Kole has been up his ass constantly over the past week.
It’s getting to the point where Kylen is getting frustrated.
Two afternoons ago, he told Kole that she needed to go or she’d have to watch him sit on my dick.
I was a little bit surprised when she actually hesitated.
Kylen was horrified, of course, and shoved her bodily out the door.
“Oh my god,” Okello says, their peals of laughter are loud as he stares between Kylen and me. “You made him wear that hoodie, didn’t you?”
Kylen’s hoodie says, ‘Bulges make me smile.’ Which, yes, I purposefully made him wear since my tee reads, ‘I know you’re looking at my bulge.
’ I’ve gone so far as to pair it with my sweats that proudly claim, ‘It’s freeballing weather.
’ Since I couldn’t get behind false advertisement, I am freeballing.
Kylen hides his burning face against my shoulder as I don’t bother to contain my wide smile. “Yes, I did.”
“That’s fucking awesome. Do your siblings know you make him dress to match you in the shirts they sent along?”
I tilt my head. “No.”
“I’m taking a picture. Smile,” Okello demands as they pull out their phone.
“Oh my god,” Kylen whines, but besides hiding his face, he doesn’t obstruct the view of my too-big hoodie.
Beside us, Kole snorts, though I also don’t miss the way she rolls her eyes. As if she’s fighting her amusement.
“I’m sorry in advance,” Daxton tells Kylen. “Since Arek is shit at introductions, I’m Daxton. This is Okello.”
“Hi,” Kylen greets with a hot red face that I want to lick more than a little bit. He gives them a timid, awkward wave.
“Come on,” Okello says as they’re looking into their phone and tapping away. Probably sending our matching shirts to the entire family. We’re going to find it on the family app and not just in a text chain. I know I’m right when I feel my phone buzz in my pocket. Fucker.
“Juno and Emric are already at our place,” Okello says. “We’ll stop and get something to eat on the way.”
“Aren’t you undergrads?” Kole asks.
Both of my cousins nod. Daxton is three years older than Okello, but he’d never leave Okello, so he waited until they graduated high school and then took a year off before coming to school. They’re in their first year.
“Yep,” Okello answers, grinning.
“I thought the school rule was that undergrads needed to live on campus,” she says.
“It is,” Okello says, their smile widening. “Now ask me if I care.”
Kole grudgingly huffs, trying to hide her amusement. She likes my cousins. She likes their rebellion and their loud refusal to be silent about things that are important to them.
“We explained that it’s a waste of their resources to insist we have dorm rooms because we wouldn’t be living in them,” Daxton says, shrugging. “Rules are rules and all that shit, but unless they plan to tie us to the beds or put us on leashes, there are two beds that have never been slept in.”
“By us,” Okello clarifies. “We have no idea what our roommates have done with them. I hope they’re using them for fun sleepovers. Or sex parties.”
“Personal orgies,” Kole says, nodding.
“That’s dumb. Omegas throw the best sex parties. They’re wasting their time competing against a group of people whose sole purpose is to put on sex parties,” I say.
Kylen laughs.
“Do the girls put on sex parties? The sororities?” Okello asks.
“Yep,” Kole answers. “The Sigmas are a lot like the Omegas, and the Alphas are like the DIKs, if we’re assigning them roles. Sigma throws parties and sex events and shit, but the Alphas have businesses like DIK.”
“Do they collaborate? Like DIK has a business idea and then they share it with the Alphas and vice versa?” Okello asks.
Kole shrugs. “I know Rumor was started like that. The Alpha version of Rumor is Opine.”
We all look at Kole. Okello and Kylen are making faces.
“That’s a weird word,” Daxton says. “I’m not sure I’ve ever heard it.”
“It basically means preach and lecture and shit like that,” Kole says, smirking wickedly. “Like a fuck you to the pearl clutchers.”
“Ohhh,” Okello says and laughs madly. “I love everything about that!”
Kole nods. “Same.”
Kylen leans into my side, and I release his hand to wrap my arm around his waist while Kole sheds her grumpiness to chat with Okello and Daxton. We listen, and I think, much like Kole, I grudgingly admit that this won’t be such a bad afternoon after all.