26. Blaze
BLAZE
“Where’d you get that hickey, Bouchard?” Zayden asks me suspiciously. He’s holding a cooler, and I open the door for him so he can get it out into the backyard, where the firepit is already lit.
A good third of the frat has gathered for an impromptu summer cookout. With booze, of course.
I smile at him. “A gentleman doesn’t kiss and tell.”
I’m not ashamed or worried about the fact that I was with Pandora, but I don’t want to deal with Zayden’s temper tantrum about me flouting his authority or whatever it is that sets him off.
He should be grateful my dad gives him as much attention as he does.
“I don’t see any gentlemen around here,” Zayden counters. He knocks against my shoulder as he walks past me with a simple, sarcastic, “Sorry.”
I roll my eyes. Under other circumstances, I might have taken him to task for it, but I’m in too good of a mood to care.
While Zayden and the others set up the impromptu party, I check my phone again.
Pandora
Are you part animal?
There’s a picture of her chest attached, the nipples just out of frame, showing off all the marks Asch and I had left on her. My cock is stirring at the sight, our scratches and kisses and the few remaining scabs from where Asch had cut her.
I type back.
Blaze
I don’t know what I’m looking at. Can you take another picture, zoomed out?
It takes a few seconds, then I get another photo. I laugh when it loads. It’s Pandora’s middle finger, neon pink nail and all.
Asch strolls up to me, and I note the dark hickeys on his neck. Pandora and I aren’t the only ones who’d been marked up from our night together, and it seems none of us care about hiding them.
“Hey,” he greets me. “Are you going to help out or…” He trails off and looks at the phone. “Stare at pictures of middle fingers?”
I scroll up to show Asch the other photo. “It’s a picture of a manicure, I think.” I clap Asch on the shoulder. “What still needs doing? Zayden, we got all the drinks?”
Zayden holds up a bottle of beer. “Yeah. Franklin and Keegan are on the grill. You guys need anything?”
Franklin holds up his spatula and waves. “We got all the meat. I guess if you need condiments?”
I’m about to agree, when the door opens again and River walks out with the tray of mayo, ketchup, and mustard. He’s got a deep scowl on his face like he wants to murder even the fireflies.
“Perfect,” I say, clapping him on the shoulder. “It’s like you’re psychic.”
He goes rigid beneath my touch. “Or, the more likely situation, that someone asked me to bring these out,” he retorts.
“Someone’s bitchy tonight,” Asch notes.
River glares at him. “I’m not bitchy.” He shoulder-checks me on the way to where Franklin is standing.
“Someone is definitely bitchy,” Asch tells me, shaking his head. “Think he’s pissed because we didn’t invite him out on our date with Pandora?”
“Yeah, duh,” I say. I watch River and Franklin chatting, Franklin very eager and animated while he points to something on the grill. River seems to relax while talking to Franklin.
My phone buzzes again, and I see another text from Pandora.
Pandora
What’s a good number for a booty call?
I laugh again, drawing Asch’s attention.
“Have we ever met a girl as horny as her?” I ask.
“Maybe um… I forget her name,” Asch replies. “The chick from freshman year? You know, the one who wouldn’t stop blowing up our phones at three a.m. when she couldn’t sleep?”
She hadn’t been as interesting as Pandora, though, and it had been easy to kick her to the curb.
“Her name was Lisa,” I say, ruffling Asch’s hair and making him roll his eyes. “How did you ever get laid before me, man? If you keep forgetting their names.”
It’s good to see that he’s in a better mood than he was at the start of our date the other night, though. His moping seriously pissed me off, to the point where I’d almost wondered if I should leave him behind at the restaurant.
I can’t do that to him though.
Asch is Asch.
Pandora wouldn’t have wanted to leave him behind, either. Not like Lisa, who suggested a few times that I could do better than Asch.
Yeah, it had been very easy to kick her to the curb.
“My natural charm,” he says with a snort. “The problem wasn’t getting laid. It was getting the same chick twice.”
My phone buzzes again, and this time Pandora sent me a picture of a large, neon pink dildo… with a snake curled around it. I shudder and hold the phone out for Asch to see.
Pandora
No takers? Guess it’s just me and Echo tonight…
“Echo? Is that the name of the dildo?” I ask, squinting at the picture.
“It’s probably the name of the snake,” Asch says, his voice dry. “I mean, if I had to guess.” He takes the phone from me. “But that thing would give anyone a complex. It’s bigger than you are.”
I snatch the phone back and enlarge the photo. “No way. It’s a small snake, and the dildo only looks big in comparison.”
I hope it’s a small snake. Where the fuck did she even find it? Doesn’t the school spray for pests like that?
I type back.
Blaze
We’re at a frat thing. You aren’t invited.
But take pics of your stretched wide cunt, and we might show up later tonight.
Pandora
Who’s “we”?
Blaze
The royal we.
Pandora
Oh, I thought you meant Asch and River too. I’ll make sure to use the smaller vibe if you’re the only one showing up.
Asch, peering over my shoulder, laughs. “Savage,” he says. He snatches my phone from my hands before I can stop him and texts her.
Blaze
What if I send Asch instead?
Pandora
No prep at all, I’ll just use his tongue.
Asch huffs out another laugh. “You eat a girl out once…” he drawls.
One of the guys exiting the kitchen, Brock, overhears us. “You ate a girl out? Gross. Doesn’t it taste like fish?”
I glare at Brock. “Seriously?”
Brock shrugs, but I can see him getting nervous. “I didn’t mean you, Blaze. But Asch is… Girls get really bossy if they think you… uh.”
I give him a nasty smile. “No, go on. Explain it to us.”
“Yeah, Brock,” Asch says. “Continue. I’d love to hear how you failed to pleasure even one woman.”
Brock looks toward the firepit, where the others are drinking and chatting. “Hey! Tate! You agree, right? Eating a woman out is gross!”
The big guy sitting next to Zayden raises his beer. He’s on the hockey team, I think, and has the mental capacity of a guy who has suffered one too many concussions. The hand not holding the beer has a vape in it.
“For real! It’s nasty! Only gay guys go down on women!” Tate shouts. He takes a puff of his vape and exhales a billowing cloud of vapor.
“I highly, highly doubt that gay guys go down on women, seeing as how they’re into… you know… men,” Asch drawls.
Tate gives Asch a very confused look. “What? What’s that got to do with anything?”
Brock groans and rubs his eyes. “I just meant, women should know that there’s no point. It’s not like they can orgasm.”
Asch and I look at each other, then back to Brock.
“Wait,” I say, honestly baffled. “Do you think that it’s impossible?”
Brock edges away from us. “They fake moan and pretend, but we all know it’s for show. Like in porn. ”
“No wonder you can’t get a real girlfriend,” Asch replies, shaking his head. “Do you even try to make them come, or are you… You know what, I really don’t care.”
“Now I really need a fucking drink.” I walk over to the cooler and grab three beers. I pass one to Asch. “Hey! River!”
River’s back straightens, and he turns to glare at me. “What?”
I go over to him and pass him a beer. “Brock here thinks women can’t orgasm. That going down on a chick is pointless .”
His expression darkens even more. “Try telling Pan— some of them that,” he replies.
Huh. If I recall, he’d said something to Asch about making sure to go down on Pandora if she wanted it. It had already been in the plans, of course, but now I really want to know why River even brought it up.
They must have fucked before they met us. I don’t even remember if they’d told us how long they’ve been friends.
Another thing to look into, along with the whole Rachel thing.
I notice Franklin blushing and getting very interested in flipping burgers. I put an arm around his shoulders and pull him away. He yelps awkwardly.
“Hey, Blaze. I need to watch the patties,” he says, but I don’t loosen my hold.
“You’ve got a girlfriend, right, Franklin? Sandra? You’re still with her.” I point to the rest of the guys. “What do you think? Would Sandra like you more if you just stuck it in and pounded her?”
If I recall, Sandra had been boring as fuck, so I don’t think she’d enjoy a rough session that left her torn up and bruised.
She’s not like Pandora.
Franklin starts stammering. “Um. I mean. That is… Sandra and I, we, um, we haven’t…”
“Lay off him, Blaze,” River says steadily. “Franklin doesn’t need to rush into anything.”
Asch appraises River, but he doesn’t comment on that.
Of course, now everybody else knows that Franklin hasn’t slept with his girlfriend, and all the guys start laughing and teasing Franklin about it.
“Is she even that hot?” Zayden remarks, while Tate and Brock laugh about Sandra’s slightly larger figure.
Franklin goes completely still.
“Good job, River,” I hiss at him.
River glares at me. “You’re the one who brought it up,” he snaps back. He grabs Franklin’s arm. “Come on, dude. Let’s go find the cups or whatever.”
Tate laughs. “Yeah, he’s gonna need the beer goggles to fuck her.” He takes another hit of his vape.
“You think it’s like fatty tuna down there?” Brock adds.
I let go of Franklin and stalk over to Brock. He’s still laughing, right up until I grab him out of his camper chair and toss him into the lawn.
“You think you’re some hotshot because you can’t even figure out where a woman’s clit is, you dumbfuck?” I ask him, stomping down on his hand.
Brock cries out. “What the fuck! What the fuck!”
I raise my foot and bring it down hard on his stomach. Brock’s mouth opens up in a large gasp.
“Show some respect for your frat brother’s girl,” I growl. “If you can’t do that, you’re fucking out of here.”