Chapter 10
DAMON
I check my watch for what feels like the millionth time since I got to The Crypt, but to my dismay, less than three minutes have passed since the last time I looked.
The Crypt is an old, abandoned house on the outskirts of campus that’s surrounded by woods on two sides and a field on the others.
No one really knows why it’s here or what its original purpose was, but now it’s used as a party house, or for things like frat initiations where pledges have to spend the night in the house while senior members scare the piss out of them.
There’s no schedule for using it, and it’s in No Man’s Land, which just means that it’s not controlled by any of the four frats like every other building on campus is.
At Silvercrest, the campus is divided into four quadrants, with one of the frats in each section. That’s why the frats are sometimes called The Four Corners, and the frats basically have free rein to do whatever they want within their areas of control.
If I didn’t go here, I probably wouldn’t believe someone if they tried to explain the system to me because it’s just so outlandish. Especially how no one seems to bat an eye at the startlingly high number of crimes that happen here, or how most of those crimes seem to go unpunished.
It’s crazy and absurd, but so is pretty much everything else when you live in our world.
Out of habit, I check my watch again. Five more minutes, then I can finally get the fuck out of here.
Leaning back against the wall I’ve been standing in front of for the last hour and a half, I scan the room to make sure no one is being a dumbass or causing problems.
The only thing worse than being forced to go to a party I don’t want to attend is having to do a security shift at said party.
But at least I pulled the first shift, so people are still acting like normal humans and haven’t devolved into drunken messes that need to be babysat.
And it means I can leave as soon as I’m done with my shift without anyone asking questions.
“Hey,” Connor, one of my frat brothers, says as he comes to stand with me.
“Hey.” I raise my voice so he can hear me over the music. “Are you my replacement?”
“Yup.” He leans against the wall next to me. “You look like you’re plotting everyone’s demise.” He bumps his arm against mine. “Or that could just be your face.”
“Two things can be true,” I say, shooting him a little smirk.
Connor might be a founding legacy like me, but he’s on an entirely different level from us mere mortals.
Connor, his twin brother, and their two best friends are all the first sons of the most powerful and influential founding families of the frat, and they’re as close as brothers.
They grew up together, and everyone knows that if you fuck with one of them, you’re fucking with all of them.
And unlike most people in the Keepers, who prefer more subtle forms of power and revenge like subterfuge and sabotage, they’re not afraid to get their hands dirty and take what they want.
One would think they’d be arrogant asshats, considering how much power and impunity they have, but they’re actually pretty chill if you don’t get on their bad sides.
Unlike a lot of our frat brothers, they don’t have issues with my loner ways or my tendency to do the bare minimum of what’s expected of me.
And they seem to appreciate my “fuck it” attitude and nihilistic outlook, so I don’t foresee them having any issues with any of the other brothers when they take over leadership next year.
We haven’t had elections yet, and there are still a few weeks before people can even submit their names, but they’ve proven themselves over the past two and a half years, and only a moron with a death wish would try to run against them.
He chuckles and looks around the dim room, his gaze sharp and calculating.
“How’d you get stuck doing security?” I ask.
“Let’s just say there was an incident at Belmont House that I may or may not have been involved in.”
“Did you and your better half get caught doing something—or someone—you shouldn’t?” I shoot him a knowing smirk.
“I can neither confirm nor deny that allegation.” His words are neutral, but his grin says that’s exactly what happened.
“Is Hazen on security watch too?” I look around to see if I can spot his twin and partner in crime in the crowd.
“Nah, I took the heat for this one.” He glances at his watch. “Want to do the turnover now? It’s pretty much time to switch anyway.”
“Sure.” I motion to the room around us. “Absolutely nothing of interest has happened, and there’s nothing to report.”
He huffs out a soft laugh. “Sounds about right. You going to stick around, or bounce?”
“Bounce,” I say quickly. “Are you good, or do you want me to stay until my shift is officially over?”
“I’m good. Enjoy the rest of your night.” He holds out his fist for me to bump.
I tap my knuckles against his. “You too.”
He leans back against the wall and sweeps his gaze over the room again, and I take that as my cue to leave.
Cutting through the couples and small groups around me, I grab my jacket and make a beeline for the main doors but stop when someone steps in front of me and blocks my path.
“Are you leaving?” Mia asks, looking up at me with naked desire in her eyes.
“Yeah, I have somewhere I need to be,” I lie.
“Are you sure you don’t want to stay?” she asks in a sultry tone.
I shake my head. “I really can’t.
“Are you sure?” she repeats and runs her hand down the front of my jacket. “I think we can find something to do that will make it worth your while.”
I resist the urge to step out of her reach and give her one of my trademark smirk-smiles. “Tempting, but I really can’t.”
I try to sidestep her, but she shifts in front of me, once again blocking my path.
“What if I told you I’m not the only one asking?” She glances to her right.
I follow her gaze and find Kaylee, her best friend, standing a few feet away and giving me some serious bedroom eyes.
“I think the three of us could have some fun together, don’t you?” Mia asks, the implication clear as she lets that hang in the air.
“Tempting,” I say again, giving her a lazy grin. “But I can’t. I really do have somewhere I need to be.”
“Are you sure there’s nothing we can do that will change your mind?” She leans closer and bends over slightly, giving me a better view of her ample cleavage.
“I really have to go,” I say, trying to sound regretful and not annoyed. “Frat business,” I add.
Her lip comes out in a pout, but she doesn’t protest when I step around her and stride outside.
The cool air is a welcome change after the stuffiness inside The Crypt, and I tuck my hands in the pockets of my jacket as I cut across the field and head away from the house.
Kaylee and Mia’s invitation to enjoy a little ménage à trois isn’t a new thing, and there was a time when I would have taken them up on it.
But having girls who do everything they can to avoid me when we’re around campus throw themselves at me the moment they feel like taking a walk on the wild side is getting old.
My first few years here, it was like winning the lottery.
I got all the action I wanted and never had to worry about drama or anyone wanting more than a night of meaningless sex.
That was fun for a while, but like everything else that’s easy, it started to lose its appeal.
Now I’d rather just take care of things myself than deal with everything that goes into hooking up with people who want nothing to do with me when the lights are back on.
A flash of a memory hits out of nowhere, and it’s like I’m transported to a different place and time for a few moments.
Darkness and a low, masculine groan. Strong hands in my hair.
A hard cock stretching my lips and sliding over my tongue.
The musky taste of man and the smell of clean sweat and something spicy I can’t place.
Shaking my head like I’m trying to physically shake those thoughts away, I quicken my steps. The last thing I need to think about right now is Xave and what happened in the smash room at the rave. In fact, it would be great if I could stop thinking about it at all.
I haven’t seen him since the night in my hotel room a week ago, but that’s not unusual.
We don’t have any classes together, and we don’t share any friends, mostly because I don’t have those.
We’re in completely different worlds while still sharing a campus.
I have zero reasons to think about him at all, but that doesn’t stop my brain from randomly reliving the few moments of our hookup that I remember at the most random times.
My neck and chest flush hot as my dick perks up.
Xave is the only guy I’ve ever messed around with, and after years of wondering what it would be like, the little snippets of memories that I have from our encounter have been my prime spank bank material for the past week, and I’ve jerked off to thoughts of him more times than I care to count.
The novelty of it—and not being able to remember most of what happened between us—is why I’m so obsessed. It has to be. There’s no other reason I’m still thinking about him when I’ve never really spared any of my past partners a second thought after the deed was done.
And it’s not like Xave is the first person I’ve hooked up with and not remembered after. I’ve had drunk and high hookups, but none of those left any sort of lasting impression on me.
It has to be because he’s a guy, and being with him awakened a part of my sexuality that I’ve spent years actively suppressing and denying.
It has nothing to do with him or what we did. It’s just his biology that’s gotten me all worked up.