Chapter 11 #2
She wrapped herself around me like an octopus on a mission, face buried in my neck in a dramatic display that would make soap opera actresses proud. “Please, please, please! I’m dying here, Lan! Your best friend privileges are at stake!”
The door creaked open just as Bree was doing her best koala impression on me. Nico stood there, freezing mid-step like he’d walked in on something scandalous. “Lan, we’ve got something for— Oh…”
“It’s not what you think,” I said flatly. Though honestly, at this point, I wasn’t sure what anyone thought anymore. My life had become a sitcom without the laugh track. Or maybe with the laugh track, but it was just the universe cackling at my misfortune.
Nico’s knowing smirk made me want to throw something at him. Preferably something heavy. Like a dictionary. Or Colt.
The door swung wider, revealing Ben, Chris, and Josh clustered behind him like paparazzi at a celebrity sighting.
“Are you two making out?” Ben asked, waggling his eyebrows in a way that made me want to staple them to his forehead.
“No, we’re not. Bree is just being… Bree.” I pried her arms off me while she grinned like the Cheshire cat on catnip. “It’s a condition. The doctors say there’s no cure.”
“I’m just trying to extract secrets from my best friend,” she announced cheerfully, like that made it better. “He’s being stubborn about it.”
Nico’s eyebrows shot up so high they nearly disappeared into his hairline. “Secrets?” His gaze zeroed in on me like a heat-seeking missile. “Well, well, well… What kind of secrets would our innocent little Lan be hiding?”
He sauntered in, his friends trailing behind like ducklings, and suddenly my room felt about as spacious as a shoebox.
Ben was clutching what looked suspiciously like a stack of magazines, and my stomach dropped.
I knew that guilty look. I’d seen it enough times on Nico’s face to know exactly what kind of ‘literature’ they were about to unleash.
Please don’t be porn. Please don’t be—
“We brought you these!” Nico announced with all the pride of someone presenting a Nobel Prize instead of questionable material.
Ben deposited the pile in the middle of our little gathering like he was making an offering to some deity of dubious tastes.
“I don’t want those,” I hissed, pushing the stack away like it might bite me. “And in case you haven’t noticed, Bree is right here!”
“She’s twenty-one,” Nico shrugged, like that solved everything. “Old enough to appreciate the art form. Besides, we’re all adults here.”
“Some of us more than others,” I muttered, eyeing him pointedly.
Bree’s laugh bubbled up, bright and mischievous. “Trust me, those aren’t my taste.” She reached for her backpack with the air of someone about to trump everyone else’s hand. “Now these…” She pulled out her own stack of manga with a flourish. “These are art.”
She dropped her collection of BL manga right on top of the porn magazines like she was making a statement. Which, knowing Bree, she absolutely was.
“These two are totally going at it,” Ben announced, turning the book sideways as if that would help him understand what he was seeing better. “Is that even physically possible? That angle defies the laws of physics.”
“Oh, just wait.” Bree leaned over, flipping a few pages ahead with the confidence of a professor about to reveal a groundbreaking theory.
“This scene is where it gets really interesting. See how the dominant one is all protective but still respects the other’s boundaries? That’s quality content right there.”
Nico frowned, squinting at the pages like he was trying to decipher ancient hieroglyphics. “Hold up—where are the dicks? I mean, if you’re gonna draw guys doing the dirty, at least show us the goods.”
Ground, please swallow me now. Or better yet, swallow them. All of them. Especially Bree, who’s clearly enjoying my suffering way too much.
“Censorship,” Bree explained sagely, like she was imparting great wisdom.
“Japanese publishing laws.” Her eyes lit up with that dangerous gleam I knew too well—the one that usually preceded me wanting to find a new best friend.
“But if you want to see everything…” She whipped out her phone, fingers flying over the screen. “Korean BL webtoons don’t hold back.”
“Holy shit!” Nico’s eyes went wide as saucers at whatever she’d pulled up. The others crowded around her phone like moths to a flame, their expressions shifting from curiosity to shock to something that looked disturbingly like appreciation.
“The art is gorgeous,” Ben breathed, clearly forgetting his earlier discomfort. “And it’s all in color!”
“Are those…” Chris squinted, his face turning scarlet. “Light sabers?”
“More like baseball bats,” Josh whistled. “Is that even anatomically possible? Like, do they need medical attention afterward?”
“Look at how hot these guys are,” Nico gushed, completely abandoning any pretense of heterosexual curiosity. “Like damn, those abs! I need to step up my gym game.”
I rolled my eyes so hard I probably saw my brain. Great. Bree just created a BL fan club in my bedroom. Next, they’ll be writing fanfiction about characters from Nico’s video games. Actually, knowing Nico, he probably already does.
The door creaked open, and Colt’s imposing figure filled the frame, his broad shoulders practically touching both sides.
There was something different about his energy as he entered—more aggressive, more territorial, like an animal sensing a threat to its domain.
“Please tell me this isn’t turning into an orgy.
I just cleaned the living room, and I’m not in the mood to disinfect another space today. ”
“Nope!” Bree chirped, not even slightly intimidated by Colt’s brooding presence. “Just converting your brothers to the joys of Boys’ Love manga. Educational purposes only. You’re welcome to join the seminar.”
Colt’s eyes swept the room before landing on me, that familiar glint appearing—the one that always preceded some form of torment.
But there was something else there too—a hunger that seemed out of place, almost predatory.
His pupils dilated slightly as our eyes met, and his nostrils flared just like Jaxson’s had earlier.
His lips curved into a smirk that made me want to throw something at his stupidly handsome face.
Preferably something that would mess up that perfect hair he probably spent an hour on this morning.
“Quite the education you’re getting here, little brother.” The way he emphasized those last words made my skin prickle. Even his tone changed when addressing me—sharp where it was warm with others, pointed where it was playful. It was like he had a special voice just for making me uncomfortable.
“Shut up, Colt,” I muttered, which only made his smirk wider. It was like telling a cat not to knock things off tables—it just made them more determined.
“She’s expanded our horizons,” Ben declared solemnly, still engrossed in Bree’s phone. “I feel like I understand art on a deeper level now.”
“That’s not all you understand deeply.” Chris snickered, earning himself an elbow to the ribs from Ben.
Colt chuckled at the others but kept his predatory gaze on me, like a wolf who’d spotted the weakest member of the herd. “Well, as fascinating as this cultural exchange is, the burgers are ready. Unless Lan’s planning to hide in here all night? Jaxson’s been asking where you disappeared to.”
There it was again—that subtle jab, that slight edge to his voice that he reserved just for me.
I gritted my teeth, trying not to react to the mention of Jaxson.
The last thing I needed was Colt picking up on that particular vulnerability.
He was like a shark with blood in the water when it came to finding ways to torment me.
“Food!” Nico scrambled up like someone had lit a fire under him, nearly knocking over Chris in his haste. “I’m starving!”
“You’re always starving.” Colt’s voice softened as he addressed Nico, the edge completely gone. “It’s like feeding a black hole with legs.”
“A black hole with excellent taste,” Nico corrected, already halfway out the door. “Come on, guys! Last one to the kitchen gets the burnt burger!”
One by one, they filed out, though not before extracting promises from Bree to send them links to more webtoons.
“I’ll be right back—bathroom,” Bree announced, squeezing past Colt who was still blocking the doorway like some kind of unfairly attractive bouncer. “Don’t start the party without me.”
I moved to follow her, but Colt’s arm shot out, barring my exit with all the subtlety of a medieval drawbridge.
His forearm—annoyingly muscular and currently level with my chest—might as well have been a steel beam for all the give it had.
A steel beam that, despite my best efforts not to notice, was attached to a body that belonged on fitness magazine covers.
“Excuse me,” I said, injecting as much sarcasm into those two words as humanly possible. “Some of us would like to rejoin civilization.”
“Make me,” he challenged, the corner of his mouth quirking up in that infuriating half smile that always sent a confusing flutter through my stomach. It wasn’t fair that someone so irritating could look so good while being irritating. That should be against some law of nature.
I rolled my eyes, trying to ignore the way his presence seemed to fill the entire doorframe, strong and solid and oddly magnetic. “What are you, twelve? Move your arm before I bite it.”
He chuckled, the sound low and rich in a way that sent an involuntary shiver down my spine. “You’re welcome to try, but I don’t think you’d like the consequences.”
There was something in his eyes that made my breath catch—a heat that contradicted his cool demeanor, a hunger that had nothing to do with the burgers waiting in the kitchen.