Chapter 25
AUGUST
Torin was constantly covering for Minho, and it amused the shit out of me.
Minnie had been trying to push my buttons since the week we’d both joined the team, and I refused to take the bait.
It also entertained the hell out of me that Tor was so willing to play along and take the blame, instead of letting me lose my temper at Minho.
Well, joke was on them: I hated lemon cheesecake. Arguably the worst cheesecake available, and I knew for a fact that Tor also hated all things citrus, so to see him shoveling it into his mouth to cover for Minnie? Adorable.
“Are you coming to bed now?” I asked my best friend as we headed back upstairs, leaving Minho to flirt with our newest team member as if he were actually going to make a move, when we all knew he was too straight for that.
Torin, on the other hand…
“Um, I need to go tidy up my art studio,” he admitted with a sheepish smile. “I left it a bit of a mess when I went downstairs before.”
I frowned, confused. Tor never left his studio in a mess. While he was working, sure, it looked like a whole damn cyclone had hit, but he always cleaned up before he left the room so it was perfect when he returned.
“That’s new,” I murmured, not wanting to ask what I really wanted to ask, which was whether it was the magnetic allure of Noah who’d influenced him into breaking habits.
To be clear, I liked the new guy. I really did.
He was funny and quirky and braver than almost anyone I’d met—-not to mention he was keeping Xavier’s ego firmly in check.
But Torin’s infatuation was growing irritating.
Noah was taking up valuable real estate in Torin’s head that used to belong to me, his best friend.
Then again, I could understand where he was coming from. I, too, had spent more than a few evenings imagining a certain team member on his knees with his mouth wrapped around my cock and my hands in his pretty blond hair…
“I won’t be long,” Tor said, continuing past our bedroom toward his studio on the top floor of the house.
He already had that distracted, faraway look in his eyes that said he would be ages because the muse had struck him and he wouldn’t stop until he’d satisfied the itch to draw or paint or sculpt or whatever medium his current mood demanded.
I shook my head with a sigh, heading into our shared room to get ready for bed. We all kept pretty weird hours these days; both Xavier and Skye had headed to bed hours ago. Me, Tor, and Minho often stayed up until roughly midnight, but Ace wouldn’t sleep until nearly dawn, like a damn vampire.
Z had no sleep schedule at all and couldn’t be predicted. Noah, apparently, had developed insomnia since returning to Mount Olympus. Trauma related, no doubt, which was not unexpected, considering what he went through with Ace.
My phone started vibrating on my bed as I hunted for clothes to sleep in, and I picked it up to see my little sister, Maria, video calling.
“Shouldn’t you be asleep right now?” I asked when I answered the call, trying to look stern despite how pleased I was to hear from her. “You have early classes tomorrow, don’t you?”
“It’s not even midnight, Augie. Lighten up,” she replied with a dramatic eye roll. “Besides, you’re awake.”
“I’m an adult,” I reminded her. “You’re in high school.” Which I pay a hell of a lot of money for, so you’d damn well better be taking it seriously.
“Yeah, yeah, how are you, anyway? When are we going to see new Team Olympus content? Are Noah and Ace recovered from the attack? What happened at the camp thing? Is it true there was a murder?” My sister was an avid follower of the team content and had taken to checking in with me on the regular just for insider information, which she didn’t know that I knew she used as social currency with her classmates.
Sneaky little entrepreneur. Luckily, I never gave her anything that could land me or the team in trouble.
Just enough that she came off cool to the snobby trust--fund babies at her boarding school.
I sighed, reclining on my bed to indulge her as best I could without endangering my team or our agreements.
“Um, yeah, Ace and Noah are back. We are getting a new Clik Games challenge tomorrow, I think, so we will have to start filming more content straightaway. Tor was doing a pottery timelapse today that he’ll likely post in the morning. ”
“Oh, yay!” She gave a little excited squeal. “I love when he gets the clay out and does that thing where he slaps it with a wet hand and—-”
“Maria!” I exclaimed, cutting her off before she could go too far. But at the same time… Same, girl. “You’re a child. Please do not sexually objectify my friend like that.”
She rolled her eyes again. “I’m sixteen, and he sexually objectifies himself. Don’t even get me started on Minho Park. If you ever let me visit—-”
“If I ever let you visit, the guys would treat you exactly as I do: like a giant pain in my ass. Now why don’t you tell me about that B--minus I saw on your report card at the end of last semester?
What subject was that in?” Sometimes I felt like her parent, not her big brother, but considering we’d lost our father when I was only ten and Maria was four, I guess I kind of was.
Our mom sure as hell checked out after that day, so someone needed to take responsibility.
It was just fortunate that I had the skills to earn a decent wage, even as a child—-if I could even have called myself a child after what I’d done and seen by that age.
“I don’t want to talk about it.” Maria pouted. “Tell me more about the team. Is Noah still with Xavier, or is he back to flirting with Minho again? Talk about an indecisive man.”
“Noah was never with Xavier or Minho,” I muttered, shaking my head.
“It’s just fan service, Maria. Don’t get sucked into thinking any of that is real.
” Except maybe Minho… He definitely liked Noah for more than just increased Cliks.
And Tor…Tor was utterly infatuated, as much as it killed me to admit, and it was about more than just Noah being an artistic muse.
I just really hoped Noah wouldn’t break his heart because I didn’t think I could handle being the one to pick up the pieces again. Not when Tor didn’t feel the same way about me.
Maria laughed. “I’ll be sure to let Rachel know. She’s been desperately hoping it wasn’t true, but damn, Bro, some of those shipping edits are convincing.”
Didn’t I know it. I had plenty of Torgust content saved in my phone for when I had a shitty day and needed cheering up. But Xavier’s little sister, Rachel, was a big fan of Minnie’s, and we all thought it was hilarious.
“Rachel is hoping it’s not true because she thinks she stands a chance with Min, and she definitely doesn’t,” I said with a tired groan, scrubbing a hand over my face.
I’d been burning the candle at both ends lately, and the stress was getting to me.
“Did you just call for gossip or was there something on your mind?”
“Ah, yeah, I ran into Mr. Browne today, and he mentioned that my tuition fees were overdue. He wanted me to check if you received his messages?” She said it sheepishly and quiet, clearly not wanting anyone to overhear.
I winced, rubbing the bridge of my nose and nodding. The school treasurer had been blowing up my inbox with overdue notices for several weeks, and I was finally in a position to pay the bill. “Yeah, I’ll get it handled, Maria. Don’t worry.”
“Augie, I don’t have to go to school here if it’s too expensive,” she said in a strangled whisper, like it physically hurt to get the lie out. “I’d be just as happy at a different school. Maybe somewhere closer to you, and we could live together.”
It killed me that she even had to suggest that. I needed to be better about paying the bills on time so she could stay blissfully ignorant to the mess our parents had left us with a decade ago.
“No, don’t be silly,” I scolded. “I just forgot. Things were so crazy with the attack on Ace and Noah, and then they took our phones away for the whole camp duration. I’ll get it sorted out tonight, I promise.”
“Are you sure? Because maybe there are some scholarships I could apply for, or maybe I can get a weekend job in town here or—-”
“No, Maria, it’s fine. I have it handled.” I cut her off sharply. “Just enjoy being sixteen, okay? Leave the finance shit to me. I should go, anyway. Torin wants me to turn the lights out so he can get his eight hours of beauty sleep.”
Such bullshit. Tor was undoubtedly lost in his art once again, sculpting that female figure he’d been obsessively working on all day. Weird, seeing as I knew for a fact Noah was his muse right now, but maybe he was just letting artistic license take the reins.
My sister bid me good night, and I ended the call before she could call me on my lies, then groaned as I got back to my feet. Although I’d recently earned the money to pay Maria’s school fees, it hadn’t cleared my bank account yet, which meant I needed to ask Ace for a favor. Again.
I just hoped he was still awake so I could get it handled before morning. The last thing I needed was for Maria to be placed in any more uncomfortable situations with the school due to my inability to pay the bills.
“Hey, Augie, I thought you went to bed already,” Minho said as I headed down the hall toward Ace’s room. He had just come up the stairs and had a mischievous smirk on his lips. Probably still entertained by his cheesecake theft.
“I was chatting with Maria,” I told him with a smile. “She wants you to know that Rachel is really upset with you about all the Noah flirting.”
Minho groaned and rolled his eyes. “Fucking hell, keep her as far away from me as possible. Last thing I need is to end up in another fight with Xavier because the girl can’t take no for an answer.”
“You started it,” I teased.
He glowered. “She told me she was eighteen! Little brat.”
“Uh--huh. Have you seen Ace?” I glanced at my phone for the time, noting it’d just passed midnight, so it was Ace’s daytime.
Minho nodded. “Yeah, he just left. What’s up?”
The air gusted out of me in disappointment as my shoulders sagged. “Dammit.”
“What’s going on, Augie? Can I help?” Minho asked, perceptive as fucking ever. I swore sometimes he could actually read minds, but he insisted it was just really close attention to body language.
I swirled the words around in my mouth for a moment, tasting them like poison before spitting it out. “I need him to help me cover Maria’s school fees until our next CB payment comes in. It’s late, and if—-”
“Say no more, bro. I’ve got you.” He clapped me on the shoulder and turned me around to head back to my room. “Give me the bill and I’ll get it paid.”
I frowned, shaking my head even as he pushed me into my room to get the papers. “Minho, I can’t ask you to help. You’ve got your own debt to deal with from Seoul and—-”
“Shut the fuck up and give me the bill, dickhead,” he growled lovingly, holding out his hand.
I did as he asked because the only thing worse than swallowing my pride was disappointing my little sister.
“It’s just until next Friday, and then I can pay you back,” I told him, mostly to alleviate my own guilt, knowing how much of Minho’s own earnings went to paying his old record label for breaking his contract.
“Of course,” he replied absentmindedly, already paying the bill on his phone as he stood there.
“Don’t make it weird, Augie. We’re a team.
We’re family. Maria included.” He slipped his phone back into his pocket and returned the bill to me with a smile.
“All done. Get some sleep, dude. You look like fucking death.”
I nodded, resisting the urge to hug him, seeing as Minho had been noticeably less affectionate with everyone on the team lately. Except Noah. He seemed to be getting his full physical affection quota met with just our newest team member.
“Thanks, Minnie. I really appreciate it.”
He just shrugged, waving it off. “No biggie. Night, Aug.”
“Night, Min,” I replied as he left my room and I sat back down on the edge of my bed. I pulled out my own phone and searched for the text thread I swore I would delete.
Dread and anxiety and downright self--hatred filled my stomach, but that didn’t stop me from replying to the message and asking if they had any more work for me.
I swore I’d never let Maria go wanting for anything, so if this was what it took to get on top of things, then this was what I’d do. Besides, I’d already sold my soul to the devil more than a decade ago, so what difference did it make now?