Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
CHAD
My shift at work goes fast. I’m pumped. My mood at a ten. Spending the night with Bailey was exactly what I needed. I keep getting hot as hell flashbacks of his mouth on me, and it makes me pop wood at inappropriate moments. Like, when his parents and sister stopped by.
I’m whistling as I smash out coffee after coffee, and my coworker Misty keeps giving me these amused smirks.
“What?” I ask when we’ve finally slowed down enough to catch a breath between orders.
“Someone got laid last night.”
“Sure did.” No reason why I’d deny it. “I’ve been putting the work in for a few weeks now, and it paid off.”
“Chad Doomsen paying attention to some girl for a few weeks? She must be hot.”
“He is.” I wink at her surprise. “I mean, come on. Not like I can keep all this for one gender, can I?”
“My mistake.” She laughs. “And good on you for putting in the work.”
I hum in agreement, but it tastes like a lie. Truth is, talking to Bailey is hardly work. He’s quietly assertive, tries to keep his distance, but every time he slips, it draws me in even more. Add in his cocksucking abilities and the guy immediately jumps to the top of my hookups list.
But that’s done now.
Over.
Time to move on and chase some new tail or whatever.
My phone vibrates in my pocket, and I have to resist pulling it out straightaway. It’s been an hour or two since I sent Bailey that text, and I’m embarrassingly desperate for it to be him writing back. Thank fuck for work and keeping busy to prevent me constantly checking my phone.
Misty takes her break, and I’m the only one left up front for half an hour until my shift ends, so I can’t even duck out to take a look. The minutes tick by mind-numbingly slowly.
By the time Misty is back to take over, she’s barely tied her apron properly before I’m stripping off mine.
“Laters.” I head down the hall to punch out, then grab my phone and—
Zeke.
That fucking fucker.
Zeke:
Can you run Bro-motions night? I’ve got a paper due tomorrow I need to fix
Well, shit. I’ve got a test on Tuesday I was planning on studying for, but Zeke takes Bro-motions every week, so I can tap in this once for him.
With the rise in mental health issues, and most dudes thinking they need to bottle shit up, Sigma Beta Psi brought in Bro-motions nights.
We’re here to support our brothers, and it’s not mandatory for anyone to show up, but we make sure we’ve got a safe place for people to talk about what they need to.
I let him know I’ve got this, then swing by the store to grab some chips and shit that I’ll claim back once I’m home. Talking emotions is hungry work.
When I’m back to the house, I hand off my receipt to Zeke and then head to my room since we don’t start until eight.
I throw myself on my bed, surprisingly awake considering the late night and early morning. It’s taking all of my willpower not to pull out my phone, but considering my self-control is jack shit, I fail.
Our messages fill my screen, and I take in the image I sent him earlier. Did it freak him out? I didn’t mean to do that. I’m not actually sure why I sent it, other than a sneaky suspicion that I wanted a reason for us to start chatting again.
The sex is done with, but there are no rules that a bro and another bro can’t blow each other’s minds and then hang out and be totally cool about it.
Do I follow up the picture with a message or take the hint?
Yeah, right. I’m not too cool to message a guy the next day.
Just as I’m about to text him, dots appear on the screen, telling me he’s writing something. My gut flips over, and I quickly sit up and shove my pillows behind me.
The dots disappear, then reappear, then disappear again.
After a few minutes of nothing else, I call him out on it.
Me:
Thinking real hard over there about what you wanna text
Bailey:
And the only reason you’d know that is if you were doing the same
Me:
Please. We both know I don’t waste time by thinking. I was about to message you again when I saw you going back and forth about sending me the perfect message. I get it. I’m a hard guy to impress
Bailey:
Sorry about my family
I’m surprised he doesn’t take the opportunity to put me in my place, but this is … something. A reply? An opening to a conversation? I’m way too excited to find out.
Me:
Nah, they made the day interesting
Bailey:
I feel bad for you if they were the interesting part of your day
Me:
Well other than their visit, I was elbows deep in coffee grinds and memories of you sucking my dick
Maybe it’s pushing things, but I can’t help myself. No point playing coy when we’ve both drunk each other’s bodily fluids.
Bailey:
They are good memories
Me:
Agreed
Bailey:
I guess I’ll see you around
Ah, no. No, no, no. That isn’t how this is supposed to go.
Well, it is what we agreed on, but I’m not ready to end it so soon.
But what do I write back to that?
Me:
Still happy to be one and done?
Bailey:
It’s for the best
Me:
Right. No, totally
Bailey:
Why can I hear disagreement behind your very agreeable words?
Me:
Just … it’s a bit of shame. But maybe we could keep talking? You said you don’t have many friends yet and we could be friends
Bailey:
Yeah, that’d go down well with my brothers. ‘See you guys, I’m grabbing lunch with Chad’
Me:
We can have code names for each other. You’re princess and I’m …
Bailey:
Pee-wee Herman?
Me:
I thought that was my junk? Might get a bit confusing. You’ll be all “I wanna see Pee-wee” and if I don’t know which one you mean, things could get awkward fast
Bailey:
True. Could always go with Johnny Bravo
Me:
Should I be concerned by how quickly you came up with that?
Bailey:
Probably
Me:
So we keep chatting then? Just use code names?
Bailey:
I don’t think it’s a good idea
I try not to feel too disappointed since he’s been clear about the arrangement the whole time. It sucks, maybe more than I was expecting with the pressure hitting my chest, but I balls up and reply.
Me:
Okay then, I’ll see you around
I watch my screen for an embarrassingly long time, but he doesn’t reply. It doesn’t get to me. It doesn’t.
So we had some fun? So what?
He doesn’t owe me anything.
I’m sorely tempted to send something else, anything, but instead, I put my phone away.
I grab a quick dinner, then start setting up the living area, ready for whoever needs to get some shit off their chest. Hell, maybe I’ll take a turn tonight.
But probably not.
What am I gonna say? The dude I hooked up with won’t talk to me anymore, even though it’s what I agreed to? They’ll tell me to go out and find someone else to stick it in.
I’m Chad Doomsen. I’ve never had issues hooking up before.
There’s a trickle of people who show up, some who live in the house and some who don’t. Carter pokes his head in and laughs when I tell him what we’re doing. Unsurprisingly, he doesn’t stick around.
We end up with about ten guys, plus a couple who live here are hovering in the doorway, ready to jump in with support if it’s needed.
Not much else to do on a Sunday night.
Champers goes first. Says he thinks his woman is cheating.
After the initial, obligatory rounds of “fuck that bitch,” people start to offer real advice.
I’m not here to overrule anything, just to make sure that none of the advice is dangerous or stupid and to add that extra layer of support from the house executives.
Robbie is worried he’s going to flunk out. He failed his last two chem quizzes and has a meeting with his professor tomorrow. Larken jumps in with the offer to go over the material with him.
Miles is missing his family back in Tennessee.
Pete’s boss is cutting back hours, and he’s worried about making dues.
I kick back in my chair as my brothers talk openly, and watch them together. It’s a totally judgment-free zone, and it feels good to know my brothers have something like this. Tomorrow, they’ll all be back to their idiot selves, but tonight, we put our serious hats on and talk.
“What about you, VP?” Robbie asks.
“Nah, I’m all good,” I say. “You know me. As long as I have football, you guys, and enough beer to make questionable decisions, I’m easy.”
“Typical Doomsen,” Pete says through a smile. “What questionable decisions have you made lately?”
I rub my arm, not sure whether to say. “Well, my hookup last night left me with a whole lot of questions, if that’s what you mean?”
Larken sniggers. “Stick it in the wrong hole?”
Robbie whacks Larken on the back of the head. “Fuck off, you animal. There is no wrong hole.”
“So, what was the problem, Chad? She toss you around?”
And this is why I didn’t want to say anything. I’ve never lied about my sexuality, but I’ve never outright confirmed anything either. And the idea of denying it now … I clear my throat. “Tied my wrists up, actually.”
Coward.
“Bondage. Hot.”
“It was.”
“She a Greek girl?” Robbie asks.
My tongue swipes my bottom lip. “Nah, they’re, ah … from outside the row.” Double lies. Wow. I’m on fire.
I’ve literally never hated myself more.
“Seeing her again?”
“No.” Him. Himhimhim. “No plans to. That’s what’s got me questioning.”
“Do you want to?” Larken asks.
“I think maybe. They’re”—fucking he’s—“pretty cool.”
“She a parents’ type?” Robbie asks, surprised. “Doomsen found a chick worthy of him?”
I stare at Robbie for a moment, trying to figure out how to answer. I’m not ashamed. I’m not. I also think my brothers are better than I’m giving them credit for, because there’s no way I’d be blackballed or anything for being bi—the Bailey factor is a whole other story though.
I force myself to shrug. Totally casual. Nothing to stress about here. My throat definitely isn’t trying to stick to itself to keep the words in. “Actually, there’s no chick. He’s a dude, and I can’t stop thinking about him.”
Silence.
Fuck.
It’s suffocating.
I hope it’s only that they’re still processing or none of them want to be the one who talks first.
Finally, Robbie leans back on the couch and extends his arms along both sides. “I’ve hooked up with a dude before.”
That really shouldn’t surprise me. “You have?”
“Yup. I mean, not on purpose. Pretty sure I’m straight and all, but he was gorgeous and dressed up, and by the time I got his skirt off …” Robbie holds up both hands. “Bit of a surprise, but I just went with it.”
I crack up laughing. “Of course you did.”
Brandon whacks the back of his head. “How do you know they weren’t a trans chick, dickhead?”
“How do you think?” Robbie snorts. “I’m a gentleman. I asked. Sucking dick actually wasn’t the worst thing I’ve ever done.”
Brandon starts to choke on air.
“What about you, Dooms?” Robbie asks, turning the attention back to me. “Did you know they were a guy first?”
“I did.”
“You gay, brother?”
“Nope. Bi.”
Robbie nods. “So back to my original question. He the meeting-parents type?”
“Probably. But he’s not interested.”
“Damn. Guy must think a bit of himself to be turning you down.”
The vibe in the whole room relaxes. Conversation moves on.
No one mutters shit about me or makes things weird.
But then, I always figured my brothers would be cool.
I know they’re going to start watching who I’m hanging out with though, trying to pick who the guy is, so it’s probably a good thing Bailey and I called it quits.
Silver linings.
Even if it doesn’t feel like it.