Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
CHAD
Ihave a boyfriend. That’s wild. And I’m gonna claim that it’s frat as fuck, no matter what my brothers have to say about it.
Not that anyone has anything to say about anything, because I haven’t told them about Bailey.
The more time that passes, the more I’m convinced they won’t actually care, but I have no scope to compare that to, because no one has ever dated a Kappa before.
Two years ago, there was a brother who dated another’s sorority-ex, and it caused an awkward divide that no one liked.
I don’t want to be the cause of something like that.
Forcing everyone to pick sides is decidedly not frat, and it twists me up that Bailey might be the reason some of my brothers turn on me.
I really, really like him.
It wasn’t part of the plan, but I’m done giving a shit.
The real problem is Kappa House’s opinion of me. Not Sigma Beta Psi, but me specifically. And yeah, I brought that on myself, but it’s not like I ever could have imagined I’d be dating one of them.
I’ve been trying to behave myself for Bailey’s sake. My pranks have gotten small and boring, but if I wasn’t doing something, people would get suspicious. Greek life has never been so quiet. Or dull.
Even though we’re still sneaking around, that’s starting to lose some of the sparkle too.
I talk to him on the phone every night, and we sneak off at parties or to secluded corners of campus, but we haven’t reserved a hotel room again, and organizing a date around my practices or games, fraternity duties, and his study sessions is becoming a pain in the ass.
Plus, after two weekends of away games followed by work, I’m beat.
At one point, we go a full six days without even running into each other.
So yeah, the first few weeks were exciting.
Now I’d prefer to be able to have an actual boyfriend who I could do whatever the hell I wanted with.
Bailey:
Are you assigned to the food drive?
I pull up the house calendar and see that it’s coming up on Thursday. I’m not assigned. Instead, it’s Robbie, Carter, and a sophomore that doesn’t house with us.
Me:
Nope. Afternoon off
Bailey:
Damn it
Me:
Why?
Bailey:
I was thinking if we both did it, we could volunteer to be the ones to drop the food off and go out together afterward
Now there’s an idea. It’s been so long since I’ve been able to touch him more than a hurried jerk-off or blow job—and those things are great, no complaints—that I want to follow through with his idea.
I fire off a text to Zeke, asking if any of the guys want the night off. We all have tight schedules with our coursework, fraternity duties, and sports commitments, so I’m hopeful. A minute later, his response comes in.
Zeke:
Sure, Tim will cover for you on the petition next week.
Bonus. I love talking to people, but harassing them into signing whatever petition is the current hot focus on campus bums me out.
I pull up Bailey’s messages and text back.
Me:
I’m in. Is it my turn to organize something?
Bailey:
I’ve got it covered.
I’m more excited for this food drive than I would be under any other circumstance.
Sure, I love helping out, and it feels good to give back, but at the same time, does my selfish reason for stepping in negate the good I’ll be doing?
Thank fuck I don’t take philosophy, so I get over that line of thinking quickly.
Instead, I get through the days with our late conversations and a quick kiss in the science bathrooms between classes.
The number of times I almost sneak down to his house and creep through the window is ridiculous, but he’s right that it’s only a matter of time until we’re caught.
The one time I got desperate enough to try it, Charles was sitting on the front porch, and I’d had to keep walking.
His suspicious eyes followed me until I turned the corner around the block, so the only choice I had was to pinch a water gun from the Epsilon’s backyard around the corner and return to drench Charles from head to toe.
It was only after I got back home, laughing and out of breath, that I realized that probably wasn’t the smartest move.
When I told Bailey I don’t plan ahead though, I’d been serious.
It’s not that I actively avoid it; I just find it hard.
The second an idea pops into my mind, I’m driven by the need to execute it immediately.
My excitement turns to adrenaline, and next thing I know, I’m running from another dumb thing that I probably should have thought through.
I’m a thorn in Brandon’s side.
I can imagine it’s only a matter of time until I’m a thorn in Bailey’s.
Until then, I’ll do what I do best and focus on the fun we’re having now.
The pledges from each house in charge of the food drive have been busy this week posting about it on social media, handing out flyers, and putting notices up all over campus and the surrounding neighborhood.
It’s a warmish day for mid-November, maybe in the mid-fifties, and the sky is a clear pale blue.
I’m wearing jeans and a hoodie unzipped over my T-shirt, and it’s like Robbie and Carter coordinated with me because they’re in the same.
Apparently, Bailey doesn’t agree with me on the temperature because when I catch sight of him at his booth next to ours, his cheeks are stung red and he’s wearing a coat and wool scarf. As usual, he looks incredible. I want to bundle him up in my arms to keep him warm.
We work side by side for most of the day, barely acknowledging each other, even as my body is humming for him.
Lucas is working by his side, which doesn’t surprise me but does irritate me, considering Bailey made it clear he isn’t interested.
I low-key feel for Lucas because I know how incredible Bailey is, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to be cool if he doesn’t back off soon.
And when he laughs too loudly at something Bailey has said for the hundredth time today, I can’t help myself.
“Working next to the fucking chuckle brothers today, aren’t I?”
“The who?” Lucas asks, side-eying me.
And sure the reference is old, and I only know it from my dad, but the point was clear.
I haul another full box of canned goods off the counter and place it in the back of our booth before I turn back to them.
“Kinda weird that charity work gets you so amped up, Lucas. Might want to flirt a little louder, dude—the guys across campus didn’t hear you. ”
His face goes red as his eyes narrow. “Since when is it your business what I do?”
“Since I’m having to work next to you for the next hour, and I’m goddamn sick of the phrase oh, Bailey, you’re soooo funny.” I pitch my voice high, even though Lucas sounds nothing like it.
He crosses his arms, wearing a coat similar-looking to Bailey’s and probably equally as expensive.
Normally I don’t give a shit what things cost, but looking from him to me, and yeah, it’s pretty obvious which of us looks like they belong next to Bailey.
I shake my head because I’m not getting caught in that trap of thinking.
“Careful, Doomsen,” Lucas says. “You almost sound jealous.”
I snort. “Believe me, I have nothing to be jealous about.” My gaze darts to Bailey’s, who’s clearly amused, before I turn my back on both of them, not wanting to give anything away.
Robbie nudges me as I join him again. “What was that about?”
“Nothing.”
“Sure thing, brother.” At least he sounds amused.
“You know I can’t stand that Lucas guy.”
“I don’t know that at all.”
I can feel him eyeballing me, so I hurry to change the subject. “We got a good haul today.”
“We did. I’ll go and load it all in my car soon so I can head off as soon as we’re done. You guys will be okay with breaking down the booth, won’t you?”
I shift. “Actually, I was going to drop it off. I need to head to work for something anyway, so I figured I could do both at the same time. It saves you from having to go out of your way.”
“You think your beat-up old wagon can handle the extra weight?”
“It’ll be fine.” Even if I have to get out and push the damn thing, I’m delivering this food.
Thankfully, most people dropped off their donations to us earlier in the day, so by the time things wrap up at six, I’m good to go.
I ignore Bailey as I leave, not wanting Lucas to see me paying him attention again.
That guy is already a pain in the ass; no point giving him a chance to suspect anything.
When I pull up out the front of the food bank, I only have to wait a few minutes for Bailey to pull in beside me. He’s alone, thank fuck, and he climbs out of his car and rounds the hood to meet me. It’s a lot colder now, and I’m regretting my decision to only wear a hoodie today.
Bailey tugs at one of the cords. “How do you manage to make this look so sexy?”
“It’s because you’re a horndog. I can’t be held responsible for your filthy mind.”
“Uh-huh. Sure.” He quickly glances around and then pushes onto his toes to press his lips to mine. I immediately pull him closer, partly for his body heat, and partly because I don’t get this enough.
“Damn …” I say when he pulls away.
“What?”
“I’m not finished.” I tug him closer again, and Bailey laughs against my mouth.
Freezing cold fingertips caress my cheek. “I’ve missed you too.”
I sag back against my car. “I thought the whole secretly dating thing would be a whole lot more fun than it is.”
“Did you think we’d be like ninjas?”
“Totally pictured ninjas.” I love the sound of his laugh, but it cuts off way too soon.
“Yeah, I know. It sucks.” He drags his teeth over his bottom lip. “Maybe … maybe we should tell people.”
“Yeah?” I perk up, but the hope dies the second I see the indecision on his face. “No. We really don’t need to. I can be patient.”
“It would help if you didn’t super-soak my house president the other day.”
“Yeah, I might have some regrets about that.”
A small chuckle. His forehead hits my shoulder. “It’s not like I didn’t know what I was getting into when we started this.”
“Truth. Maybe you’re the stupid one.”
“Can’t argue there.”
“Okay, let’s get this shit inside, then you can sex me up and take me out.”
He squints. “I have no idea what you’re picturing, but it’s definitely wrong.”
I stack my boxes to take inside, then help Bailey with his. We’ve already checked dates and made sure everything donated fits with the list the shelter gave us, so I don’t bother waiting for the staff there to go through it all.
I wave off their thank-yous as we leave as fast as possible without being rude about it. Then Bailey and I walk down the street to grab dinner.
“If anyone asks, we can say all the charity work made us hungry,” I say.
“I’d rather say I was on a date with my boyfriend, but sure.”
Thankfully there’s no one familiar inside, and the server leads us to a table away from the front windows.
We don’t hold hands, which sucks, but this is so much better than anything else we’ve done together lately that I turn my focus to the positives.
Like the breathtaking guy sitting across from me.
“You’re staring.”
“Can’t help it,” I tell him honestly.
His shrewd eyes find mine as he shakes his head. “We’re so not going to be able to keep this secret for long.”
“Why? I’m trustworthy.”
“Because you might be able to get away with not saying anything, but you don’t need to with words. The way you were looking at Lucas today …” He bites his knuckle like he’s trying to hold back his amusement. “He’s backed off a lot. I thought you might like to know.”
“Not from where I was standing,” I mutter.
“Don’t be jealous.”
“I’m not.”
He lifts his eyebrows, and he doesn’t need more than that to call me out.
“Fine. Maybe I was.”
“Maybe …” he mocks. “Should it be this adorable to me when you get all pouty?”
“I do look good when I sulk.”
“And even better when you suck.”
I groan. “It’s been way too long since I’ve been able to do that.”
“Agreed.” He fusses with the menu for a moment. “Did you say next week is your bye week?”
“Yup. Really looking forward to the weekend off.”
Bailey doesn’t answer at first, but I can tell he’s bouncing his knees under the table, and I smile at his nervousness.
“What are you thinking about?”
He huffs a laugh. “Umm, maybe … well, I was planning on going home for the weekend to see my family … maybe you could come?”
“You wanna do the whole meet-the-family thing with me?”
“That ship has been and sailed despite my every effort to avoid it.”
“Yeah, but that was some random guy meeting them. This time I’ll be meeting them as your boy …” I trail off, realizing that maybe he only meant as friends.
Bailey hurries to nod. “Definitely as my boyfriend. If that’s cool with you.”
“Shit, yeah. I can’t wait.”
“You didn’t have anything else planned?”
“Nothing I can’t cancel.” I don’t think drinking with my brothers counts as plans when it’s what we do most weekends.
“Okay.” He tucks his hands under his arms, looking nervous but relieved. “This is going to be very weird for me.”
“Why?”
“I’ve never brought a guy home before.”
“And you’re sure you pick me? A big, dumb jock? Probably not the best first boyfriend choice you could make, but we’ll roll with it. I’ll try to make things as pain-free as possible.”
He’s grinning, and he props his chin on his hand as he looks over at me.
“What’s that look?” I ask.
“You’re right.”
“About?”
“I never would have imagined I’d be bringing a jock home to meet my family, but the rest of your sentence is total bullshit.”
“Feel free to go on.”
“You are the best choice. You’re the only choice.” Bailey’s cheeks tint pink. “And I can promise you they’ll make it painful, but there’s no one I’d rather face the torture with than you.”