Chapter 27
Chapter Twenty-Seven
CHAD
We’re pummeled at our away game, and spirits are at an all-time low when I get back to the house. I can’t help thinking back to last weekend and how perfect it was, and wishing I could quit the team already and go away with Bailey every weekend.
But there’s no way for that to happen without saying goodbye to my scholarship and Sigma Beta Psi.
So I need to stick it out. And hope the others get their shit together.
I glance up from my spot on the couch when Robbie sticks his head in the living room. He holds up a bag of stink pellets. “You coming, Doomsen?”
“Fuck no.”
A frown bristles his forehead. “I would have thought this shit was right up your alley. Normally you live for this.”
“Maybe I’ve had a change of heart.”
Robbie scoffs. “Great timing, brother.”
He leaves with a few brothers trailing after him, and it takes all of my limited self-control not to go after them and drag them back inside.
“You really not gonna do anything?” I ask Zeke, who pointedly ignored the exchange.
“Like what?”
“You’re president.” I try to keep the annoyance out of my tone. “Put a stop to it—that’s your job.”
He tosses his phone on the table. “Oh, yeah. All those times I tried to get you to stop, how did that work out?”
I set my jaw.
“That’s what I thought. They’re not doing anything more than you’ve done since you rushed, so why the one-eighty?”
“I was never this bad, and you know it. A few times a month, that’s it, not all day, every day. And I’ve never messed with their personal shit.”
“That was going a bit far, but I talked to them.”
“Clearly they’re not listening. Do you know Jordan’s laptop ended up smashing when he tried to get it down from the roof? He lost a bunch of his assignments. Jeopardizing someone else’s class is so not frat, and I never would have gone that far.”
“Who doesn’t back their work up these days?”
“That’s really your response?”
Zeke scowls. “How do you know all that?”
“What?”
“About Jordan.” His gaze is suddenly laser focused. “I’ve spoken to Charles, but no one else in the house knew.”
I shift. “I’ve, umm, talked to people. Robbie’s tantrum isn’t exactly going unnoticed by the other houses.”
“You’re a shit liar, Chad. What’s going on?”
“I’m worried we’re going to go too far and the dean will hear about it.”
Zeke shoves to his feet. “You’re still lying.”
“Are you a fucking mind reader now?”
“Damn it, Chad, what is it? Did you do something? Or—” His face pales, and he takes a step back. “You were supposed to be back by lunchtime, and you weren’t.”
My gut sinks. “What are you saying?”
“Did you sell us out?”
“What?” The voice from the doorway makes me jump.
Of course Robbie’s back already. He’s looking from me to Zeke and back again.
“The fuck, Doomsen?” Robbie says. “Did you?”
It’s my turn to jump to my feet, partly from guilt, partly from anger at them jumping to that conclusion, and partly because I don’t like the two of them standing over me.
“You really think I’d do that?”
“What the hell else could it be?” Zeke asks. “You’re suddenly standing up for them and not getting involved. You know things you shouldn’t know, and you were miraculously not here when it all went down …”
My face is heating up, even as Robbie’s expression morphs into anger.
I can tell he’s jumping to the same conclusion, and I don’t blame him, because in a tiny part, it’s true.
I didn’t warn them, but it wasn’t supposed to go down the way it did.
If it was any other harmless prank, I would have gotten back and laughed it off with them.
“Brandon could have died,” Robbie says. He’s looking at me in a way I’ve never seen him look at anyone.
“He’s your brother, and it’s sounding like you don’t give a shit.
You’re more worried about those asshole Kappas than what happened to him.
So I’m gonna give you this one chance to own up if you did something, because if you don’t, and I find out you’re lying, we’re done. ”
Fuck. I swallow, but my throat feels like it’s strangling me, and when I look from Robbie to Zeke, I can’t hold their eye contact.
I reach up to rub the back of my neck, where I’m burning up.
“Can you guys sit down?”
“Well, that doesn’t sound good,” Zeke warns.
“Just sit your asses down.” I wait for them to do it, then take a deep breath. “I didn’t sell you out, but I do have something to tell you that neither of you are going to like.”
I can tell Robbie is trying to channel his anger by the way his fists are clenching and relaxing over and over.
My tongue swipes over dry lips as I try to figure out how to tell them.
This is the worst timing for it, and I haven’t run it by Bailey yet, so I have to hope that he was serious when he said he wanted to tell people last week because once it’s out, I have no idea how they’re going to react.
But Robbie’s right. If I don’t fess up and they find out later, they’ll assume the worst.
“I’m telling you guys this because I’m not hiding anything, and I want to clear his name.
That guy I told you about?” I look at Robbie, who nods slowly to confirm he remembers.
“We’re dating. And we went away last weekend because we’ve been on the down low and we wanted to spend some time together. ”
“He closeted?” Zeke asks, but before I can answer, Robbie fills in the blanks.
“He’s a Kappa?”
I huff out a breath and talk as fast as I can so they can’t cut me off. “I didn’t say anything, because I didn’t want to cause shit. You guys know me. You know I love antagonizing all those assholes, but then I met him, and damn it, I couldn’t stay away.”
“You are dating one? What the hell? And you expect us to think you didn’t know about this?”
I point at Robbie. “Fuck you. If I’d known what they were planning, I would have said something, but he never told me. Like I said, we were away the whole weekend, and he swore he had nothing to do with it.”
Robbie snorts. “They were all in on it.”
“He knew about it but didn’t know the details.”
“Yeah, right, that sounds legit.”
Zeke holds up a hand. “Who is it?”
“That’s the part you guys aren’t going to like.”
“Charles?” Zeke recoils.
“What the—? No.” He relaxes only slightly. I take a breath. “It’s Bailey Prince.”
Robbie’s on his feet before I can blink. “Are you shitting me right now?”
“Sit down.”
“Don’t you fucking tell me what to do. He’s the one behind this, and you’re going to stand there and talk shit about how he didn’t know.”
“He didn’t.”
“Bullshit.”
“He was there when they were talking initially and made the suggestion to combine the pranks they were planning, and then that’s it. He didn’t have any more to do with it because he couldn’t care less about this stupid rivalry.”
“Stupid? Coming from you.”
“Coming from him. All weekend they were planning it, and he kept silencing his phone. I was there—I saw him.”
“And now you expect us to believe you when you’ve been keeping this from us.”
I gesture at him. “Because I didn’t want all this shit to happen. We’re brothers, and I’ve never given you a reason not to believe me before. Are you seriously gonna turn your back on me now?”
“You didn’t see Brandon.”
“I didn’t, and I’m sorry it happened, but he’s fine. He’s over it. And now you have a choice. Are you going to put something that could have happened to him before me, or are you going to trust me like you always have and shut the fuck up about this?”
Robbie goes to say something again, but Zeke grabs his arm.
“How can you know Bailey’s telling you the truth?”
“Because I fucking love him.”
The words slip out, totally unconsciously, and it’s only when Zeke falls silent and Robbie’s head snaps toward me that I even realize what I’ve said.
I drop back onto the couch and bury my hands in my hair. Jesus fuck, it’s true. But I didn’t mean to tell them when I hadn’t even planned to tell him.
The couch shifts on either side of me, and a hand lands on my shoulder.
“Dooms?”
“I’m sorry.” I force back the frustrated prickling behind my eyes.
“I’m just … I don’t know what to do. This whole thing is messed up, and I know he had nothing to do with it because we were planning on telling everyone about us last weekend.
All we want is a chance to be together and be able to stop hiding, but now … ”
A hand starts to rub my back, and relief surges through me.
“I’m sorry …” I mutter.
“Okay.” The gruff voice is Robbie’s. He hesitates before continuing. “Brothership means trust, so we’ve gotta trust you.”
I finally look up at him. “You’re not still mad?”
“Of course I am. Those Kappa dicks could have killed him, and I’m not okay with that. I don’t want them thinking they can pull that shit and get away with it.”
“You could have reported it.”
“You know that’s not our style. They’ve never reported us, and we’ve pulled way more shit than them.”
It’s true. There’s an agreement on Greek Row that we handle things ourselves unless it crosses the line to hazing. Fraternities and sororities can only continue to operate so long as they’re not drawing the bad kind of attention. “So what do we do?”
Both of us look to Zeke.
“What I don’t get,” he says, “is if you’re so sure Bailey Prince had nothing to do with it, why was Robbie told it was all him?”
“Yeah, that is strange.”
Robbie shrugs. “I heard it from Carter.”
“And where did he hear it?” I ask.
“Fucked if I know.”
I drum my fingers on my thigh. “Where’s Carter now?”
“Work, maybe?” Zeke answers. “Should we call him?”
“Yeah, I wanna know who’s spreading shit about my boyfriend.”
Robbie takes out his phone and calls our pledge. It takes a few rings, but he answers.
“Yo, Carter, what’s up?”
“Just finishing work, hold up.” There’s the sound of a door slamming in the background. “I’m in my car. What do you need?”
“Remember last weekend when you told me it was that Bailey Prince kid who organized the prank?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Where’d you hear that?”
There’s a slight pause, like he’s thinking. “Uh … on campus, I—”
“On a Sunday night,” I cut in.
“No, I mean, people were talking about it apparently, and one of my friends from on campus, like from my classes, they told me …”
The three of us exchange looks.
“Where did they hear it?” Robbie asks.
“Look, man, you’re asking the wrong person. I’m just the messenger.”
Something isn’t adding up here. I nod at Robbie, who thanks him and ends the call.
“That was odd, right?” I ask.
“I think so …” Zeke’s staring across the room. “I feel like he was lying, but I’m not sure why.”
“Okay, I’ll admit that was suspicious,” Robbie agrees.
“Was Carter with you guys during the prank?”
Robbie thinks. “I can’t … Maybe … It’s a bit of a blur.”
“He and Raymond were watching the house so I’m pretty sure they were both there,” Zeke says.
Weird. So fucking weird.
Robbie turns to me. “I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but maybe you should get your boy here. I don’t trust him, but now I don’t think I trust Carter either. And I’m gonna feel like a real dick if I’ve been gunning for the wrong guy.”
“You better be prepared to apologize,” I say, pulling out my phone. “Let’s get to the bottom of this.”