7. Elio
Elio
The lounge still smells like beer and wet carpet.
A pledge is on his knees in the kitchen with a screwdriver and a look that says he did not join a fraternity to rehang Auden’s cabinet doors.
Somebody else is dragging a trash bag past the hallway.
Carter is on the floor with a garbage bag of cups.
It’s almost noon and nobody with seniority is helping, which feels wrong but I’m also too sore to move.
I’m sideways on the couch with my back against Zaire’s chest and my calves over Auden’s thighs. Zaire’s hand is under my shirt at my stomach, his fingers flexing across my skin as Auden’s palm shifts beneath my pant leg, rubbing against my shin. If either of them moves, I feel it before I see it.
Connor drops onto the arm of the opposite couch and tips his chin toward the kitchen. “Somebody want to tell me why the cabinets look like they lost a fight?”
Auden doesn’t look up from his phone, though his thumb keeps moving on my shin. “They were cheap.”
“They were fine yesterday.”
Zaire’s laugh runs through my back before I hear it. “Define fine.”
Milo comes in from the hall with a water bottle and actually stops walking when he sees us. I know that look. It’s the same one we get at dinners and in lecture and anytime the three of us forget other people have eyes.
“Jesus. Do you ever not.”
“Not what,” I ask, grinning up at him as I lean more of my body into my boyfriends. When Zaire’s hand tightens across my stomach, I almost let out a whine.
He points at the couch, at my legs, at Zaire’s arm around my waist. “That.”
Carter doesn’t look up from the bag. “Leave it alone. You know how touchy they get after parties.”
Milo grunts before taking a long swig of whatever red cup he just picked up and burps into his fist, still squinting at us like we’re a problem he can solve if he stares long enough.
Connor laughs under his breath and gets off the arm of the couch, coming around to Auden’s side with the bottle hanging from two fingers.
He smells like stale beer and a night that should have ended hours ago.
“Okay. Real talk. Auden, what the fuck happened to the cabinets? I know they came off, but Jesus Christ.”
Auden’s thumb keeps moving on my shin. “I opened them.” He shrugs like that answers anything and even I sit up a little, still curious about the explanation.
Connor waits for the rest of the sentence, then huffs when it doesn’t come. “You opened them? That’s what you’re going with?”
“They got stuck to the paint and I pulled. Then they came off.”
Zaire’s laugh is quiet against my back. “We’ve been trying to figure that out.”
Milo drops onto the other cushion and presses the bottle to his forehead. “Must have been bad liquor. Carter always dumps weird shit in the bowl.”
Carter flips him off without sitting up. “It was not my punch. If I wrecked the house I would at least remember having a good time.”
Connor folds his arms across his chest, chewing his bottom lip for a minute. “What if it’s carbon monoxide? This place is old as hell. That stuff messes with your head, and I saw a video where people got freakishly strong from it.”
Auden glares at him over his glasses. “What the fuck, Connor. That is not what carbon monoxide does, and if it did, we would all be feeling it.”
Milo leans forward, wraps both hands around the edge of the couch, and tries to shove the whole thing with us still on it. The frame barely budges. Zaire grunts when the movement knocks me back into him, and for a second the three of us just look at Milo while he looks at his hands.
“I was just wondering if I got the super strength too,” he says. “This is so not fair.”
He drops back onto the cushion and points his cup at Auden, already committed. “Fine. If it’s not gas and it’s not punch, then it’s werewolves.”
Connor starts laughing and has to stop with a hand on his stomach. “I knew you couldn’t help yourself. You think everyone is a werewolf every time they growl or get a little too angry.”
Milo sits forward again, dead serious now. “They’re real! I know they are. Just because you’ve never seen one doesn’t mean anything.”
Carter throws a crushed cup at him and misses. “Please don’t start this again.”
Milo points at Auden anyway. “He ripped the doors off and he keeps sniffing the hallway like a freak. Also, the full moon is soon so case closed.”
“The full moon is Saturday,” Auden says, letting out a heavy sigh. “But none of that screams werewolves, Milo. We got drunk and I bench press enough that I forget how much damage I can do to old wood. It was an accident and the pledges are fixing. We’re fine.”
Milo shakes his head, taking another swig from his cup.
“No, no this just makes it worse! Or better, I’m not sure.
Unexplained strength? You said you could smell better too.
You’re definitely a werewolf.” He frowns and tilts his head.
“Or maybe you don’t shift. Like in Omegaverse.
I used to read that shit. Alphas, omegas, knots, the whole menu. ”
I lift my head enough to look at him, suddenly a bit more curious. “What is a knot?”
Carter points at me without getting up. “Do not fucking get him started. Next topic.”
Laughter spills into the main area, thought I remind myself to go search up ‘knots’ and ‘werewolves’. It’s not that I believe it exists but maybe Khalil’s enhancement was inspired by old lore. How he got it to swell, though, is beyond me.
Connor recovers first, wiping his eyes with the heel of his hand. “Fuck off with the werewolf nonsense. Did anybody even get a shot with Mr. Hawthorne, or was that a complete waste of a chaperone?”
Milo groans from the other cushion. “Such a missed chance. Man showed up looking like that and spent the night fixing our shit and keeping the noise level done.”
Carter ties off the bag and sits back on it. “At least admin’s going to let us have our weekly parties again. I call that a win.”
I turn my face into Zaire’s collar, hiding the sudden growing heat in my cheeks. Khalil did a lot more than that last night. I can only imagine how sore my boyfriends are from taking that thick cock in their asses. Zaire’s mouth brushes the side of my neck, I have to pull air in through my teeth.
Milo groans, letting the sound drag out in playful disgust. “God, you’re like a permanent fixture when it comes to them? Don’t you ever just want to sit on a chair by yourself?”
I shake my head, resisting the urge to drag my tongue up the side of Zaire’s neck. I’m not sure how the guys would take that much PDA even though most of them have definitely walked in on us fucking at some point over the years.
Carter waves the bag at the three of us, already over the Hawthorne thing. “Where the fuck even were you guys yesterday? One minute you’re in the kitchen, next minute the study’s missing a door and you’re ghosts.”
I look at him over Zaire’s arm. “We left to fuck. Is that a problem?”
Carter stares at me. “Yesterday? During the party? All night?”
“Yes. Alcohol makes me horny.”
That sends them into another fit of laughter, Zaire and Auden’s hold tightening against me. God, it feels so fucking good. Good enough to head back to the study and just let them have their way with me. The only thing missing would be Khalil and…
Zaire’s cock thickens under me as his fingers dig into my stomach. I clear my throat and sit up a little straighter. “Uh, does anyone have the homework for Grant’s class? I forgot and if I don’t bring something tomorrow, I’m toast.”
No answers me, everyone getting up to start their day, leaving the three of us on the couch. I curse under my breath, knowing I’ll have to throw something together. I push to my feet, immediately hating the loss of my boyfriends wrapped around me.
“Okay, so I got a thing.” I start, both them raising an eyebrow at me.
My gaze drops to the bulge in Zaire’s sweats just as Auden lets out a small growl.
I almost comment on it before I catch that honeyed sweetness he explained earlier.
A second later, Zaire sits forward, no doubt caught on the scent as well.
“Wonderful, we’re locked in on the same bullshit.
For the record, Auden, you smell sweet as fuck, too. ”
Auden stands up, confused. “You said you got a thing. What is it?”
“I like… really like you two touching me.”
“Okay? That’s nothing out of the ordinary,” Zaire says as he looks up at me.
“No, I mean like I need it. I feel weird that you aren’t touching me right now.
Like I can breathe better when we are touching.
It’s stupid and crazy but with the scent we’re somehow emitting and you almost came again a second ago.
I was thinking about Khalil. How did that effect you? Auden, Zaire, what is going on?”
Auden just sighs. “Someone needs to call Khalil. I have a feeling he’d know the answer.”
Zaire pushes to his feet, reaching down to stroke himself through his sweats. “Absolutely not. Please don’t fucking say his name again. I’m already on edge. We’ll figure it out. If we don’t by next Friday, then maybe. For now? Just… we’ll be fine.”
He stalks off down the hall as I watch him, my tongue getting the better of me. “Oh, Mr. Hawthorneeeee!”
Zaire lets out a small squeal before bracing himself against the wall, his shoulders starting to shake. My eyes widen as his sweet smell deepens and the scent of his arousal hits me full force.
I swallow nervously, twisting to look at up Auden. “Okay, so like… are we sired to Khalil or something? Holy fuck, maybe we’re becoming vampires.”
Auden punches me in the shoulder. “You’re almost as bad as Milo. Let’s go grab our boy and clean him up. Again. This week is going to be brutal.”