Chapter 1 #2
The four of us all work for the current leadership, and we’re also the unspoken frontrunners to win the elections to take their places next year. We’re pretty fucking high in the hierarchy, but even our knowledge of the passageways is limited.
“There’s no way an outsider could navigate the passages like that.
” Hazen rests his arm over the back of the couch.
“He’s either got the literal blueprints to our house, or he’s working with someone who has advanced knowledge of our security system.
Both of those options are equally bad. That’s the part we should be focusing on. ”
“Agreed,” Rath says.
“Does Liam have anything more for us to work with?” Connor asks, flicking his gaze to mine.
I shake my head. “He said he’ll keep us in the loop, but there’s nothing more right now.”
“So, what are we doing tonight?” Hazen asks, rocking his leg back and forth in a quick rhythm. “It’s not like we can figure out what’s going on until we have more info, so that sounds like it’s a tomorrow problem.”
“Agreed,” Connor says, his own leg moving in almost perfect sync with Hazen’s.
The twins are the most not-identical, identical people I’ve ever seen.
They’re what’s called mirror twins, so they’re reflections of each other rather than being carbon copies.
Like, both twins have identical birthmarks on their sides, but Connor’s is on the right and Hazen’s is on the left.
And Connor is right-handed, while Hazen is a lefty.
They’re also chameleons, transforming into whoever they want to be based on who’s around. Thanks to this talent, they can flip between being clones of each other and barely looking related, depending on what they want.
They can’t fool Rath or me, not after a lifetime as best friends, but their gift has served them well over the years, and it’s always fun to watch them fuck with people when they pull their twin pranks.
“I vote for Baxter House,” Rath says.
“Same,” Connor says at the same time Hazen gives us a thumbs up.
“Baxter it is.” I get up from my chair and stretch my arms above my head as the others also stand.
Then the four of us head out of my room and make our way down to the main floor.
There aren’t a lot of guys around as we cut across the ornate lobby, and I’m just reaching for the door when it’s shoved open from the other side.
I manage to sidestep the heavy wood as it swings toward me, but I move right into the path of the person who rushes inside.
“Oof,” they grunt as our chests collide with a solid thump.
Instinctively, I grab them by the arms as we both stumble backward. He teeters on his feet, but I use my hold to keep him from falling.
“Oh shit,” West, one of our frat brothers, says, his eyes wide with shock as I finish steadying him. “I mean, sorry. That was my bad.”
“Sorry,” he repeats when I release my hold on his arms, and he takes a hasty step back.
“You’re fine. Shit happens.” I shift to the side.
He gives me a tight smile as he glances at the small space I left for him between me and the door, then he turns and fits his broad body through the space, his full ass dragging over my crotch as he squeezes past me.
“Have a good night,” I say, keeping my voice low.
“You too,” he mumbles and speed walks away from us.
“Still obsessed, I see,” Hazen says as we bound down the steps to the house.
“Not obsessed.” I shoot him a flat look.
He snort-laughs and slaps me on the arm. “Sure, you’ve just been fucking with him like that since first year because you’re totally not obsessed.”
“Don’t forget keeping tabs on him and checking in on what’s going on in his life,” Connor adds, coming up to my other side. “Bro doesn’t even look at our stories but religiously checks his.”
“Fuck off,” I say flatly. “Both of you.”
“No thanks,” Connor says cheerfully.
“Awww, did we hit a nerve?” Hazen throws his arm over my shoulder and tries to drag me down into a headlock.
I twist out of his grip and give him a half-hearted shove. “Fuck off. “
“They’re not wrong, bro,” Rath says from behind us.
I toss him the bird over my shoulder.
He’s right, and the twins aren’t wrong, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to admit that to any of them.
It’s true that West is basically the only person who’s ever held my interest for any significant length of time, but that’s only because of what happened between us.
I didn’t tell the guys this, but West and I hooked up during a house event in our first year.
I don’t hook up a lot, but it’s no secret that I don’t have a preference when it comes to gender.
The fact that I messed around with West isn’t the reason I’ve been loosely fixated on him for the past three years, it’s how we hooked up that I can’t seem to stop thinking about.
It was during the Hunt, which is basically an elaborate game of tag that’s played at night in the woods. Everyone wears masks, and everyone is out for themselves.
I still don’t know exactly what happened after I caught West, but he either tripped over something, or he was so startled he fell, because one minute I was standing in front of him, and then the next we were both tumbling to the ground and I was on top of him.
Mishaps happen when you play games in the woods at night, but it’s what happened next that changed everything.
He didn’t push me off as I lay over him, and there was no mistaking the press of his hard dick digging into me. That made me pause, but it was his energy that made me decide to have some fun.
He was excited and scared and horrified. I could feel the mix of emotions radiating off him in waves, but there was arousal there, and a sense of innocence that made the moment that much more intoxicating and intense.
So instead of getting off him and claiming my token, I pinned him to the ground and frotted against him.
He didn’t fight me or even protest. He just lay there and took it, and his submission was as hot as feeling his hard body under mine.
I came embarrassingly fast, considering we were only dry humping, but so did he, and it wasn’t just the orgasm that felt so damn good. It was the sense of power and how he gave me complete control over him that made the moment so memorable.
I didn’t even know who he was when it happened, but after we finished, West gave me his coin, and I carved a small nick into the edge of it before I put it in my pocket so I’d know which was his among the nearly dozen I’d already collected.
When I won and got to keep all the tokens I collected, I called in a favor and got access to the challenge records so I could see who the serial number was assigned to.
There was something about that encounter that just did it for me, and I still think about it all these years later.
Maybe it’s the anonymity that I find so hot. How West had no idea who I was but still chose to submit to me, to let me use him to get off that way.
And I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one who liked the cloak of anonymity that covered us.
As far as I can tell, West still doesn’t know it was me he hooked up with. And I’m inclined to believe that he’s not as straight as everyone thinks he is.
I’ve let my friends think I fuck with him because it’s fun, and it is, but they have no idea that I know exactly how West sounds when he comes.
“Someone’s touchy tonight.” Connor elbows me in the side. “Come on, how about we turn that frown upside down?”
“I’m going to murder you.”
“No, you won’t.” He elbows me again. “I mean, you could try, but I feel like my odds are pretty good in a 1v1 with you.” He makes a big show of looking around me to catch his brother’s eye. “Who do you think would win in a 1v1 between me and Ant?”
“If you catch him unaware, you,” Hazen says, not breaking his stride. “But if it’s a structured thing and you go after each other at the same time, then him.”
“Really, my own brother.” Connor clucks his tongue and shakes his head as he dramatically covers his heart with his hand. “Et tu, Brute?”
“Someone’s in a mood tonight.” Rath lightly smacks Connor on the back. “Are we going to have to keep an eye on you so you don’t go off the rails and do something we’re all going to regret?”
He tosses a look back at Rath. “Maybe.”
Just then, a group of girls comes around the corner, and by the way they all start whispering to each other excitedly, they seem to like what they see.
Connor and Hazen immediately turn on the charm and offer the girls some smirky smiles. They react like the twins just told them they won a shopping spree at Bergdorf’s and giggle as they give all of us flirty grins and a few practiced hair tosses.
Once we’ve passed them, the twins power down the charm and go back to normal.
“What superpower would you have if you could choose any one you wanted?” Hazen asks.
“Teleportation,” Rath says.
“Telekinesis,” Connor answers.
“Shapeshifting,” I add.
“Telepathy,” Hazen says. “But specifically, mind control.”
We’ve had this conversation dozens of times over the years, and even after answering that exact question over and over again, our answers haven’t changed since the first time Connor brought it up when we were eight.
The three of them launch into an enthusiastic discussion about the advantages of their preferred powers, but I only half listen as we walk down the path together.
A Baxter House party is either exactly what I need right now or the last place I should be, considering the mood I’m in.
I’ve been feeling restless for the past few days, and there’s a low buzz of energy under my skin that I just can’t seem to shake. It’s like an awareness that just won’t go away, and my grip on my self-control, which is usually ironclad and locked in, is tenuous.
I don’t get like this often, but when I do, the only way to break myself free from it is to fuck something up, get fucked up, or fuck it out of my system.
Hopefully whatever waits for us at the Baxter House party scratches at least one of those itches, otherwise I’ll have to find another way to deal with this before I do something reckless.