Chapter 24 #3
“You’re a really bad liar, you know that?” he says with a grin.
“I know,” I grumble. “And it’s even harder to lie to you because you know me.”
“Yup, and I know you’re hiding something.” He fixes me with an assessing look. “Are you talking to someone?”
“No,” I say truthfully. Anthony and I are way beyond the talking stage at this point.
“It would be okay if you were,” he says.
“I know, but I’m not.”
Silence stretches between us.
“So you and Anthony are getting to be friends?” he asks, settling back against the couch.
I try to keep my expression neutral, even as my brain goes on high alert at Anthony’s name.
“Yeah.” I fix my gaze on the countdown and watch the numbers drop. Only about two minutes left. “He’s pretty chill once you get to know him.”
“Yeah, we’ve never been close or anything, but he’s always been nice to me. Way nicer than most people in the house.” He chuckles. “Do you remember when I got my ass kicked and Eden had to help me back to the house?”
“You mean when that asshole was trying to kill you, and you didn’t feel the need to tell me what was going on?” I ask dryly. “I remember.”
I’m still salty that I had to hear about that entire situation after the fact. He’s apologized, and I understand why he didn’t tell me while it was happening, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to let it go anytime soon.
He has the decency to look embarrassed. “Yeah, then. But Anthony was in the main lobby when we came into the house, and he was ready to get the royalty together and deal with whoever had fucked me up. It’s the first time in my life anyone has ever been willing to throw hands for me.
” He laughs. “You should have seen Eden’s face when Anthony smiled at her and gave her a compliment.
She turned as red as you do. And she’s not the only girl I’ve seen have that reaction to him. ”
“Do you think Eden has a thing for him?” I ask, trying to sound casual.
“I don’t think so. He’s totally her type, but I think she was just flustered by his attention. And he’s hot as fuck, so there’s that.”
“Her type?” I ask as my stomach goes sour.
I like Eden. I’m not friends with her and only know her through Damon, and because her stepbrother has made it his mission to keep everyone on campus away from her.
But Damon has never been one to follow the rules, and for some reason, her stepbrother leaves him alone despite being very aware that they’re friends.
Does Eden have a thing for Anthony?
He’s like Damon in the sense that he doesn’t give a fuck what anyone says. Jordan’s “hands off my stepsister” decree would just make Anthony say fuck it and go for it anyway.
He shoots me a quick look. “Are you asking because you’re interested in her?”
“What?” I whip my head toward him, and I’m sure my shock is written all over my face.
“No. Definitely not interested.” I shoot him a wry smile to cover up my over-the-top reaction.
“I’ve had enough of people talking about my sex life, thank you very much.
I’m not about to cross Jordan or his boys.
I don’t have an in with the Rebels like you do. ”
“People have done crazier things to get over a breakup,” he says, looking back at my laptop screen.
Like let a masked stranger fuck their brains out after taunting them into breaking into their room? Or sleeping with one of the future leaders of their frat on the DL, who also happens to be the masked stranger they let fuck their brains out?
I bite the inside of my lip so I don’t say any of that out loud.
“But she’s into tall, dark, and handsome,” he continues.
“Isn’t that basically you?” I ask, trying not to think about how that’s also very much Anthony.
“Yes, but I don’t have the right temperament,” he says with a chuckle. “I’m too much of a bottom for her tastes. We’d never work, even if I wasn’t with Xave.”
The countdown on the screen ends, and the feed switches to the hockey rink, where the teams are currently doing their warm-up.
“You’re a sports guy. Do you know why hockey players do that?” He points at the screen where a couple of the Keepers players are doing butterfly stretches on the ice.
“To loosen their hips,” I say, scanning the rink for Anthony. “Have you ever skated?”
He shakes his head.
“It’s not like running or walking where you’re moving your legs front to back in a straight motion,” I explain. “You push outward at an angle when you skate, so you have to loosen up your hips and thighs to make sure you can walk the next day.”
“Huh,” he says as the camera finally pans to where Anthony and the twins are warming up.
“That makes sense. And it gives them all amazing asses, so I’m not complaining.
” He tilts his head to the side and leans closer to the laptop as Anthony does some deep butterfly stretches, then shifts into a plank and dips his hips up and down like he’s humping the ice.
“Now I get why they call it the boy aquarium,” he says distractedly.
“And I mean this in the most respectful way, but goddamn, Anthony’s got moves.
The twins too.” He shakes his head ruefully.
“I’m not going to be able to look any of them in the eye without picturing them doing that for a while. ”
“Yeah,” I say with a forced laugh. “I feel like I should be taking notes or something.”
Damon still has no idea I’m bi like him, and even though this would be the perfect time to tell him, I just can’t. If I tell him I’m into guys, he’ll ask if I’m into anyone in particular, and I won’t be able to lie to him.
I’ll tell him when this thing with Ant is over and I don’t have to worry about hiding anything from him.