Chapter 8
eight
A Year Ago
“Is it itchy?”
“No.”
“Burning? Tingling?”
“Can you not talk about my dick, please? It’s weird as hell.”
Valen exhales a long plume of white breath through his balaclava. “I’ve never— Whatever.”
“Never had chlamydia? Yeah, me neither, asshole.” My mouth twists under my mask. “Fuck! I’m nervous.”
“Me, too.”
“You can’t be nervous, Valen. You can’t be. I’m the one that has to…do this.”
Even behind the mask, I can see the expression he makes. That flat, pointed stare of his.
Guilt crawls up my throat. “I mean—yeah, you did all the work setting it up.”
He palms his gun tucked into his waistband. “My knees are starting to hurt.”
We crouch lower behind the bushes outside the Theta Manor dungeons. My quads scream.
“When’s the security going down?”
Val shoves his hoodie sleeve up and checks the time on his complicated, and likely expensive-as-fuck, watch. “In about two minutes.”
My heartbeat spikes. Close enough that I can taste fear. Is this my last night alive?
“Hey… How was the escort?” he asks like we’re just making everyday conversation.
“What?”
“Sheila. Was she nice?”
My face scrunches behind the mask. “She was a prostitute, Valen. She let me fuck her and gave me chlamydia. I don’t know. Sure? She did her job.”
“They rotate.”
“What’s that mean?” I scan the windows and check for any movement. The woods surrounding us are dark. Pitch black. And still.
“The women in her line of work. They rotate who carries it each year. I had to hack clinic records to find which of their clients caught it and—”
“I don’t care. I mean… Thank you, but I just don’t want to talk about how I got an infection from Sheila, the sex worker.” My throat grows tight. “On purpose.”
“Okay,” he says softly. “We won’t.”
With a sharp sound, the lights everywhere dim. Until the giant Gothic structure in front of us looms like a black hole.
I grip Valen’s arm before he takes off. “I have to do this, right?”
He freezes. Deep and careful, he whispers, “If you want to be president. But not just this, Apollo. The Thetas have to catch it, too.”
My chest throbs. This is what I wanted. What I sacrificed my body, my dignity, for.
“Let’s move,” I say, nodding toward the basement door.
We crawl, low and fast. Once there, he uses a pick set to unlock the regular bolt, then slides it open for me.
From our recon on Red Nights, their bi-annual orgy, we know they have a house gimp tied up on a bed at night.
Sometimes, she’s strapped to a bench for their free use.
Either way, she’s two doors down and usually guarded by a freshman.
Valen’s hand is already on his gun.
But as we approach, the metal folding chair outside the wooden door is empty. I glance through the iron bars into the room. A candle flickers, casting haunting shadows against the stone walls. The bed is neatly made with no one in it, and my heart sinks, until I spot an object near the back…
Standing near the weeping stone wall is an A-frame bench with an elderly woman strapped to it by her wrists and ankles. She seems to be resting. And unaware.
Valen shoves me aside to work on the lock again. But this one takes a longer time. My eyes can’t focus. Blood pounds through my arteries. Mouth dry. Breath seeping out in tiny pants. Every inhale, I taste dust. I swallow hard so I don’t cough.
“Go!” Valen urges, and I slip inside.
He bars the door behind us as I unzip and aim for the woman on the bench.
“Aaaright ‘der ‘gewtwemen?” She moans some weird phrase toward the floor.
“Yeah,” I answer politely. Why? I don’t know.
Chest heaving, I hold my flaccid dick in my hand. Flaccid. I stare at her exposed, hairy, and wrinkled cunt. The one that’s been used for years by Thetas. Her no longer puckered asshole.
“I-I can’t.” My voice cracks as I beg Valen. He’s peeking out the door, keeping watch.
Waving his hands frantically, he urges me, “You have to. Hurry!”
I grip myself and stroke, trying to think of anything other than what’s in front of me. Hot girls. Porn. Fantasies…
“Bro,” I plead with an ache. Sweat pours down my back beneath my hoodie. The mask is hindering my ability to focus. I can’t see much. But I can’t take it off, either.
Valen swings around like he’s put out with me and marches over. I assume to give me a pep talk, but he freezes.
“What the actual— Why is your dick so big?”
My hands fly to my forehead. “Can we not—”
“That’s like… Holy shit, man. Okay, okay. I got this. Just let me recalibrate.” He puffs out a heavy breath, and I melt with embarrassment. “Stare at the ceiling.”
I do. Wooden beams. Beaches. Girls in bikinis.
Almost silently, I whisper, “Please stop staring at my dick. I can feel it.”
Valen removes his gloves, reaches down, and grabs my shaft. I pull in a sharp inhale through gritted teeth. “Take a deep breath and relax.”
I obey him. Just focusing on the sensations as he strokes me. Trying to pretend it’s anyone but my best friend. Maybe it’s appropriate that it’s him and not someone else.
“Fuck…” I whisper as he picks up the pace, squeezing harder. “Shit, that feels good.”
“Yeah? I’ve never jerked a dick off before. Well…someone else’s.”
“Can you not talk?”
He huffs a breath like he’s mad about having to remain quiet while his hand works me over like a fucking expert.
Almost better than I do myself. His other hand even reaches into my jeans and strokes my balls, one finger dipping lower to my taint, brushing it gently.
I yelp, knees damn near giving out until I steady myself by firmly gripping his shoulder.
“You like that?” he whispers, like he’s trying to be seductive.
“I…guess I do?” I’m breathless. Seeping from the tip. His thumb crests the crown and smears it down my throbbing shaft. My hips follow the motions. I’m pumping into his hand.
“Just like that. Yeah, my boy.”
“Damn it, Valen!” Though I can’t help the tingles trickling down my lower spine. “Okay, fine. You can keep talking.”
“Yeah? Then fuck my hand, big guy. With your huge cock.”
“That was too much.”
He takes a step closer until his face hovers near my shoulder. We haven’t been this close since we had to hide in a coffin together after assassinating a couple of rogue society members our freshman year. Cops had no idea where we were. My ribs ache from how hard my heart beats.
Voice low and against my ear, he murmurs, “Let me get you hard… Get you off… You want that?”
I bite my lower lip and whimper. “Yeah. I do.”
My back arches, slipping my dick farther into my friend’s hand until I’m almost ready to finish. And part of me wants to all over his fingers. In his steady, firm grip. I let my head hang back and think of girls while Valen strokes me the way I need. The way I want.
“Yes…I’m almost there.”
“Then shove it in her cunt and finish, my boy.”
I swivel toward her and take a step forward, gripping the base of my cock. Finding her pussy, I shove in as she groans in response. Valen’s hand slips down to my ass, and he grips it, encouraging me.
With a growl, I explode, filling her full of everything Val just pulled from me. When I take a step back, his hand is there. Continuing to finish me off with ease. Stroking me until there’s nothing left. My abs tighten, jerking taut.
“It’s too much.”
“Gotta get every last drop.”
He sighs, then slides his gloves back on, and I situate myself. Both of us stare at one another behind the masks. Blank faces. Stoic shock.
With deadly seriousness, I look at him and say, “Let’s never speak of this again.”
“Agreed.”
It’s been a week. A week of knowing nothing. And getting re-tested after taking antibiotics. Cleared of the infection.
A week of trying not to think about the things Valen and I didn’t say out loud.
When I’ve accepted nothing will happen, the president of Delta calls me into his office. Alone.
As head of the fraternity, Eric knows what it takes to commandeer the position. A brother is either appointed by legacy, elected with a vote by a majority of the members, or performs the nefarious task of subverting another house.
Since I had neither blood nor reputation, I had to choose the third way. And Valen made sure Eric got the DNA evidence afterward.
Eric shuts the door, his red hair gleaming in the early spring light.
“You did it, fucker.” His expression is serious, but a smirk belies his eyes.
“Did what?”
“You’re in. Theta found out in about three days. Were so infected that they almost got banned from participating in Salacious Saturday. This test hasn’t been passed since the last trial president came into office a long time ago.”
He stands proudly and shoves his hand out at me in a tight handshake. “Congratulations, Apollo Griffin. You’re the next president of Delta Pi Alpha.”
Everything in me surges with warmth. I fucking did it! I mean, there’s no way I couldn’t have done it without Valen, but still.
I got what we worked so hard for…
Only, even as I stand with a grin on my face, it doesn’t feel real. Like I’m pretending to be someone. A crown too heavy for my head.
I don’t think I’ve ever felt so unworthy.
“Everyone in Greek life has to get tested. They’ll send cute nurses around here for us. Well done. I’m fucking proud.”
“Thanks.”
As I head toward the door, he stops me.
“Oh. And well done on two accounts.”
“What’s that?” I ask.
“The old woman? The gimp they kept locked up? I guess she died. Died from complications of the infection, maybe. So, good job!”
The room tilts. My mouth goes dry.
My dick killed her.
And I know, with a cold certainty in my bones:
It’s going to be a long time before I can be with someone again.