Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 88212 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88212 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
“Anything to get you guys out of trouble. And if his stepbro happens to walk in, then I’ll just have to let them both give me what I deserve.”
“It is Alpha Theta Mu,” Caleb jokes. “You know what goes on with stepbrothers there.”
They do have a thing for stepbrothers winding up together. Not that there were many: Troy and Atlas, Ash and Colin, and then Brenner and Taylor—though they weren’t even Alpha Theta Mus. Just hung around there a lot. And I don’t think they were stepbros when they first met, but became stepbros afterward, which in a way makes the case for it even stronger.
Caleb says, “Speaking of Alpha Theta Mu, have you seen the whiteboard?”
“Whiteboard?” I ask.
“Yeah, they have a board they put guys’ names on when they start hooking up with guys.”
“I’m pretty sure that’s a rumor based on an inside joke.”
“Well, maybe I can look for it while we’re over there.”
“And I’ll let you know whose name to add,” Tatum jokes—the joke being adding names to a whiteboard, not so much figuring out who’s queer in the house.
We catch up a little, finish our coffees, then head over to Dax’s frat house. It’s particularly busy today, everyone trying to get in some last-minute hanging out before Thanksgiving break. I recognize a lot of the guys, some from other frats, and now I’m bringing my Omega Psi buddies into the mix.
There’s only one guy I’m looking for, though, and when I don’t see him right away, I’m on edge. Tatum and Caleb run into some frats they know, so I ditch them to find my guy, my anxiety mounting.
Breathe.
I take measured breaths before I spot him in the kitchen, leaning against the pantry as he chats with Aiden, Damien, and Andy. Of course he’d be talking to Damien.
When Dax sees me, his eyes flare, that bright smile flashing across his perfect face. I sidle beside him, hook my arm around his waist, and tug him close for a kiss, which he eagerly receives. I planned on it being a quick peck, I figure he did too, but I wind up lingering too long and giving him more tongue than either of us expected.
“Hi, Miles,” Aiden, now an official Alpha Theta Mu, says suggestively, winking.
Damien doesn’t look nearly as amused by my intrusion. “The polite thing would be to say hey to us and then kiss your man.”
He’s not wrong.
“Maybe if you kiss all my friends first, that would make Damien happy,” Dax teases, clearly an effort to lighten the mood, and I can’t help but laugh at the way Damien huffs.
“Guess Tatum won’t be adding your name to the whiteboard,” I joke, which gets Dax laughing. God, I love making him laugh.
My hand gravitates to his ass, and as I grip it firmly, I take a deep breath—the first real breath since I got here.
“You going home next week?” Aiden asks. Of all the guys here, he’s been the most welcoming, which surprises me because I was a real dick to his brother last year. Although, his brother was an uptight stick-in-the-mud, while Aiden’s a lot more chill.
As nice as he is, he’s touched a tender nerve. “Nah. I usually bow out. Dad asks me to come, but…” I trail off mid-sentence, surprised I even said that much, and now I’m trying to find a way out. “I…” This is really fucking with me.
But Dax turns to me, sensing I’m struggling, and he reaches back, placing his hand over mine on his ass, offering a soothing stroke. I didn’t even realize how much tension was bundled up in my chest until it releases.
“Sorry, I lost my train of thought there,” I recover. “I’m probably gonna stick around campus. Get some new works finished.”
The holidays are hard on both me and my dad, and if I’m around Dad when he’s in a sullen mood, I’m always scared we’re gonna drag each other into some dark pit of despair.
Dax offers another stroke, and when I look at him, I see the warmth in his expression—reading between the lines in a way only he can because of how I’ve opened up to him. Because of how I trust him.
“Okay, well, that was weird,” Damien observes, which doesn’t really bother me since I’m always weird.
“I thought I was being polite by not asking if you were excited to get back to boning your stepbrother over the break.” I’m not being an ass, well, okay, maybe a little, but come on. If he’s gonna give me hell, it’s only fair.
“What the—”
“You think I don’t know what you Alpha Theta Mus do?”
The other guys in their crew are all smiley—when that’s part of your frat’s rep, you just have to own it, right? But not Damien.
“The idea of doing anything with Brady makes me want to throw up,” Damien insists.