by Harlow Layne
I wanted to laugh in Ford’s face. As far as I knew, he hadn’t had the displeasure of being on Fin’s bad side. But until that moment, I’d also never seen Ford be anything but his usual happy self. Serious and threatening weren’t words I’d use to describe Ford Fitzgerald, and the fact that he changed his M.O. for me made me think I could call Ford a friend. It was nice to know someone had my back if I needed it.
“I’ll see you back at the house. Maybe you’ll join us for our Call of Duty tournament tonight.”
“You don’t want me to do that unless you like losing. I’ve only played a couple of times, and I suck.” I laughed at how badly I’d played, and my friend never asking me to play with him again.
“Maybe not play then, but you can still hang out with us.” He gave me a nod as if his word was final before walking away.
Ford was right. I had hidden away even though I told myself I wouldn’t, and it was time to stop.
A few hours later, I headed downstairs to where a loud chorus of cheers and yells ricocheted off the walls of the living room. It looked as if the entire house was spread out across the room. Ford locked eyes on me and patted the armrest to the couch he was sitting on. Giving him a chin lift, I made my way into the kitchen. I’d join them, but first, I needed to eat.
My steps faltered, finding Fin in the kitchen with his head stuck inside the refrigerator. He turned his head and narrowed his eyes at me. He must have heard me walk in, but I wasn’t going to forgo dinner because he was in my space.
“Have you seen my meals? I’ve looked at every container in here, and not a single one of them has my name on it.” He looked back inside. “Did that chick not deliver our food?”
“You mean Rebekah?” How did he not know the name of the person who cooked his meals every day of the week? I pushed Fin out of the way, making him rock back on his heels. “I saw her last week, but I don’t think I’ve seen her this week. Is it possible you didn’t pay her?”
Fin scoffed from behind me, but I ignored him.
“If you’re hungry, I can heat up some of my food for you. I was going to make myself something to eat and watch the tournament.” I pulled out a few chicken breasts I’d cooked the other night and a frozen bag of green beans from the freezer.
“I—”
“You’ve got to be hungry,” I interrupted as I threw the green beans in the microwave. “I know you’ve been working out twice a day for the last couple of weeks.”
“Have you been stalking me?” Fin let out a bitter laugh of dismissal.
Turning, I leaned against the counter and rolled my eyes. “Get over yourself. Is it possible for you to be nice for the duration of a meal?”
“To you?” He lifted a brow and started to say something else but stopped when the microwave pinged.
“You don’t have to eat with me. I’m going to watch the tournament, so all you have to do is not be an asshole for the amount of time it takes me to heat up the chicken.”
“Do you do this every day?” Fin moved to the refrigerator and pulled out two bottles of water, and handed one over. I was surprised he thought of me and quickly took the bottle from him without touching him.
“What, cook?” My brows furrowed. Was Fin really that out of touch with reality? Didn’t he realize a large portion of the population didn’t eat out for every meal? “Once a week, I cook enough chicken for the week, and then I heat it up with some vegetable.”
“Why?” he asked as if he was genuinely curious.
I wasn’t sure exactly what he was asking. “Because I don’t have the time or energy to do it every day. This way is easier.”
Taking the chicken breasts out of the microwave, I divvied them up on two separate plates and split up the green beans.
Happy that Fin hadn’t been a complete and total ass, I took my food and started to head into the living room when he stopped me with a strong hand to my bicep. Turning to look at him, I waited to see what he’d do next. With Fin, I never knew.
He looked down at his food for a moment and then trained his eyes on me. “If you had the money to get your meals delivered to you every week, would you do it?”
After years of pinching pennies, it was ingrained in me to not waste money. I didn’t need to spend triple the amount for convenience, but it would be nice. “In that dream world, maybe, but only during the football season when I’m busier,” I amended. “Why?”
Fin didn’t bother to answer. Instead, he brushed past me with his plate in hand and went out to join the guys in the living room.
A sigh of disappointment left me. For one brief second, I thought I’d broken through Fin’s walls, but I should have known it was only wishful thinking.
With my own plate in hand, I ignored Fin, and for the first time since I’d moved in, I enjoyed my new roommates. I was done letting Finley Huntington dictate my life.
11
Fin
Running a towel over my wet hair, I stopped just inside my room when I spotted Oz sitting on my bed with a bowl full of pasta in his lap.
Eying me at the door, he started to dig his fork through the noodles. “What time are you leaving for the party?” Oz asked before shoveling a large forkful of food in his mouth.
Walking around my bed, I eyed him back. “What are you doing in here?”
“Waiting on your ass. What else?” he asked with exasperation.
Pulling a pair of boxer briefs out of the dresser, I dropped my towel and slid them up my legs.
“Fucking hell, dude, warn a guy before you go flashing your white ass at him.”
He sounded as if it bothered him, but he kept eating, so clearly not. It wasn’t like he hadn’t seen me and dozens of other guys in the locker room without their clothes on before.
“Fuck off.” I rolled my eyes. “You’re the one invading my space.” Facing my closet, I pulled out a pair of jeans and a black button-down shirt, my standard uniform, and started to get dressed. “How did this party get cleared with Coach, anyway?”
“No clue, but who cares?” He shrugged as if we wouldn’t get chewed out in the locker room for an hour after we were tortured during practice if something happened. “We finally get a night out to party like everyone else on campus.”
“Like you want to be dragging ass to practice the next day with a hangover.” If we did, Coach would hand our asses to us.
“I heard one of the guys say he was going to leave after curfew one night, and when he looked out the window, there was some dude in a car sitting outside.”
Running my fingers through the strands of my hair, I let it flop in front of my eyes as I faced Oz, who was finishing up his food. “I don’t doubt it. I get why Coach is so strict with us, but damn, I didn’t think being on the team would be this hard.” I looked to Oz to find him looking down at his shoes, nodding. “I’m good to go whenever you are.”
“Cool, let me go rinse this bowl out, and then I’m ready to go.” He cocked his head to the side. “Should we pregame with shots before we go?”
If there was alcohol in this house, where were they hiding it? Because no one had shared with me. When Coach laid down the law on the first day of practice, all the new team members thought he was bluffing. That quickly changed when some unknown guy showed up while on the phone with Coach and did a headcount. Each night someone different came to make sure we were all home and not doing anything we weren’t supposed to. After that, we knew we were fucked.
“What do we got?” I asked as I followed him down the stairs.
He looked over his shoulder. “I thought Ridley was going to get something and bring it back, but I haven’t seen him in a while.”
“I don’t want to wait around, so let’s just go.” I didn’t know Ridley well, but he always seemed to have his head in the clouds. I couldn’t get a read on him, and I certainly didn’t want to waste time waiting around on him.
Once downstairs, I looked around and noticed how silent the house was. The only time it was like this was if you were
up in the middle of the night. “How are we the only ones here?”
Oz came to stand at the opening to the kitchen with his legs wide, and arms crossed over his chest. “Because you took for fucking ever to work out, but it’s cool. It’s not like we’ve got far to go.”
True, Alpha Mu was only three houses down from us. I was surprised we couldn’t hear the music from the party with the unusual quiet of the house. Opening the front door, we could immediately hear the party, and stepping outside, we saw a crowd out on the lawn.
“I was starting to think coming to Willow Bay was a mistake.” Oz laughed as two girls came running out of the house topless with their tits jiggling and a chorus of guys cheering.
I laughed with him and knocked him in the shoulder.
Oz was a lot of talk with little action. It was fun to give him shit about his obsession with Lo. I kept thinking maybe with her out of the picture, Oz would open his eyes to all the many opportunities our new town had to offer. While he was a happy-go-lucky guy to everyone on the outside, once you got to know him and saw him around Lo, it was easy to see how much it killed him that he couldn’t have her. I wanted my friend happy one way or another.
“I don’t know about you, but if this is our one chance to party, I’m going to get my drink on.”
“Let’s do it,” I shouted as we moved through the open red door. Inside was a skinny guy with short hair handing out red cups.
“Kegs are that way.” He hooked his thumb over his shoulder and then handed a cup to two giggling chicks who were behind us.
“Sweet,” Oz called out. It wasn’t about the free beer, though. He had his gaze fixed on three girls on top of a table, dancing in bikinis that barely covered their bodies.
As I looked around the room while we navigated through the crowd, I noticed most of the football team was already there with cups in their hands.
Even though I wanted to let loose and party, I was going to limit my drinking to one beer. There was no way I was going to ruin all the hard work I’d put in. Even Coach had noticed my improved performance and the changes in my body. Not to mention most of the female population of Willow Bay. So far, I hadn’t found a fuck buddy that interested me. They threw themselves at me every chance they got. For being the starting quarterback, and for my looks. Not that I blamed them, but girls were drama, and that was something I wanted to steer clear of during the season.
It didn’t help I had West everywhere I looked either. Stirring something deep inside of me and pissing me off.
Of course, it was then I spotted him swaying to the beat, eyes closed with a drink in hand. A guy with dark blond hair had his hands on West’s hips, and I wondered if it was his boyfriend, E.
I was all too happy when we stepped into the kitchen and filled our cups to the brim with beer. Out of sight, out of mind, I told myself, or at least I tried to convince myself that was the case.
“They finally let you out,” some douche canoe in an Alpha Mu t-shirt said to me over all the other voices in the kitchen.
My only response was to narrow my eyes at him. I didn’t like the vibe coming off him. It was desperate, and I hated nothing more than someone kissing my ass because they wanted something. I looked him up and down and sneered at his skinny jeans and boat shoes.
“Do you like your coach?” he asked after I didn’t answer him. I wasn’t sure why he kept talking to me. If he wanted to get buddy-buddy with someone on the football team, I was the last guy he should be talking to.
“As well as I can like anyone who has control over my life.”
“Right,” he shouted in my face, causing me to step back. I wanted to punch him for getting in my space, but I held back. There were too many witnesses, and I wanted to start on Saturday.
Clenching my hands into fists, I drilled the douche canoe with a look that said I was thin on patience and he should get lost. “Run along. I don’t play well with others, and if you keep trying to get to know me, you’ll soon learn it the hard way.”
His brown eyes nearly bugged out of his head while his mouth opened and closed a few times before he set his cup down and stalked off into the crowd.
“Bro,” Oz came up beside me and clapped a hand on my shoulder, “you sure know how to make friends.”
I grinned at him from over the lip of my cup. “What do I need more friends for when I have you?” Oz’s only response was to shake his head in disappointment. “Give me a break. You know I can barely tolerate most people, and I have made friends.” I looked around the kitchen and out into the living area. “But I’m not going to make nice with these guys. There’s… I don’t know, something I don’t like about them.” When Oz only looked at me with raised brows, I clarified. “More than most.”
“Yeah, you’re right, and most people don’t bother me, so…” Oz let his thought drag off. “It sucks this is the party on our one night.”
Taking a sip of my beer, I tipped it toward Oz. “It’s free booze, so I say let’s make the best of it.”
“Blackhawks football team, we challenge you to a beer pong tournament,” someone shouted from the other room where they had a table set up.
A grin started to spread on the few players’ faces I saw. Oh yeah, we were going to kick their asses. “Let’s do this,” a couple of the guys shouted from various places.
Oz bumped my shoulder and shook his cup. “I’m going to fill up and then watch our guys kick some ass.”
Since I’d barely drank any of mine, I moved to stand by the table they’d set up. Two of our defensive linemen were bouncing on the balls of their feet in anticipation, making me chuckle underneath my breath.
When Oz caught up to me, he was flanked by Ford, Ridley, and another guy on the team.
The music seemed too quiet as the first ball was shot by the Alpha Mus. The crowd hissed when he missed his shot. It was then I knew we had it in the bag.
Two rounds later, as I sipped on my beer, I noticed the room had quietly dispersed. It had been wall to wall people, but now I wondered where the party had shifted to. There were still plenty watching the game of beer pong, but only a select few were dancing. How had I not noticed?
“Where’s everyone at?” I asked some frat guy standing next to me. He was cheering on his fraternity brothers, who were going against the winners from the first round of our team.
He shook his head and looked up the stairs. “They’re showing some fag what’s up.”
What’s up?
“What do you mean?” My voice was deadly as I moved closer into his space and asked the question.
“They’re trying to convert some queer that’s on the football team.”
“What?” My brows furrowed in confusion. I’d heard of families trying to pray the gay away, but having lived in California all my life where almost everyone was accepting of, well, everything, I couldn’t believe my ears. I had no idea what they were doing, but I wasn’t going to let anything happen to one of my teammates.
I stepped up to him and got in his face, our noses nearly touching as I gritted out. “Where are they?
I felt the room halt, and all eyes were on me. I didn’t give a shit. Was the tournament meant to be a distraction?
All the blood drained from his face. “I… I don’t know. Somewhere upstairs. I was ordered to stay down here and make sure no one from the football team went upstairs.”
This guy was an idiot. Did he not realize I was on the team? I don’t know what happened next. One second I was about to punch him in the face, and the next, I found myself rounding the landing on the second floor and beating a path down the hall. It was quiet, almost too quiet except for all the blood whooshing in my ears. When I heard a loud grunt come from somewhere down the hall, I slowed my steps as I tried to pinpoint exactly where the sound came from.
A pained moan echoed down the hall. Was that… no, it couldn’t be. Did they have West? Deep down, I knew it was him. As far as I knew, there wasn’t anyone else on the team who was openly gay, and West had
been downstairs dancing, not hiding the fact he liked the man touching him.
The doorknob felt like a boulder, unwilling to move as I tried and failed to turn it. Pounding on the door, I shouted. “Open the fucking door, you motherfucking losers.” Taking a few steps back, I hurled myself at the wood and slammed my shoulder into it. It hurt like a bitch, but did nothing to get me inside the room. I tried it again to no avail.
I was about ready to go find a fire extinguisher to break the knob off when Ford yelled from down the hall.
“Dude, what the hell is going on? We could hear you downstairs.” Ridley nodded as he came up behind Ford.
“Help me break this door down,” I ordered, ready to lose my shit when I heard another pained moan that went along with an uproar of cheering and laughter.
Ridley must have heard it too because one second he was his usual easygoing self, ambling down the hallway, and the next, his face turned to stone as he started to run. “Get out of the way, Fin,” he barked out only a second before he slammed the right side of his body into the door. For a moment, I thought it was all in vain until I heard a splintering sound. With one more shove from his shoulder, Ridley was barreling into the room.
Nothing could have prepared me for what I saw when I stepped inside. The room was packed full of party-goers who all had their eyes trained on a circle of Alpha Mu fraternity guys who were taking shots at someone in the center. There was a lone girl who sat on the bed naked without a care in the world that she was in a room full of guys with zero clothes and the evilest smirk on her face.
The body of whoever they were hitting fell between two of the guys. I looked down and saw dark hair shorn short and light mocha skin, and immediately knew it was West. Something happened deep inside of me. I broke as I took in his head laying on the ground with one eye open and glassy, and his mouth hanging open. The other eye was swollen shut and was quickly turning black and blue.
Fueled by rage, I pushed through the crowd and knocked the guys away as they started to pry West off the floor. A tall but skinny guy rounded on me but was too slow. I hit him in the stomach with everything I had and watched as he went down like a bag of bricks, moaning as he did so.
