AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I’m still fucking fuming mad when I step onto the campus grounds an hour later, Hawk at my side.
“Forget about her for now, man. She’s not here, and we’re staying at the frat tonight. Kai can babysit while we let off some well-deserved steam.”
“Thank fuck. I’d have lost my shit if I had to be around her for one more second.”
The asshole snorts. “You mean, that wasn’t you losing your shit this morning?”
The death glare I throw him would have anyone else screaming like a baby as they ran away like the hounds of hell were on their ass, but the jerkweed simply rolls his eyes, knowing damn well that when it comes to him, I’m all bark and no bite.
Well, maybe a little bite.
Still, that’s why we’re brothers. Brothers in every fucking way. Ride or die, brothers. Frat brothers. Nearly actual, real-life bros-in-law—back when I was his sister’s fiancé. Well, fake fiancé if you wanna get specific about it. Pussy brothers, although I no longer like to think about that one. We’ve only ever been pussy brothers when it comes to ‘she who shall not be named’. So, I guess we’re no longer pussy brothers, but still, brothers in every other way that counts.
“Thanks for the heads up, by the way.”
“How the fuck was I supposed to know that she’d be in the kitchen at the ass-crack of dawn?”
“She’s lucky she didn’t get a throatful of my cock,” I snark, making Hawk smirk.
“Damn, I hope I’m there to see it when she does.”
I scoff. “Not. Fucking. Happening. Been there, done that, got a stupid fucking t-shirt somewhere to prove it.” I really do, assuming I kept it after all these years. I bought one each for Hawk and I, only he just scowled at the time and most likely threw it away. We weren’t on great terms back then. He was still adjusting to having me as his ride-or-die, but I wore him down eventually, and now I’m his bestie. The Bonnie to his Clyde. The peanut butter to his jelly. The condom to his jizz. Eww, well, maybe not that last one, but you get the gist.
Hawk makes a noise in the back of his throat that sounds a hell of a lot like he doesn’t believe me, but before I can reinforce what I’m saying, some doe-eyed freshman catches his attention, and with a mumbled goodbye, he takes off after her. At least one of us hasn’t been completely thrown off kilter by Emilia’s sudden and unexpected presence back in our lives.
Dammit, there I go thinking about her again. Despite myself, I smirk at the memory of blocking her in against the kitchen cabinets. The flash of fear in her eyes. The erratic flutter of her pulse beneath my hand. She seemed so fragile, so breakable.
Good. I want her to break, to make her feel what I felt when she shredded my insides with her caustic words and abrupt departure from my life. She made me fucking care about her. Then she just left me behind, like I meant nothing. Which is fine because now,shemeans nothing tome. She’s atmymercy. Relying onmeto keep her hidden from some deranged psycho. If I ever meet this crazy stalker, I’ll be sure to let them know the selfish bitch really isn’t worth their time or energy, but in the meantime, I can have some fun. Exact some revenge and level the playing field. She wanted to treat what we had like it was just sex and a fun time, then fine, that’s exactly how I’ll treat her.
Except, I’m not fucking sleeping with her. That’s where it all went wrong last time. The fucking sex. It was too good. Even now, my dick stirs in my pants at the memory.Not. Fucking. Happening,I remind it as I stride into my first lecture of the day and take a seat near the back of the hall.
Pulling my textbook and laptop out of my bag, I flip open the book to what we are studying today but pause when I find a cream envelope tucked inside the pages. Hesitating to touch it, I glance around at the other seniors slowly filing into the room, but no one is paying me any attention.
Flicking my gaze back down to my textbook, I tentatively lift the envelope, feeling the smooth texture of expensive cardstock between my fingers as I turn it over and carefully remove the rectangular card from within.
I run my thumb over the embossed emblem along the top—a snake coiled around a crown, before lowering my gaze to read the rest of it. There’s nothing except a time and place.
Midnight.Kappa Epsilon Library.
Frowning,I flip the card over, but there’s nothing on the back. Focusing on the front of it again, my gaze snags on the snake and crown. Something niggles at the back of my mind, but I can’t see the thought clearly. I can’t remember ever seeing that symbol before, but it seems somewhat familiar. Perhaps I’ve seen it around the frat house. Whatever this is about must be related to it since they’ve requested that we meet in their library. Only frat members are allowed in there. The room is locked on nights when we throw campus parties, and non-Kappa Epsilon members have never set foot inside the library. It’s not anything special, although I’ll admit that libraries aren’t really my thing. It’s a lot smaller than the main college library, but apparently, it holds rare one-of-a-kind texts or some such shit that I couldn’t really care about. Essentially, it’s a room with old, dusty books that only select people—such as myself—are allowed to peruse.
The professor momentarily catches my attention as he strides into the room and begins today’s lecture, but it’s not long before I zone him out, my focus once again returning to the card in my hand and what it could mean. I dig my phone out of my bag and text Robbie, hoping he might have some answers, but I hesitate before I hit send on the message.
Robbie is my cousin. I’d never even met him until I started college, yet somehow he recognized me from an old family photo and sought me out. It was weird as fuck, and I was definitely skeptical at first, but I couldn’t exactly argue the truth when it was staring me in the face in the form of old family photographs.
Besides, given the fact that my father had no contact with the rest of his family, and I’d never met any of them, it wasn’t beyond the realm of possibility. I’d often wondered if I had other family out there, even though, honestly, I just assumed they were all as messed up as my father and was probably better off not knowing them.
Except, according to Robbie, theyaren’tanything like my father. The family apparently disowned my father after some scandal that would have dragged the family’s reputation through the dirt if not for my grandfather’s influence—i.e., money.
Although, they have been hesitant to have any communication with me—besides Robbie. Robbie claims they simply need time to assure themselves I’m not my father. I guess the mistakes in my past don’t help with that. At one point, I definitely wasn’t what a family who cares primarily about their reputation would want to be associated with. Honestly, I’m probably still not. I truly only care about the opinions of a very limited number of people, and the Clearwaters definitely aren’t one of them.
Nonetheless, Robbie and I have become good friends over the last three years. When I first started at Ridgeway, he was a senior. Within a year of graduating, he became the Dean of the Political Science Department, thanks to his name and the clout of Kappa Epsilon, so I still see him around campus, which is cool.
It was Robbie who first told me of the Clearwater tradition of rushing for Kappa Epsilon. Every single Clearwater before me was a member of the frat. In fact, every single Clearwater has attended Ridgeway College. Such a small world that I’d unknowingly ended up here too.
It’s almost like fate was pushing me to bridge those familial ties. Here, was a family legacy that I had no knowledge of, and while I’ve never been one for tradition or legacy or any of that hocus pocus, I am a fan of wild, drunken parties and having a good time. Especially back in freshman year when my pain was still fresh, when that was the only way I could temporarily forget abouther.
However, sometime over the last few years, I guess my attitude has changed somewhat. I’ve watched Hawk and his father turn the Davenport name around, and the plans Hawk has for Nocturnal Enterprises only ensures further that everyone will know it—and his—name. He’s proud to be a Davenport, and I’ve come to realize I want that too. I want something I can be proud of. All my life, I’ve flitted from one thing to the next—friends, hobbies, cars, drugs. You name it. Hadley, Hawk, and the guys are the only constants that have stuck with me. They saved me when I was in a really dark, fucked up place, and while I’ve come to view them as my family, it’s no longer enough. I want something that’s solely mine.
