AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I cleared my throat. "You get caught, you're out. You hurt anyone, you're out. You fail, anyone of you, and all three of you are out.”
When I expected Nash to arc up, he nodded slowly. "Fine. But it's the last time I want someone riding on my coat tails.”
Dylan whistled slowly. "Boy’s got balls."
Beau’s face remained passive, though mine might have cracked with a strain of holding my shit together.Arrogant little ass.But had I ever been any different?
"Agreed. The other part of your test," Beau continued as if my brother hadn't just interrupted our prepared speech, "is adifferent sort. Three pledges, three challenges. We set one." He indicated to the three of us standing in front of the boys.
Glances locked and held, but Stan’s resolve wavered, and he studied his feet.
He'll be out before the end of semester.
It would be between Aaron and Nash. We had more than one spot in the frat, though none of us answered that question earlier to keep a little ambiguity going. All the three had to do was play by the rules, and not fuck up. That simple. But usually this was when the level of self-sabotage raised the bar.
I suspected we were only bringing in two boys, or maybe just one, and weirdly enough my little brother, the impetuous, little asshole, impatient and desperate to earn his credit, always proud of the family ring our father gave us on our eighteen birthday led charge.
"I'm in." Nash said.
My teeth ground in my head. "Fine. Three challenges, one from each of us. By the end of semester from each of you, I need a show of power against a stranger."
"A show of strength against an enemy." Reid went next.
Beau didn’t move, only inclined his head” slightly. "I want you to give me a mindfuck against a friend."
The boys froze, each mind turning over those words. I smothered a grin as Nash’s eyes flashed to mine.
“Evidence is required for each. I don't care what it is. If it's a witness, a video, Friday night at the grandstand. Bring me irrefutable evidence.” Reid stepped forward. "Questions? We’re nothing like your other frats.”
He was right. While others might have yelled in their faces like they were the fucking Army, the deadly fury of the Kingsman frat, quiet and understated, made us the only one worth pledging on campus.
“Understood." Three young men spoke together with more conviction than I expected.
Beau nodded, breaking the moment, and the boys huddled together.
I reached for a decanter of whiskey by the sideboard, and flicked out three crystal glasses, filling them with golden ambrosia and kicked the bar fridge below open. "Want another?" I called to Dylan who watched the entire proceeding with few interjections and a heady dose of humor.
"Appreciate it."
"That went well," Beau murmured under his breath as he picked up a glass and swirled its golden contents around the bottom of the glass. "They’re head deep in planning."
"Your brother’s our wildcard." Reid stepped in, keeping his voice low. "It'll be interesting to see if he swims or sinks."
I snorted. “I'll be interested in that outcome as well."
"I think you mean invested."
"Shut up. "
We clinked our glasses together. "Salute."
CHAPTER TEN
WRENLEE
I sat on a sofa in the Kingsman house watching a kid drown himself in cheap beer. “Is it meant to come back out his nostrils like that?” I whispered to the dark haired girl beside me who hadn’t said boo yet.
Beau dropped her off beside me with instructions for her to sit still, which I found condescending as fuck, but she turned all pink and mumbled sass under her breath. Which was cool, since she seemed to enjoy their odd relationship. Mine with Leon was still in the budding honeymoon phase.
