“Awesome. Feel free to keep kissing all of us, Vonni.” Chance ran a hand through his hair. “We’ll keep it light. That works for us. And when it’s over, we can all be friends. That really goes the best. No expectations. No hold on each other.”
“How far does this go?” I really couldn’t believe this was happening. “I have to tell you”—I took a really deep breath. I shouldn’t feel shame about this but sometimes I did. I didn’t want to analyze why, not right then anyway—“I really like sex. When things get hot and heavy, I’m not going to want to hold off. Could we all have sex?”
Banyan choked on his beer. In between coughs, he spoke. “Sorry, didn’t see that coming. Sure, baby, if you want to have sex, we’re game. But it’s all about you. Love is love, but we’re not into each other that way. Fine for anyone who is.”
I shook my head. “I didn’t mean you guys. I meant with me.”
I wouldn’t tell them right then about my ménage fantasies. I had books for that. My body buzzed. Could this be real?
“Not one of us is going to say no to that, but that’s up to you. Always about the girl’s choice with me. Again, as long as no feelings get hurt on your end, we’ll be golden.” Chance yawned. “Going to bed. Come up when you’re ready. I’ll be out cold. No sex from me tonight.” He winked. “I’d be nothing but a disappointment.”
Maven stopped him with his words. “One more thing. Giovanna’s not interested in building a rep, I don’t think, by sleeping with SPiI brothers. Are you, Giovanna?”
I swallowed. “Not even a little bit. I mean I have nothing against SPiI brothers, but the administration knows my parents. Things start getting around to the point that they hear it, repeat it, and I’m going to have to deal with discomfort I’d rather not face.”
“Then we keep this just amongst the four of us. Deal? When it’s over it’s over, but no one ever knows she was anything more than our regular platonic friend. We’re leaving in May. She has to stay here another year and a half.”
Chance nodded. “Deal.”
Banyan took my hand and kissed it. “Deal. And no more talking about leaving unless we piss you off. Even then, you tell us first, okay? I just met you, but I like you here.”
“Okay, then, I’ll stay.”
We’d just agreed to keep it light, and I could have sex with all of them if I wanted to. For the rest of my life, I would know this happened. When I was old and living with my cats—à la the tragic novel of my life I occasionally wrote in my head—talking to myself, I would remember that this happened. Three of the hottest guys I’d ever seen wanted me to stay for two weeks and were interested in me sexually.
“I guess I’ll go to bed, too. Merry Christmas.” I’d left my suitcase in the hallway. I retrieved it. Chance waited at the bottom of the stairs for me, where he took my bag.
There were fourteen days until school started. I meant to make the most of them. In all of the ways possible.
Chapter 6
Chance’s room wasn’t nearly the shrine to sports that Banyan had made it out to be. He had a few posters on the walls, mostly from the Yankees, and some signed pictures he had of football players. I didn’t know which team.
He’d gone to use the bathroom, and I was going to use it when he was done. I needed a shower. How did the girls who slept here all the time deal with this? What did Molly do at DKI? Did she rush back to the dorm to shower, and I just never knew?
My life had shifted so suddenly in twenty-four hours. I’d never, in a million years, worried about this. Greek life was for other people, not me.
Chance came through the door. He was in a pair of black boxer shorts and a gray t-shirt that clung to all of his muscles. I tried not to stare, which involved me looking everywhere but at him.
He crossed past me. “You should take the bed on the right.”
Chance’s room was set up differently than Maven’s. He had two beds. One bigger, a full size, and a twin in the corner. His chest of drawers was in his closet, taking up all the space except for the storage about the cabinet and his hanging clothes were in a moveable closet in the remaining corner of the room. He had a small desk right next to the bed. He was right when he said he had his own organization system. There were piles everywhere.
“You take the bed on the right.”
I looked where he pointed. “No way. That’s the bigger one. I’m much smaller than you. You don’t sleep in the twin, you sleep in the full.” Just general deduction could show me that. “I bet at home you have a king size to be comfortable. No way am I sticking you out of your own bed. I’m good in a twin.”
He rubbed his eyes. “You’re not going to give on this, are you?”
“No.” I could be stubborn when I wanted to be. This was ridiculous. I wasn’t going to let him be uncomfortable.
“Okay, I’ll take the big one.”
“Great.” I rocked back on my feet. “I’m going to go shower, and I’ll come right back.”
“Sounds good. You know I’m usually really energetic. I think a lot of things are just catching up all at once.” He pointed to his desk. “Top left, I have a pile of books. I think you’ll like a couple of them. Where are yours? I’m borrowing them. This is me sort of asking sort of telling you that I’m salivating for the books.”
I grinned at him. He was seriously cute. “Top of the suitcase. Take whichever ones you want. I’ll look at yours when I come back in.”
“You’re so cool. You don’t make things hard. Speak your mind. Even when it’s difficult. That conversation downstairs should have taken five shots of tequila. You did that stone cold sober. That was balls to the wall and, as it is, we all get what we want, right? You’re different than I thought you would be.”
I wasn’t surprised. “I don’t… talk about how I think about sex all the time. Anyway, enough of this.”
He leaned against the desk. “Go shower. We’ll talk after I pick out which of your books I’m stealing.”
I grabbed my stuff from my second suitcase and traveled down the hall. Maven’s room was quiet, but upstairs, I heard Banyan playing low music. I still had yet to see his room that they said he painted in. I needed to give him back his sweatshirt.
The shower had good spray, and it felt nice to get really clean. I brushed my teeth, towel dried my frizzy curls that I could only manage to control for brief periods of time, and headed back down to Chance’s room. When this place was full, it must be loud all the time.
Everything was clean. Did they do it themselves or did someone come in? We had a cleaner at the dorm who did the hallways but not our personal rooms. Maybe it was the same here. And who did they pay to live here? The school? The overall Greek organization? Was that secret?
I opened Chance’s door and walked in. The overhead ceiling fan making a slight whoosh was the only sound in the room. Chance was sprawled out in his bed, shoes still on, covers askew beneath him. My book, The Tale of Two Men, a gory thriller that had kept me up for weeks after I read it, lay on his chest. His eyes were closed. He’d fallen asleep fully clothed with the lights on.
I really hadn’t taken that long.
He wouldn’t be comfortable like that. I walked over to him and gently took off his shoes. Then I took the book off his chest and covered him with the blankets I could get loose from beneath him without disturbing him too much.
Chance mumbled something and then turned over, his back to me, his face toward the wall.
He’d feel better. I shut off the light. If I wanted to read, I’d do it by the light from my phone.
Molly had texted as well as my friends, Sharon and Alexis. I guess the word was out that I was staying at the SPiI house. Leave it to Molly to spread the word.
I was certainly not going to tell them the truth. This was between me and the three guys I’d just agreed to have an open, sleeping together but just friends relationship with.
Nothing really to report, ladies. Most of the brotherhood isn’t here. Just a few, and they are generously
letting me stay. Miss you all. If I have any stories, I’ll share them.
I wouldn’t. The next fourteen days were just for me.
I grabbed one of Chance’s books that I hadn’t read—it looked to be a murder mystery—and set out to read it. The prose was good, and it had my attention quickly. Two hours later, I forced myself to stop. I’d read all night and be a zombie the next day. With the way things were going, I had to be able to handle things changing very quickly.
I slept hard. It seemed like no time had passed when light traveled through the window to bring me back to real life. I rubbed my eyes. Across the room, Chance made a noise, and I forced my lids open to look at him.
“Hey.” He lay on his side. “Sorry, I woke you. I woke myself up talking in my sleep. It’s early. Go back to sleep.”
I yawned. “I’m up.” I looked at the clock on my phone. Five-thirty. He was right. It was too early. But the sun was up, so I’d be able to see the snow on the ground and not kill myself on the ice. “I’m going to see if I can manage a jog.”
“No.” He held out his hand. “You’ll fall and break something. It’s icy. Remember last night?”
The freezing rain. I’d all but forgotten. “You’re right.”
He wiggled his fingers. “Don’t leave me hanging. Come and cuddle. I didn’t get to talk to you last night because I’m acting like I’m one hundred years old. Come on.”
I slipped out of bed before I could overthink it. What had seemed so easy last night with the fire and the brownies seemed a little bit more intimidating in the light of day. I’d never agreed to potentially have sex with three guys I barely knew before. The desire was still there, but my confidence was lagging.
Chance took my hand when I got close and drew me against him before he covered us in his blankets. “Did you take care of me last night? Take off my shoes? Cover me up?”
“I did.”
He spooned behind me, his arm coming over my waist. “You’re sweet. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Chance kissed the spot where my shoulder met my neck. “Go back to sleep. We can doze like this. Don’t tell anyone, but I like to cuddle. Or at least I think I do. I don’t have that much experience with it. I like that you’re here and it’s not time for us to get up.”
I closed my eyes. I’d worry about the decisions I’d made later. He was right. We could just do this for a while.
A sound down the hall roused me again. It took me a second to realize it was loud, punk music coming from upstairs. Not down the hall. I rubbed my eyes.
“Hey.” Chance kissed me in the same spot as earlier. “Banyan is loud, but it’s nothing compared to how loud some of the other guys are.”
I rolled over slightly to look at him. He was rumpled. “Did you get any more sleep?”
“I did, but then I woke up because being this close to you got me hard.”
We were cocooned in his room. I rolled over until I faced him completely. “Good morning, Chance.”
“Good morning, Vonni. Did you sleep well in my room?” He placed his hand on top of my head, stroking my hair.
I nodded. “I did. Did you sleep okay with me in your room?”
“Really well.”
Our lips met. I didn’t know who kissed who first, but soon we were connected, mouth-to-mouth. Pressed as close as I was to him, I could feel just how hard he was. I reached between us, finding the slit of his boxer shorts. Was there anything sexier than a man aroused? If there was, I didn’t know what it was. He’d gotten this way because he was turned on by me.
I clasped the top of his cock, and he moaned. Chance sighed against my mouth. “You don’t have to.”
“I want to.” I really did.
I tugged his boxers down until they were down around his ankles. My hand found his hardness again, and I stroked him, from balls to his tip. His cock jumped in my hand. Chance grabbed the top of my pajama pants. “Take them off.”
“You don’t have to.” I mimicked his words from earlier.
He shook his head. “I want to and…” He sucked in his breath at my ministrations. “It’s so much better if I can get you off, too. It’s so much more exciting. And it’s already pretty damn exciting.”
I squirmed out of my pants. I never wore underwear to bed. He pressed his finger inside of me. “You’re wet for me.”
His voice was low; it sent shivers through my body. “I’m so hot for you.”
“Same.”
Chance searched for a second for my clit. “Sorry, I’ll find it. I’ll…”
He did, and I moaned, closing my eyes. I stroked him, a long pull on his cock, and his hips bucked against me. He kissed me, lightly, and then all we did was breathe. Touch. Caress until I was throbbing with need, and he pulsed in my hand. Chance wasn’t steady at first, but he found the rhythm I liked with a little encouragement, and then he was giving me the right kind of pressure, the exact touch I needed.
“Fuck,” he whispered. “I’m close.”
“So come.” I wanted him to, so much.
“Not until you do.” He pressed against me harder, pinching my bundle of nerves, and I exploded. I hadn’t known I needed that or I would have asked for it, but he had been right on. I jerked against him, and he came in my hand. Chance kissed me hard, his tongue finding mine. We stayed like that, both of us shaking, wrapped in his blankets as the pleasure we’d just given each other moved through us slowly.
Eventually, he kissed my lips in a gentle caress. “Wow.”
I smiled. “Morning.”
His laugh was low. “Yep. Morning. Hold on.” He got out of bed, pulling on his boxers. “I’m going to get you a wet towel.”
I nodded. “Thanks.”
He rushed from the room and returned just a few seconds later. I took the wet towel and cleaned up. It was nice of him to think of it. My ex-boyfriend, who was backpacking through Europe this year after dropping out of college—or at least that’s what I thought I saw on social media—had never been that considerate. It was a small thing, but I appreciated it.
“Feeling better today?” I got out of bed, finding my pajama pants and putting them back on.
He nodded. “Yep. Particularly right now.” Chance leaned over and kissed me. “You’re so pretty. You know that, right?”
I’d never particularly thought of myself that way. My red hair was fine, it appealed to certain people and not others. I wasn’t short or tall at five foot five inches exactly. I was rounder than was fashionable but not overweight, mostly because I jogged regularly.
I had freckles all over my body. If I disliked anything about myself it was that. Everywhere I looked, there was a spot.
“That’s sweet.” I patted him on the arm. “I’m sure you know what you look like.”
His smile broadened. “As long as you think I’m hot, I’m good.” He tugged his shirt off and walked over to his drawers. “I’m going to be out all day, picking up trash. Banyan and Maven gave up their vacation to do this with me, and I know why they’re doing it. It has to be multiple members of SPiI to count toward the community service, and they don’t want me overdone second semester. Between finding time for all the pledge activities we have to do and studying, I’m not at all sure how we’re going to get our hours in for all of this community service if we don’t use vacations. It’ll be spring break, too.”
I listened to what he said but all of my attention was on his back. Chance had long marks all over his back. Thin and thick, they were raised bumps crisscrossing his skin.
“Chance, what happened?” Maybe I shouldn’t have asked. Despite our physical contact, we were still in the getting to know you phase of our friendship.
His back tightened. “Usually, I remember to not let anyone see.” He sighed, his shoulders slumping slightly. He turned to look at me. “I could tell you the lie I tell when I get caught. I mean, not to the guys here. My pledge class knew what happened to me, and Banyan and Maven before that because we really bonded right aw
ay. I tell people that I was in a car accident.”
I nodded. The way we all had to keep our secrets was exhausting. “I can take that answer. You don’t have to explain.”
His gaze softened, his green eyes glistening for a second. “You wouldn’t push, would you? You’d just know that I was lying to you and accept that because it would make me feel more at ease.”
I touched his hand, linking our fingers together. “I’m a firm believer that we all get to keep our own secrets if we want to. Mostly, we have reasons for them.”
“My father loses it a lot. My mother died when I was ten. She fell and hit her head on some ice.” Chance stopping me from leaving the house this morning suddenly made a lot more sense. “I guess for years, my older brother, Jack, took the brunt of his temper. Protected me from it. I just thought Dad was a blowhard. Yelled a lot. Doesn’t even drink, so that’s not an excuse. Not that it would be anyway.” He shook his head. “Long story short, Jack went to college when I was twelve. The next, I’d say, four years, it was my turn. After that, I was taller than he was and I grabbed that frickin whip disguised as a belt and I…” His nostrils flared. “Let’s just say it stopped. We don’t see each other anymore. I don’t see Jack either, which is a shame, but we both had to escape. He works for a bank in Hong Kong. I reach out sometimes. He messaged me to have a good Christmas yesterday. I’m rambling.”
I squeezed his hand. “I’m so sorry.”
Sometimes words were useless. There was nothing really to say that could ever make that better. Chance Montgomery. SPiI brother. Pledge Master. Future doctor. Charming smile. Flirt. He carried scars on his back that he’d never show the world. All of the girls coming in and out of his house, in and out of his life, they just wanted the external. I could see it now. Why none of them mattered.
Truth was dark. It was yucky. It was the same everywhere I went.
“I like that you know. I like I won’t have to hide it.”
I let him pull me in for a hug. “I’ll never tell a soul, Chance.”
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