Level Up: Violent Circle: Book Five

by Shade, S. M.

  “Mom,” he says, giving her a hug. “You look beautiful.”

  “My handsome son. Look at you.” She beams at him before regarding me.

  “This is Sasha, my girlfriend. Sasha, these are my parents, Donna and Ross.”

  “It’s nice to meet you,” I tell them.

  “You too, honey. I love your dress.”

  “Thank you.”

  His father hasn’t even broken a smile. Finally, he sticks his hand out and Elijah shakes it. “Son, good to see you,” he grunts.

  Another couple approaches and draws their attention, allowing us to slip away. “Your mom seems sweet.”

  “She is. She’s one of those people who would do anything for anybody.” I don’t bother mentioning his father’s behavior. After all, he’s why I’m here in the first place. I didn’t expect him to be a warm, accepting person. I get a quick introduction to his brother, Noah, along with Noah’s wife, but no one in his family seems to care to hang out with one another.

  Elijah was right about one thing. This party is boring. Even the band seems lackluster, plodding their way through the songs. I’ve had a few drinks but even a buzz can’t save this night.

  Elijah grins at me. “If I can get the band to play something good, will you dance with me?” He tilts his head toward the dance floor where a few couples are moving to a slow song.

  “Sure.”

  When the song ends, he walks over and murmurs to the lead singer, who nods back at him. “What did you request?”

  “That they play something with a beat.”

  He grabs my hand and leads me out on the dance floor as the band starts up again. I don’t recognize the song, but it’s definitely more upbeat, and I have no trouble falling into rhythm with Elijah.

  “You can dance.”

  He smiles at my remark and pulls me against him. More couples join us on the dance floor now that it’s more music and less funeral march, and before I know it, the atmosphere in the room lightens. There’s more laughter, and everyone is loosening up. The alcohol probably doesn’t hurt.

  Elijah spins me around and loops his arms around my waist from behind. “My parents are watching us. Would a kiss be taking things too far?”

  I can’t help but laugh, remembering all the times I wondered what it’d feel like to kiss him because he has such nice lips. What could a little peck hurt? Tilting my head back, I press my lips to his for a quick second. There’s no feeling there. It’s like kissing a friend or the back of your hand or something.

  Before I can look away, he kisses me again, and this one is no little peck. His tongue dips between my lips, which open in surprise. He takes that as encouragement and deepens the kiss, caressing my tongue with his. The combination of the kiss and the alcohol makes my head swim a little bit, and it takes me a second to break it off.

  I don’t want to call any more attention to us, so I turn around and drape my arms around his neck, still moving to the music. I look him in the eye. “That’s enough.”

  “Sorry, I got carried away.”

  It was still just a kiss. It shouldn’t be a big deal to me, but the second his tongue touched mine, all I could see was Trey. Apparently, he’s the only tongue I want. How did that happen?

  “Maybe because I’m married to a whore!” I’m startled as the words are shouted loud enough to make the whole room freeze in place.

  “Oh shit,” Elijah mumbles, looking toward the sound.

  “Is that?”

  “My brother, Noah, and his wife, yeah.”

  The words she yelled make it clear what the fight is about. Noah tries to pull her out of the room but she’s having none of it. “What’s the matter, Noah? Afraid the whole town will find out you fuck anything that moves!”

  She turns on the young woman hovering just behind them. “And you! You were supposed to be my friend, but I guess there’s no fighting that whore jaw is there? Just dislocates when you see dick! You can have him! He’s a fucking loser who always comes up an inch short and a stroke early. You two deserve each other!”

  With that, she shoves her way past him and stalks out of the room.

  “Holy shit. Do you want to go talk to him?” I ask.

  “Hell no. I know when to mind my own business. Let’s make our escape.”

  A small crowd has gathered around the doorway where Elijah’s parents stand, clearly trying to assure everyone that things are fine. Too late for that. Elijah grabs my hand and tugs me out the side exit, into a hallway.

  Our timing sucks. Noah’s wife turns the corner with Noah right on her heels, and they’re heading straight for us. “In here,” Elijah says, pulling me into a restroom before they can see us.

  “This is the ladies room,” I laugh. Before we can step back out, the door opens again and he ducks into a stall, pulling me in with him.

  Grinning, he plants his hand over my mouth when I start to laugh. “Shh, they’ll hear you.”

  We stand there, motionless and quiet while two women pee, flush, and then chat at the sinks. “Well, drama is to be expected with that family, but I didn’t think it’d be from Noah. He’s such a nice boy.”

  A peek between the gap in the door reveals the two women are older, easily in their late fifties. “You never can tell. I’m so embarrassed for poor Donna. It was bad enough that Elijah was carrying on with that woman on the dance floor. Like everyone is just going to forget when he got caught with that Greggs boy in high school. I know a beard when I see one. She’s probably a lesbian.”

  Elijah’s body sags, but he grabs my arm as I start to go out there and give those two bitches a piece of my mind. They walk out, still gossiping about him and his family.

  “Come on.” His voice is flat, and he doesn’t look at me until we’ve snuck out of the bathroom and have the elevator to ourselves.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, I was stupid to think anything would be different here. Let’s just get this night over with and go home. We’re skipping the brunch tomorrow.”

  “Okay.”

  Once we’re back in the room, I toss him another drink, and sit across from him. “Elijah, you should know that I don’t care whether you’re gay or not and neither will any of our friends.”

  Nodding, he sits back. “I’m bisexual. Down here, though, that means you’re gay. Hell, eating soy and not driving a pickup can make you gay here.”

  “Well, you need to pick a better beard next time because clearly I give off a lesbian vibe.”

  Our gazes meet and we both crack up laughing. He downs the drink and reaches for the hotel phone. “Let’s get some room service.”

  The rest of the night goes by fine. None of his family tries to get in touch with him, he crashes on the couch, and we’re up at the crack of dawn to escape.

  Trey and Denton are lounging in the living room when I get home. The smell of cinnamon hangs in the air, making my mouth water. Elijah and I were both suffering from a bit of a hangover this morning, so we skipped breakfast.

  “Wow, what smells so good?”

  “Becca is making French Toast,” Denton says. “How was your little trip?”

  “Boring with a dash of Jerry Springer.”

  “Sasha! Get your ass in here and help me,” Becca calls. Yeah, she just wants the gossip. Elijah told me on the way back that he wasn’t going to keep his sexual orientation a secret anymore, especially here. I didn’t expect him to text Becca already though.

  She points a spatula at me as I enter. “You. What the hell happened last night?”

  I grab the tongs and flip the bacon slices sizzling on the pan. “What do you mean?”

  “I got a text from Elijah saying, and I quote, ‘I kissed Sasha and now I’m into dudes. Pass it along.’”

  I’m going to kill him.

  “You know that he wanted me to go because his dad suspects he’s gay? Well, it wasn’t just his dad. His whole busybody, homophobic town had something to say about it. I think he’s fed up with stressing over it and he
knows we aren’t backward, hateful people, so he told me he’s bisexual.”

  She grins, plating up the French toast. “And the kiss?”

  I pull the bacon out of the pan, blotting off the grease before adding it to the plates. “Yeah, he kissed me. We had a few drinks and we were dancing. His father was watching us, and Elijah kissed me, you know, to keep up the ruse. It was no big deal.”

  Becca laughs, pulling a carton of orange juice from the fridge. “So, just a quick peck then?” I can feel her staring at me, and my smile gives me away. “Talk, woman, you never get any action and I want details.”

  “It was a real kiss. He just got carried away. It didn’t mean anything. We aren’t into each other, I swear.”

  Movement in the corner of my eye draws my gaze to the doorway just in time to see Trey walk away. Damn, I wonder how long he’s been listening. Guilt trickles into me, which is ridiculous. I helped out a friend. It was one stupid kiss I didn’t even want. And besides, we aren’t exclusive. At least we’ve never said we were.

  “Elijah is bi. I wonder how he’d feel about a threesome,” Becca muses. “Could you imagine, him and Denton? I’d lose my mind.”

  “I don’t think Elijah would be the tough one to convince.”

  Denton strolls in, just catching the end of my sentence. “Convince who about what?”

  “Becca wants a threesome,” I announce, and Becca flips me off.

  A broad grin spreads across Denton’s face. “Yeah, Sasha, you down?”

  “I think she has someone else in mind,” I toss back over my shoulder, as I leave the room.

  Denton’s voice rings through the apartment a moment later. “Oh hell, no.”

  Chuckling, I head to my room to unpack. Trey steps into my bedroom right after me and closes the door. “You kissed him?”

  His accusation and the severe manner in which he delivered it throws me off guard. “What?”

  “Elijah, you kissed him. Did you sleep with him?”

  “What? No! He slept on the couch.”

  His lips press together and his big arms cross across his chest. “You know what I mean.”

  Lifting my bag onto my bed, I sigh. “I didn’t fuck him.” The expression on his face cuts right through me. I should’ve seen this coming. This is exactly what I didn’t want. For things to get serious, for him to get jealous. For Trey to get hurt.

  And I don’t blame him because I know if the roles were reversed, I’d feel the same way.

  “Trey.” I grab his hand. “Nothing happened. He kissed me because he was trying to convince his father he isn’t gay. It wasn’t exactly a romantic moment.”

  Trey releases my hand and steps back. He takes a moment to reply. “It’s fine, Sasha. You told me from the beginning, didn’t you? We were just having fun.”

  “Trey, that isn’t—”

  He stalks out of the room, pulling the door shut behind him.

  Fuck.

  Chapter Six

  Trey

  I’m not sure what I expected. She went away for a night with Elijah, stayed in the same hotel room, went as his date to a party. Of course, they got together. I can’t even complain because she told me she didn’t want anything serious. Hell, she doesn’t even want anyone to know we’ve been seeing each other.

  I guess I hoped she was starting to feel for me like I do for her. Especially after she went to the hospital with me and everything. But I was wrong. She’s not interested in any more than sneaking around and fucking.

  I’ve done my best to just avoid her since she returned. When she was gone, I realized I was in over my head because I was tempted to text her way too many times, and all I could think about was them together. She’s not my girlfriend, and I have no right to be jealous. I need to shake this off and move on.

  Since the night Sasha and I slept together after the festival, I haven’t been out with anyone else. It’s time to start dating again. Time to forget about her.

  Unfortunately, I haven’t met anyone lately. Between spending time with Sasha, school, and work, I’ve been pretty occupied. Maybe it’s time to give the dating app on my phone another try. The guys used to use it just to find hookups before they got with their girlfriends, and I know it isn’t the best way to meet someone, but I need a distraction.

  Before I pull up the app, I decide to check in on Cluck Chuckers. I’ve been preoccupied and haven’t paid much attention, but Harper texted me yesterday that it was still working its way up the rankings. The price bump didn’t seem to slow it down. The ranking is important because the higher it’s ranked, the more people will see and possibly purchase it, but the real success lies in the sales reports.

  A bark of a laugh jumps out of my throat when I log in. I can’t believe this. Over six figures. I’ve made well over six figures from a game that’s main goal is throwing chickens. Life is so weird sometimes. At least something is going right. I take the time to fill out the bank information for the payments to start being direct deposited monthly, then sit back in my chair, wincing at the ache in my ass. The tailbone is healing, but not quickly, and having to sit in strange ways to accommodate it has made my hips ache as well. Popping a couple ibuprofen, I pull up the dating app and check out who is nearby.

  I don’t live in a huge city, which means my options are limited, but at the moment, I just want to get out and do something. Get a certain stubborn tattoo artist off my mind. I’m not going to be the pathetic guy who keeps chasing after a girl who doesn’t want him.

  It doesn’t take long to find a pretty girl named Diana, who is more than willing to get together tonight. I make plans to meet her, then toss my phone aside.

  My coursework has taken a backseat to everything else lately, and I spend the rest of the day in my room, catching up. My college only offers certain classes during certain periods, so my schedule is weird this year. I needed two classes to graduate and I would’ve finished a semester early, but one of the classes isn’t offered this semester. That left me taking only one class this semester and one the next. At least it makes it easy to keep up.

  Graduation. Another thing I haven’t thought of, but it’s fast approaching. Denton is graduating as well, and I imagine we’ll both move soon after. It’ll be bittersweet. I’ve had some of my best times at Frat Hell with these guys. I have no idea what I want to do after, but I’m encouraged by the success of Cluck Chuckers. Maybe I can find a way to work for myself instead of taking on a developer job that will consume all my time.

  Sasha looks up at me from the couch, where she’s going over tattoo sketches with Becca and gives me a small smile. I nod at her, and a frown replaces her smile. Ignoring the uncomfortable feeling her response puts in my stomach, I head for the shower.

  A few minutes later, I’m showered, shaved, and ready for my date.

  Denton passes me in the hall. “Cologne? Are you trying to get laid? Because I can’t be won over that easily.”

  “Fuck off, crab boy, I’ve got a date.”

  Denton blinks and glances toward the living room. I don’t give him a chance to comment any further. I grab my coat, make sure my keys, phone, and wallet are in my pockets, and walk out to my truck. Please, for once, just start without needing to be jumped, I plead in my head.

  Luckily, it fires right up.

  Diana waits in the parking lot of the bowling alley where we planned to meet, leaning against a car that looks like it’s held together by rust. I’m not judging. My truck only starts half the time without a jump. The last few years have given me firsthand experience of how hard things can be if you’re poor. It’s a sad fact, but it doesn’t always matter if you’re born with talent if your situation offers little opportunity.

  I’m relieved she looks like her profile picture when she comes bounding across the lot. Catfishing is a real problem on those apps. “Hi,” she chirps, shifting the large purse over her shoulder.

  “Hi, it’s nice to meet you in person.”

  Her gaze sweeps over me, and she grins. �
�Same here.”

  “Do you like bowling?” Stellar conversational skills, Trey. Just fantastic.

  “I haven’t been since I was a kid so I’m totally going to suck at it,” she warns.

  “I’m not a pro myself.”

  The next few minutes are spent hanging around her car, talking and getting to know one another a little. She’s easy to talk to which is a relief. I hate those awkward silences on a first date. Sasha and I never have that problem. Damn it, I’m not thinking about her tonight.

  When we get inside, Diana turns to me. “Do you want to rent the shoes and get a lane while I’ll grab us some beers?”

  “Sure.”

  “I’m a size seven,” she announces, before walking toward the concession counter.

  By the time I’ve reserved a lane and rented our shoes, she joins me with two bottles of beer in her hands. “Thanks.” I accept the beer and nod toward the rack of bowling balls. “Do you want me to help you find a good ball?”

  She flashes a grin at me. “Nah, I’m good at handling balls.”

  “Even fifteen pound ones?” I tease.

  “Are you trying to tell me something?”

  Laughing, we each choose a ball. I’m starting to loosen up and have a good time. I’m glad I decided to get out of the house and meet someone.

  She wasn’t kidding. She’s awful at bowling. More of her throws end up in the gutter than make it down the lane. “Should I have them put the bumpers up?”

  “I’m not even sure that would help,” she laughs, waving to the waitress for another beer. I stopped after my second, since I’m driving, but this is her fourth. They don’t seem to be affecting her much which raises a small red flag. She must drink a lot.

  After our third game, we call it quits and walk outside. Silvy’s Bar and Grill shares a parking lot with the bowling alley, and she glances at the illuminated sign. Her hand grips mine and she tugs me toward the bar. “Let’s go have a drink and a dance.”