I left him where he stood and waded through a group of dolled up sorority girls. Lascivious winks and breathy sighs were directed at me as I passed them. I grinned and patted a few girls on the ass. After Milo broke up my afternoon fun, I’d have to get a replacement for the night. Stace and Lace wouldn’t be gracing my bed again, after the fine exit I’d treated them to.
A cute Asian girl on the edge of their circle smiled shyly and turned away. I’d seen her around. Her dad was the next big thing, marketing some kind of financial app that was supposed to eliminate banking the way we knew it. I reached out and touched her hand, squeezing her fingers in the universal Emmett sign to meet me at the Shack after the fights. Her small smile turned coy right before she angled away from me, but not before tightening her grip in my hand.
Gotcha.
These girls, man. Don’t get me wrong. I loved life. I loved fraternity life, but these girls didn’t care at all that I never slept with them more than once. It was like I was this wild ride they wanted the pleasure of saying they’d ridden. They liked to act miffed afterwards, as if I’d done some big injustice by not calling them, not taking their numbers, or acknowledging them in the halls. It was just the way it was, and if they were stupid enough to come to my bed, then they deserved the consequences after.
Milo joined Jules as I jumped on the small platform Freddie set up for us. Nothing crazy, maybe two feet off the ground so when we were sitting, we still had a good view of the floor. Milo nodded at the girls behind me, his short blond hair perfectly styled away from his face. “Already got the next one lined up?” His exasperation made me chuckle. The man hardly ever took a partner, but when he did, he was cold. From his few conquests here, I didn’t think he ever took a girl facing him. Not even kissed one. Such a shame. That was half the fun.
“Oh, yeah. This next one is going to be good. I can feel it.” I sat down in the metal chair, stretching my legs out and crossing my arms over my chest.
Milo sighed and sat down on the other side of Jules. He was the Pres, the one that made all the calls in our group, both fraternally and in our trio. Still, we were both in agreement, Jules had suffered enough and we put him between us whenever we could. Not so much that it was obvious. If he got even the slightest whiff we were doing it on purpose, he would kick our asses. Easily.
At six foot three inches, he was a good three inches over me and two over Milo. Not to mention the fifty pounds of muscle he’d packed on in college. We all worked out together, but his natural talents lay in martial arts. Freddie had tried more than once to get him in the ring, but that was a strict no.
Johnny and Jamie entered the makeshift ring on the other side. And by makeshift, I meant there was a red circle painted on the concrete, and outside of that was where the crowd stood. Johnny held the Vaseline, and they each dipped their fingers in the tub before swiping it over brows and cheekbones. They were cool, but sometimes they were fucking creepy in their synchronized movements.
The brothers had been right earlier. They only ever shared. I’d crossed paths a time or two with girls they’d taken to bed, and there was never a foul word uttered against them. Not that I’d admit it, but I was impressed. It was like they sprouted fairy wings and farted sweet smelling glitter. I was sure their creepy synchronization bought them more than a little of that affection.
“What are they doing?” Milo pulled his phone out of his pocket. The books didn’t mean handshakes and cash under the table anymore. There was an exclusive app to the show, and only the chosen with the password could access it. If anyone cracked it, it would seem like a pet game, where you selected some weird ass mythical animal and paid for its food and care.
It was brilliant.
“Who?” I scanned the crowd. Fuckface had to be here. He made a brief appearance upstairs right before we came down, and with two of his brothers fighting, he wouldn’t miss the show.
“The twins.” Milo nodded his head at Johnny and Jamie. No longer were they playing with the vas, but staring hard at the corner.
Ah, I saw now. Pin-up was holding up the wall with her friend. Seeing them here, no one would have ever known they kicked ass less than an hour ago. One of the moving lights landed right on them, and Pin-up took that moment to glance up.
The distance was too far. No way I could tell for sure, but for a second, it seemed like our gazes met. I was sure of it. And the jolt to my system was weird.
Jules, ever observant, clocked them, probably before me. “You ever seen them around before?” I didn’t need to point them out. Since we were kids, we had this crazy wavelength thing going on. Words were never a necessity. Which was good. Considering he couldn’t speak.
He squinted and studied them long after Pin-up looked away. When he looked at me, he shook his head no. There were thousands of students at Wellington. It wouldn’t be unusual they had gone under the radar. Then again, they were beautiful, so it was odd.
The fraternity made a point to know all the hottest girls. They were always invited to the parties. The only times a beautiful woman was ever excluded was if she was an ex-girlfriend. More common in the upper years, the brothers would wife up. The freshmen and sophomores were more concerned with experiencing variety.
“Why are they staring at her so hard?” Milo muttered, already going back to his phone. There would be hundreds of bets on tonight’s fight. From this point on, his attention would not be anywhere but on his phone or the fight. He was responsible for sending out updates through app notifications. A bloody nose was a message saying you won a free bag of pet food. If an opponent landed a kick to the balls, it was a notification offering up a free neutering at the vet. Sometimes I thought Milo got a little too into it. But whatever made him happy was fine with me. I’d support it.
The twins were still staring hard. Almost as if they were willing Pin-up to make eye contact so they could pull her in by their rugged manliness.
“I don’t think they found her earlier. Her and her friend booked it, and the twins were a few minutes behind.” Jamie started to take off into the throng of bloodthirsty people, but Freddie appeared out of the thin air and stopped him with a palm to the chest.
Freddie was the weirdest person in this place. An Alpha Delta Omega reject from ten years ago, he graduated from college and bought the whole block. What was once an abandoned industrial building was now the hottest hangout spot outside of campus. He had no love for any of the frats brothers period. Didn’t matter what frat.
For some reason, he took a shine to the three of us. It was almost like he knew things he shouldn’t. Our loose friendship never grew tight, so no matter what he knew or thought he knew, he would never bring it up in conversation. For the moment, we were business partners.
He was a gentle soul in a brute’s body, so it was hilarious he ran the show. He brought the mic to his lips with a slightly scarred hand. In the beginning, he used to fight. Now he was the emcee.
“Five minutes ‘til start. Tonight’s show stars Alpha Delta Omega brothers, Johnny and Jamie Valentine, against Rodney Jones and James Capella from Delta Psi Delta.” A deep quiet settled over the basement as the first pair entered the circle. Each fight had a five-minute start time for the fighters to get in the zone and clear everything from their minds before Freddie blew the whistle.
I was not the kind of person who’d find the five-minute start relaxing. I’d bounce on my heels, jab my fists, or talk shit to my opponent. I wasn’t what anyone would ever describe as a chill person. The world would burn down if I couldn’t move.