“So,” Bailey says. “Did you get the proof?”
I shake my head, deciding that I’m not going to tell them about the vase. At least not right away. “They didn’t let me go wandering around the house. They gave me a tour and kind of stuck by my side, so I didn’t have a chance. But I’ll get it.”
Bailey frowns. “What do you mean. You’re going back?”
“Yeah.”
“But that wasn’t part of the dare,” she says. “It was for one night and to get out.”
I shrug. “I don’t know…everyone was really nice.”
Taylor leans over the table, eyes suddenly intense. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
I just look at her.
“You’re going to live in Granite House?”
“Maybe.”
“What the fuck?” Bailey blinks. “Why would you do that? We already have a room. We have plans.”
I wince. “I know. But they offered me my own room, and it’s huge, and that means a lot of dedicated study time. You know I love you, Bai, but you also know that you snore.”
She frowns, but she can’t exactly argue with that. We’ve all known each other for way too long, and we all know that Bailey snores big time. It doesn’t bother me, since it can be taken care of with headphones, but I need the excuse. I don’t want them to know that I’m being blackmailed by Malcolm. It would be embarrassing no matter what, but something about it being for the sake of a dare makes it even worse.
“Well,” Bailey says. “Okay. I guess that’s good for you, though I don’t really think that you’ll be happy living with a bunch of guys.”
“We’ll room together next year in the Tri Delta house,” I say. “Promise.”
“You’re still pledging?” Taylor asks. “How?”
“Granite House isn’t a real fraternity. It’s not like they can stop me.”
She looks a little stunned. “Yeah, I guess not.”
Neither of them look like they can believe my lie, and maybe they don’t. But I can’t worry about that right now, there’s too much to do. And besides, I can’t tell them the truth: that the dare that I agreed to basically forced me to sell myself to a man who gets under my skin way, way too easily.
“Speaking of study time,” I say, “I already have reading. So I’m going to head over to the library. Will I see you guys for dinner?”
“Yeah,” Bailey says, a little sadly. “Sure.”
Taylor says nothing as I gather my dishes, but she doesn’t exactly look happy either. I’m going to have to find a way to make it up to them. Taylor and I have had our differences, but she’s still my friend. And Bailey is my best friend. She’s saved my ass more times than I can count, and if I tell her the truth, maybe she could help.
But more likely, not. Not when Malcolm’s dad is the chancellor of the fucking school. Granted, I never checked his story. I dump my dishes and leave the cafeteria, heading to student services. I need to talk to them about my housing.
And while I go, I pull up the school website on my phone. Sure enough, Joseph Levar is listed as the chancellor. And he looks exactly like an older version of Malcolm would look: handsome for his age, and you could tell in his prime that he was gorgeous.
I am totally and monumentally screwed now. There’s no way out of this. All I can hope now is to make the best of it. I came to this school with goals, and where I sleep will not change those goals a fraction. I still have the library to study, even if I’m sleeping on Malcolm’s floor.
I may be his personal plaything, and he may think that he’s able to boss me around, but I’m not going to let anything get in the way of why I’m here. I met Malcolm Levar, but Malcolm Levar hasn’t met me.
Not yet.
6
Malcolm
The minute that my door closes after Juno leaves, my eyes are open. I’m a light sleeper, and the minute that her alarm went off, I was awake, and I was hard. Hard from the dreams that I had about her underneath me making those sounds, and hard from the memory of her breath last night.
She thought I was asleep because I let her think it. After I scandalized her by coming in front of her, I evened out my breathing and made her think that I had faded down into sleep, but I hadn’t. I wanted to see if she would sneak out of the house after I slept.
I never imagined that I would hear the rustling of fabric that the faintest sigh of breath. Even though I had already come, I was instantly turned on again.
Juno was incredibly beautiful, with her thick dark hair and curves and a dress that clearly wasn’t hers. And lips that melted against mine in the most perfect way imaginable. I craved the way that she blushed, and the way she had looked at me naked. I saw her watching me in the mirror, even though she didn’t think I did.
Listening to her try to keep herself quiet, the whispered slick movements and gasping breath that told me she found me entirely arousing as I found her. That was enough to make me want to pull her off the floor and into my bed and do absolutely everything that I had promised.
Fuck, my cock was already hard with morning wood, and all these tangled thoughts of Juno are making it impossible to even think about going back to sleep. I fling the blankets off me and grab my towel. I’m up way earlier than anyone else in the house, especially after the party raged well into the morning.
I definitely won’t be competing for hot water.
Turning it on, I make it scaldingly hot. Hotter than it needs to
