Page 104 of Dark Little Game

He’s a good-looking guy, even though I’m not sure I could ever be attracted to a man other than Rayne.

“Ollie,” I say, giving him a nod.

“Not much of a fair kind of guy, I assume?” he asks.

I scan his face, trying to suss out why, exactly, he’s coming over here, and how the fuck he saw me in the first place.

“I’m more comfortable on the sidelines,” I tell him, though it’s not exactly the whole truth.

“God, I can relate to that,” he says, puffing out a shy laugh. He’s holding a cup of cider, which clearly is mostly whiskey thanks to Weston’s heavy pours. “I’ve been more social this semester than I’ve ever been in my life, but it’s not natural for me. Usually I’d be the guy sitting on a bench far away, so… I get it.”

I nod.

I don’t have the heart to tell Oliver that there isn’t ashybone in my fucking body, and there never has been.

I’m on the edge because I need to be.

Not because I’m a wallflower.

But as far as I can tell, Oliver’s intentions are neutral.

Not everyone’s a fucking suspect, Knox.

“Enjoying the fair so far?” I ask him.

I’m no good at small talk, but I’ve seen Weston and my father do enough of it that I can fake it if I need to.

“It’s a lot,” Oliver says. “A lot of people, and I’m not great with crowds. But the quad looks beautiful. I wanted a moment to myself so I looked around the perimeter for a place to relax, then I saw you.”

“Seems like the entire student body showed up.”

“Have you thought about what you’re going to write for the Confessional?”

I bite the inside of my cheek.

And I have to hold myself back from rolling my eyes.

“The Confessional’s a fucking joke.”

Already I know I’m being too blunt, because Ollie is clearly just a sweet, awkward freshman trying his best to make conversation.

Luckily, Oliver’s drunk enough that he may not remember me saying it.

But the moment I heard about the Confessional, I was pissed off.

It’s an Onyx Society tradition.

A tradition they’ve done once per semester, since Onyx was founded.

Once per semester, all of the guys get a little sheet of paper. Every guy needs to write down his darkest secret on the paper. And then everyone puts their anonymous secrets into a box, groups up together in candlelight in the front room of Onyx House, and the secrets are read out loud to the whole fraternity.

Otherwise known as…bullshit.

Pointless bullshit, meant to look like honesty.

But apparently a lot of the guys took it pretty seriously, and they reallydowrite down what they consider to be their current darkest secret, ready to have it read out loud to the entire group.

“It’s kind of wild,” Oliver says. “But also kind of cool, I think. Keeps the guys real with each other, I guess.”