Page 12 of Double XL Mountain Men (Cold Mountain Nights #11)

Cindy

“ N o, they’re my boyfriends!” I protest to the stout woman. “I know what you saw was obscene, but I wanted to be with Brent and Brandon like that.”

Susan Carroll, the Associate Dean of Inclusion and Belonging at Western University, shakes her head, her square figure trembling with outrage mixed with horror.

“No, Cindy, you don’t know,” she says in a firm tone.

“Brent and Brandon Coleman are masterminds. They’re manipulating you so that you think you want it, but you don’t.

No woman should be put in such a subservient position, and there was a massive power imbalance present. They had no right to do that to you.”

“No, but I wanted it!” I protest again, my cheeks reddening. “I know what it looks like, but there was no coercion on their part?—”

Susan Carroll interrupts, her round face flushed.

“I saw you in a leash and collar, young woman. I saw that you were choking and helpless?—”

“But they were plastic chain links,” I emphasize. “They were pink, didn’t you see? They’re breakaway chains which means that even the slightest tug will make the plastic come apart. It’s not what you think!”

Susan stares at me, her blue eyes watery.

“I know what I saw, and what I saw is a young girl ruthlessly being taken advantage of,” she states in a low tone.

“I understand that you can’t process this because you’re young, and your frontal cortex isn’t fully developed yet.

It can be difficult for young women to discern right from wrong in situations like these, but I assure you, Cindy, that what I saw was one hundred percent absolutely vile.

Again, you were chained and leashed, and those men were violating your body as well as your mind.

Not only that, but you had their initials branded on your haunches like an animal!

How could they treat a woman like that?”

“But it wasn’t a brand!” I say, near hysterics now. “It’s just permanent magic marker. The letters are almost gone already and it’s not what you think! I swear it!”

But Susan Carroll is rigid in her mindset.

A lot of university staff are so liberal these days that they’re caught in their own straitjackets, and Dean Carroll is no exception.

She thinks she knows what she saw because she doesn’t have the aptitude nor flexibility to entertain different possibilities.

Hell, I’d be surprised if she gets any action in her private life, which is part of the reason why we’re caught in this bind now.

After all, my understanding is that Coach Mason and Dean Carroll stopped by the suite to discuss something about the draft with Brent and Brandon.

I’m not even sure why the Dean of Inclusion and Belonging was there, but allegedly the front door was unlocked and they pushed it open.

Then, they heard screaming and roaring from one of the bedrooms, and alarmed, they rushed to investigate.

Imagine their surprise when they saw a young woman chained and leashed, while being fucked up the ass. Not only that, but I happened to be choking at that particular moment as saliva ran off my chin in hot, gooey strings.

Now, the worst has happened. I think if it had been Coach Mason on his own, the incident would have been swept under the rug because let’s face it: Coach knows Brandon and Brent, and he knows that my two lovers would never demean me, or at least not in any serious way.

But Susan Carroll? She’s so militant and holier-than-thou, and she takes herself so seriously, that now Brandon and Brent are in a boatload of trouble.

I don’t know what’s going to happen next, but slowly, I get up, trembling with fear and rage as the Dean looks at me with reproachful eyes.

“Do you need to go to the student health clinic?” she asks with a pointed glance. “Sometimes, men like this have diseases. You can never be sure.”

“Brandon and Brent do not have diseases!” I huff, offended by her comment. “You don’t know them!”

“But I know a lot of boys just like them,” Dean Carroll retorts. “Trust me, I’ve been in this job since 2018, and I’ve seen a lot of unexpected STIs among victims.”

That does it. I am not a victim and I can’t underline that enough times so that she understands.

Furious, I grab my backpack and storm out of her office without a second glance.

Tears prick my eyes and it’s hard to breathe because what in the world is going on?

With trembling fingers, I unlock my bike and pedal furiously to my dorm.

This has been such an awful day, and I can’t believe that my naughty sexual escapade transformed into this .

Still distraught, I lock my bike and stalk to my dorm before going up three floors.

I want to see Brandon and Brent so badly, but my lovers are being questioned by some school administrators right now, and likely will be occupied for the rest of the day.

With one last angry swipe at my tears, I reach for my keys to unlock the door, but it swings open silently and Kiki stands there with wide eyes.

“Hi Ki,” I say, trying to sound normal. “Long time no see.”

She smiles but her eyes are sending me an urgent message.

“Hey Cindy!” she chirps in a cheerful voice. “Glad you’re home.”

Then, my buddy gestures for me to come inside and quickly shuts the door behind me.

“What’s going on?” I ask. “Why the secrecy?”

But Kiki doesn’t have to say anything because suddenly, Brandon and Brent materialize from my bedroom. I’m stock still for a moment before launching myself at their massive forms.

“Oh my god!” I half-cry, half-laugh before wrapping my arms around their necks and peppering them with kisses. “I can’t believe what’s happened! Why aren’t you with Coach and the Title IX rep? I thought you had to do some kind of formal interview with them?”

The men kiss me passionately, running their big hands down the steep curve of my back before settling firmly on my rear end.

“It’s because it’s done,” Brandon says in a throaty voice. “There wasn’t that much to discuss.”

“What?” I ask in a startled tone while pulling back. “How can that be? I must have talked to Susan Carroll for hours. She kept saying all these nasty things about you guys?—”

“Shhhh,” Brent rasps before gently placing a big finger over my lips. “It’s bullshit, but we need to tell you more.”

Kiki takes the hint. My pretty friend grabs her jacket and makes for the door.

“I’m just going to meet my study group!” she calls. “It was great seeing you, Brandon and Brent! Bye, have a good time!” Then, my buddy disappears, leaving me in the silent suite with the handsome twins.

“Why were your interviews done so early?” I ask in a slow voice, taking in the football players’ somber expressions. “I kept telling Susan Carroll that everything was legit, and that I wasn’t coerced into being with you guys. I wanted it.”

Brandon and Brent look incredibly weary all of a sudden, and lead me to the couch in the common area before sitting.

“Yes, but this is the problem, sweetheart,” Brent says in a low voice, his blue eyes fatigued. “We were already on probation at Western. One more infraction and we were out. We’ve been expelled.”

“Wait, what ?” I gasp. “How can that be? They can’t do that without you going before the academic board, or some kind of tribunal, or the board of overseers, right?”

Brandon looks grim, the skin around his eyes tight and his lips pressed into a thin line.

“No, they can because we were already on probation, so there’s no more due process. One small slip and boom! We’re out of Western.”

I gape at them.

“No way,” I whisper. “We need to hire an attorney. We need to press the issue because this isn’t fair!”

“It’s not,” acknowledges Brent with a disgusted twist to his lips. “But nothing’s ever “fair” in life. Even our original “infraction” was completely bullshit and made-up.”

I shake my head.

“What happened?” I ask in an almost-whisper. “Why were you on probation?”

The twins’ broad shoulders slump, their huge forms taking on an air of defeat.

“It happened sophomore year,” Brent begins in a low tone. “We were living with a bunch of athletes in a suite and got drunk one Friday night. We were being dumb and had one of those huge Batman paper cut-outs from the movie theater in our common area, and decided to play a prank.”

I look on, confused.

“What prank?”

Brandon sighs while gently rubbing my knee with a big hand.

“A woman we know was walking past the building in the darkness, and we had the shitty idea of taking the paper cut-out and hiding in the bushes with it. When she went past, we had Batman talk.”

I squint at the twins.

“Well, what did Batman say?”

“It said, ‘hey baby,’” Brandon answers in a dry tone. “Yeah, the life-size paper cut out was trying to pick her up. But she went ballistic,” he adds. “The woman got really scared, screamed, and started to run.”

“In retrospect, the prank was dumb,” Brent acknowledges.

“Because it was dark, and the woman had no idea that it was a paper cut-out. She legit thought Batman was an actual dude, and freaked out. Anyways, the long and the short of it is that we were reported to the Title IX office at Western, and put on probation for sexual harassment. They made it clear that one more infraction during our academic career was grounds for immediate expulsion. And now, here we are,” he said in a low voice.

“We were formally expelled, and will be receiving letters from the school terminating our academic careers here. Three years for nothing,” he snorts.

“And all because of a Batman cut-out, and making love to our girlfriend.”

I start a bit at the word “girlfriend,” but manage to keep my cool.

“Did you tell them that I wanted to be tied up, though?” I ask. “That I’m a veterinary science major, and the leash and collar are tools that we use to manage livestock? We shouldn’t have to tell them because it’s not their business, but still.”

Brandon nods, his expression grim.