Page 20 of Necessary Roughness

Sloane

We quickly cleaned up in the bathroom, then made a plan to leave the room one at a time. They let me go first. I opened the door, made sure the coast was clear, then slipped into the hallway.

By the time I got downstairs, the party was raging even harder than before. The music was louder, the students were drunker, and everyone seemed to be having a great time.

I smiled while pouring myself another beer from the keg.

Some small part of me had expected everyone to be waiting when I came downstairs, to shout, “SURPRISE!” and announce that they all knew what we had just been doing.

They would point, and laugh, and call me a slut for getting double-teamed by the two most popular guys in school.

But nobody knew anything. We’d gone unnoticed.

With a new beer, I wandered back toward the beer pong game. Four new people were playing, two men against two women. I didn’t recognize any of them. It didn’t matter.

Then Logan and Knox came striding into the room with their hands held high. “The champs have returned! We’ve got the next game,” Logan said.

“You were on the losing team,” another guy complained. “Knox and that girl won the last game.” He nodded in my direction.

Logan put a hand on his shoulder and said, “Matt, I’m a champ whether I win or lose. It’s a mindset.”

“You still have to wait your turn,” he insisted.

“You can jump in for me,” I said. “I just want to watch.”

Logan’s gaze lightened when he saw me, and he smiled. “If you insist. I’m good at putting on a show.”

I settled into a spot against the wall and watched Knox and Logan play another game against the other guys. With the two football players under the spotlight, nobody so much as glanced at me. Nobody knew what had just happened upstairs, the filthy act we had engaged in. It was our little secret.

Somehow, that turned me on as much as the sex itself.

I hung around long enough to watch my two new lovers lose a game. There were groans and taunts as they chugged the last two cups of beer and surrendered the table to the next team.

“I’m heading home,” I told them.

“Glad you came,” Logan said, winking at me.

I grinned like an idiot. “Twice, even.”

He roared with laughter, then gave me a fist-bump like we were buddies rather than sexual partners.

“I’ll walk you out,” Knox said.

As I followed him out of the party, the last thing I saw was their roommate, Roman, watching from a spot by the stairs. His gaze was intense, but unreadable.

I wonder what he thinks about all of this .

It was cooler and quieter outside the party, even though a dozen people were standing around the front lawn smoking cigarettes. A few eyes watched as Knox led me to the curb.

“Hey,” he said, running a hand through his hair. “One thing we didn’t outright discuss about all of this: secrecy.”

“I kind of assumed we would keep it quiet,” I replied. “Like I said upstairs, I don’t want the entire campus thinking I’m the football team’s slut.”

Knox’s eyes widened. “You’re not—”

“I know that’s not what I am,” I quickly said. “But that’s what people would think. I’m good with avoiding all of that attention.”

He seemed to relax at that. “Glad you understand. Trust me, you do not want that kind of scrutiny. It’s not any fun having everyone stare at you everywhere you go.”

“You mean you don’t like being the most famous, popular, and handsome man on campus?” I teased.

He jabbed a finger at me. “Your words, not mine.” His smile faded. “It gets old. Sometimes I wish I could fade away in the crowd.”

“Fair enough. We’ll keep this quiet.” I cleared my throat. “Although I already told two of my friends.”

“The twins?” Knox chuckled. “As long as you can trust them, no worries. Our roommate kind of overheard us talking about it, too.”

“I saw him looking at me in the party,” I admitted. “I wondered if he knew. He seemed… judgmental.”

“He’s judgmental about everything, from the brand of popcorn we buy to how many touchdown passes I throw in a game,” Knox said. “Roman’s cool. Don’t let him intimidate you.”

“Wasn’t planning on it.”

“All right, then. I guess this is goodnight.”

I guess it is,” I said.

I wondered if he was going to fist-bump me like Logan, but then he gave me a hug. It was quick, the kind between two people who were kind of friends, but I could feel the deeper attraction between us in the way his palm held onto my lower back.

“I wish I could get a goodnight kiss,” I whispered.

“I wish I could give you one,” he replied, glancing over my shoulder in the direction of the party. “But that’s what makes this so much fun. Night, Sloane.”

“Night, quarterback Knox Maddox.”

He smirked. “It’s weird how much that turns me on.”

“I knew you had an ego,” I teased.

Knox held my gaze a heartbeat longer, then returned to the party.

I practically skipped home. I felt like I was on cloud nine as I replayed the entire night; from the beer pong game, to the run-in with Troy, to the sizzling activity upstairs.

Even if this was just a one-time thing, it was the kind of hook-up I would never forget about.

The kind of thing you looked back on with fondness later in life.

But it wasn’t just a one-time thing. We were going to do this again.

And again, and again, and again .

No awkwardness. No expectations. No relationship hurdles to avoid or jealousy to navigate.

Just three people having hot, no-strings-attached sex, and then parting ways.

It still didn’t feel real.

Although the ache between my legs was very real. It was going to take some time to get used to how big Knox was.

When I got home, I texted the twins.

Me: You guys awake?

Jayden: I thought you knew this by now, sweetie, but I only accept midnight booty calls from men. You’re gorgeous, but there’s nothing less attractive to me than the clear absence of a penis.

Bryson: We got home from our party an hour ago. Jayden is just grumpy because he struck out with a twink from the Windsor dorm.

Jayden: I didn’t strike out. I chose not to go home with him because I have a tummy ache.

Bryson: Funny, that tummy ache only came after he flipped you off and told you to get lost.

Jayden: I don’t like group chats like this. It makes it harder for me to tell the narrative I want.

Me: Sorry you had a bad night. I was going to tell you about MY night, and how I did the opposite of strike out. But if you have a tummy ache…

Jayden: …

Bryson: …

Jayden: Are you fucking with us right now?

Me: I am being 100% serious. I just hooked up with… what did you call them? My two fuckboys. We had a threesome.

Jayden: Tell your cunty roommate to put on some noise-canceling headphones, because I’m coming over RIGHT FREAKING NOW and I cannot be held responsible for the amount of enthusiastic screaming I do.