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Chapter Four

NATE

As I knock on Samantha’s door, I wonder if whores are pretty when they’re dead. The bitch is lucky I don’t have access to my rifles on campus. I’m in full-blown hunter mode—and she’s the hunted.

The door swings open.

Samantha’s eyes widen. “Nate… River. Oh, hey.”

“Hey? Is that all you got to say?”

I push on the door, and she attempts to slam it in my face. So, I wedge my sneaker between the door and the jam and shove harder. Samantha is tiny and stumbles backward as I enter her dorm room with River in tow.

Towering over her, I push her back to the wall and smash my chest into hers. “You have some fucking nerve, Sam. Think you can break into my house and get away with it?”

“Nate, please,” she whines, pleading with her big, blue eyes. “Don’t hurt me.”

I would never lay a hand on a woman. Samantha should know that by now. And to think, once upon a time, I liked this girl. She was my favorite of all the puck bunnies I shared with River.

Go figure .

I advance on her, nostrils flared. “You know why I’m here. Give me back what you stole.”

“You guys fucked me over,” she bites out. “We were together for months… and you just tossed me aside like trash.”

“You are trash,” I snap. “Consider yourself lucky we ever fucked you.”

“You’re an asshole.” Samantha pushes out her chest, showing off her big tits spilling out of a low-cut top. “You stopped talking to me. No explanation. Just said you were done with me. Like I didn’t matter.”

“Did you really think you would get away with this? You know who my father is. What he’s capable of.”

My dad has used lethal force to deal with enemies. When it comes to preserving our family name, nothing is off-limits.

“Remember the NDA you signed over the summer?” I ask, my jaw ticking. “Hmm?”

She angles her body, arms folded over her chest, and sighs.

“Samantha,” River says calmly. “I get that you’re pissed at us. Nate can be a dick. So can I. But think about how much damage you could do with those videos of us.”

She crosses her arms under her tits, which used to do it for me but not anymore. I can only see River standing beside her. The strength of his jaw, the fullness of his lips, and that smile… It could light up this room.

“This isn’t fair,” Samantha says, choking on her words, tears streaming down her cheeks. “I thought we were… You made it seem like we could be more. I thought you liked me.”

“You’re not publishing the book,” I snap at her. “Our lawyers are already working on getting it taken down.”

She narrows her eyes. “What book?”

Samantha genuinely looks confused.

“Don’t fuck with me, woman.”

“I’m not.” She bites her lip. “I just wanted the videos of me. I didn’t… What book are you talking about?”

“ Dirty Pucking Secrets ,” River tells her. “Everyone on campus is talking about it.”

She shakes her head. “I haven’t checked my phone. I’ve been working on a paper for Lit class.”

“You better be telling the truth,” I say, anger rolling off me.

“I am.” She leans against the wall, eyeing us up. “And I’m sorry I stole the videos, but you stopped talking to me… and I didn’t want you to have something you could use to blackmail me.”

“You could have asked,” I tell her. “I would have deleted them.”

Samantha flicks her hair over her shoulder, a knowing look on her face. “At least now it makes sense. I saw the River folder on your computer. Were you always into each other?”

“No,” River admits. “That didn’t happen until recently. But if it makes you feel any better, we were with you the longest. We liked you, Sam. It’s not personal. I promise.”

“Are you guys gay? What’s your deal?”

River nods. “Please don’t say anything. No one knows. They can’t… It would ruin my career.”

“You also signed an NDA,” I remind her. “You couldn’t say anything… even if you wanted to.”

“I know. And I won’t.”

Leaning against the wall, I stuff my hands into my pockets. “Give us the videos, Sam.”

“No,” she fires back at me. “You’re not keeping porn of me. Just because I signed an NDA doesn’t give you the right.”

“Then delete them.”

Samantha puts her cell phone in my palm. “Go ahead. I don’t have any use for them.”

I scroll through her phone and delete the videos. After the evidence is gone, I hand her the phone.

“I saw it, you know,” Samantha says. “The way River looked at you. When you walked into a room, it was like his world stopped. You were so blind. I wondered if I was making it up because you could never see it. But I knew the night he left us. You couldn’t get hard. We had to watch him .”

“Now my eyes are wide open,” I tell her. “I know what I want.”

Anymore, I crave men. I haven’t thought of a woman since the last time I fucked Samantha. Even with her licking her lips and shoving out her tits, she does nothing for me, which is weird because I used to love fucking her.

“Do you keep backups of your phone on your computer?”

“No.”

“Well, I keep backups of my files.” I whip out my cell and show her all the videos, not including those I store on the cloud. “If you tell anyone about River and me, I will post every video of you sucking our dicks, taking both of us at the same time. I will send them to your dad, brothers, and everyone you have ever known. I will ruin your fucking life. I don’t want to, Sam. But I will do anything to protect River. Do you understand me?”

“Nate,” she whispers, putting her hand on my chest. “I would never. I swear. I was angry and jealous… and upset. You treated me like shit. Acted like you never gave a damn about me.”

“I’m with River now,” I confess, and I love how the words sound. “Like he said, it’s not personal. You’re just not him.”

She nods. “I get it.”

I rub the pad of my thumb across her bottom lip. “Be a good girl and keep this mouth shut.”

Without another word, I exit her dorm room with River, wondering when the next shoe will drop.

* * *

I should have known better than to let Parker choose the strip club. It’s the usual scene at Forbidden Temptations—tacky neon lights, mirrored walls, leather benches, and desperate men swarming the girls.

Three coked-up bitches shake their asses on the stage as my teammates toss dollar bills at their naked bodies. I refuse to give them a penny. These girls are way past their expiration and look like they need a hospital or a drug rehab. I’m just waiting for the blonde with huge nipples to fall off the stage.

Now that I’ve crossed the line with River, women don’t do it for me as they once did. I see men in a completely different light. It’s not like I’m lusting over my teammates in the locker room, but I do notice which ones are attractive.

Take Parker Hale, for example. He’s a pretty boy with long eyelashes, a head of short, black curls, and classic good looks. He’s wearing a perfectly pressed dress shirt and slacks. Parker fits the textbook stereotype of a rich douchebag.

Don’t get me wrong.

I like him just fine.

A decent player, Parker is usually good for a few goals per season and always offers to pay. Besides River, he’s the hottest guy on our team. But he has shitty taste in women.

Parker elbows me, and when I turn my head, he says, “She’s so hot, right?”

I stare at him like he’s grown another head. “Huh?”

Even if I wasn’t thinking about River’s dick, none of these women are doing it for me.

I don’t think I’m gay, but if I were, it would annoy my dad. So, there’s that. Maybe I’ll make a move on River at Thanksgiving dinner so dear old Dad can see how much I like dick. I would love to watch him lose his shit.

“I call dibs on the blonde.” Parker pulls out a black Fendi wallet and waves a wad of cash at the stage. “Which one do you want?”

“None,” I tell him. “You know I prefer the girls at Lucky’s. Forbidden Temptations blows.”

“What?” Parker looks confused. “Are you serious, bro? My treat.”

“Nah, I’m good. Save your money for the rest of the team.” I tip my head at the five guys crowding the stage. “Look at them. Thirsty as fuck for that beat-up pussy.”

Parker snickers. “You’ve been weird lately. Off. What’s up with you?”

“I’m good. Just bored. I’d rather go to Lucky’s.”

I only say this to get him off my ass. Thankfully, he doesn’t push me or suggest we abandon this hellhole for the other strip club.

“We’re not leaving.” Parker smacks his lips, giving me a strange, almost seductive look. “Suck it up, buttercup.”

He’s so close I get a whiff of his aftershave. And as our gazes lock, I see something flicker in his eyes. I step backward and knock into River’s arm. He puts his hand on my lower back to steady me.

Did I just get a vibe from Parker?

Yeah, no. Definitely not.

I read that all wrong.

“I need a lap dance,” Parker says to break the tension, yanking his eyes from my body. “Are you sure you don’t want one?”

I bob my head. “All good. I’m sitting out tonight.”

He leans over and says, “River? You want one?”

River takes a sip from the beer bottle and swallows. “Nope.”

A few times, River and I had taken home the strippers from Lucky’s. But was the sex ever about the girls? Now, I don’t know.

Most of my sexual experiences involved River. When I look back at our strange childhoods, I wonder if I fucked up River.

Did I make him gay?

Was I gay and didn’t know it?

I’m questioning everything I ever thought about myself and my sexuality. I never had boundaries with River. From day one, he was my person. Everything felt so natural and effortless with him. He went along with it, no matter what I suggested.

Parker nudges me with his elbow, snapping me out of my thoughts. “Cheer up, Brooks. You look fucking miserable.”

Eyes on the stage, I say, “I hate this place. The girls are beat. The music sucks. And I’m probably going to get herpes just from sitting on this stool.”

“You’re such a snob,” he teases and lifts a glass of scotch to his lips.

Here’s what I don’t get about Parker. His parents have boatloads of money. They own yachts, private jets, and mansions on every continent, and yet, he settles for low-class whores and cheap food. Poor people want to be rich, but no rich person wants to be poor.

“I’m not staying long,” I tell Parker. “I have a paper to finish for tomorrow’s class.”

It’s a lie, an excuse to return to the house and make out with River.

Parker’s eyes flick to River, and he reaches behind me to pat him on the shoulder. “You’ve been quiet tonight. What’s up with you?”

“Nothing,” River bites out. “Tired.”

Parker rises from the chair to grab another drink from a topless woman. He moves between two of my teammates and offers to buy them a lap dance.

I choke down the rest of my drink and look at River. “I hate this bar. They have the worst strippers in Connecticut.”

“I know a place that’s more your speed.” River flashes a wicked smirk, keeping his voice low so our teammates can’t hear. “Wanna go? We can be ourselves there.”

I get where he’s going with this, and excitement blooms in my chest. River told me about the gay club outside of town. He wants me to see if I like it.

I nod. “I’m down.”

River slides off the chair and drops a hundred-dollar bill on the table. “Let’s go.”

I add money to the pile for our teammates and say to Parker, “We’re out of here. I covered our tab and some. Remember, herpes is for life. Have fun. But not too much.”

“Dick,” he says as I walk away, and I laugh all the way to the car.

I am a dick… and I’m going to get mine sucked by my best friend.