Page 4

Lucas

“Thanks for helping me move in.”

I shoot Xander a look that tells him just how stupid of a thing to say that is. We’ve been best friends since before I can remember, and something more than friends since sometime in high school.

We’re both sitting on his newly made bed with our backs against the wall. It feels like we’re in eighth grade again, hanging out in my bedroom for hours on end so I wouldn’t have to be alone. Except here, there’s no father to slap me around and yell at me.

“What else was I gonna do?” I ask. “Abandon you?”

Shrugging, Xander lets his gaze drift to the window. He’s playing with the two chains he always has around his neck. A cross his grandfather gave him dangles from one, even though Xan abandoned the church a couple years ago. The second has a silver compass that I gave him as a graduation present earlier this year.

“I’m sure my roommate would’ve helped,” Xander says. “I mean, if he was here.”

My frown intensifies. “Are you kidding me? I’m not letting some stranger help you when I’m perfectly capable.”

“I dunno, it could’ve been helpful for bonding or something.”

My shoulders tense. “Bonding?”

“I mean, we are going to be living together. Gotta get to know the guy somehow. I just hope he’s cool.”

I grit my teeth. Xander shouldn’t be living with anyone but me. If it wasn’t for my little sister, I would’ve moved in with him today. She had a rough summer, and I don’t want her living alone with our step family. And… well, understandably, Xander doesn’t want to deal with them, either.

“If you start ditching me for your roommate, I’m killing him,” I grumble.

Xander laughs, but it’s cut short when he catches a glimpse of my scowl. “Hey. Luc, come on. No one could ever replace you. You know that.”

“Lots of things change when people go to college,” I mumble.

Any remaining humor in his expression disappears. “Not us. Never us.”

“You don’t know tha—”

“Fuck no. I didn’t follow you all the way out here just for us to go separate ways. Don’t say shit like that.”

When I don’t say anything back, Xander straddles me and roughly grabs my face. The knot in my chest unravels at having him on top of me. Being like this with him is always when I’ve felt the safest.

“Look at me, Lucas.”

I do. His messy dark hair is just long enough to fall into his brown eyes, and I resist my need to run my fingers through it.

“You’re mine,” Xander says softly, right before he gives me a reassuring kiss. “And I’m yours. That’s how it’s always been. You and me.”

“But—”

“You and me, Luc. Fucking say it back.”

“You and me,” I whisper hoarsely.

Over the years, that phrase has come to mean a lot to us. It’s our way of reassurance, to remind each other that we’re not alone. There hasn’t been a time when Xander and I haven’t had each other’s backs, and there never will be—not in any lifetime.

Xander relaxes. “Now don’t pull that shit again. I get this is all new, but I fucking need you. Don’t push me away just because you’re scared.”

“I’m sorry,” I mumble.

With a heavy sigh, Xander places a kiss to the top of my head, his lips lingering there until he murmurs, “I’m not going anywhere.”

My hands move to his waist without me telling them to. I grip his shirt—one of the million band T-shirts he has—and let myself sink into him. He smells like leather and smoke and everything that’s ever been safe and good in my life.

“And we’re gonna see each other every day,” Xander continues.

“I’m barely gonna have time. Actually, between classes and football, I think I have negative free time.”

He kisses me. “I’ll do my homework in the bleachers.”

“Xan—”

“No. I fucking mean it. Every day, Luc. Any time you’re studying, I’ll study with you. We can eat lunch together most days. We’ll make it work.”

“All right,” I mutter.

His hand finds mine again, and he laces our fingers together. “Wanna get out of here for a bit?”

I nod. Maybe expending some energy will help me feel like everything isn’t about to change for the worse.

Once we have our shoes on, we head out of his dorm hall. It’s dark outside but still plenty warm. There aren’t too many kids around. While we were moving Xander in, we heard about a couple parties, but neither of us are in the mood to attend one.

We meander down the main path. It leads to the main part of campus with all the academic buildings, but first, it passes by all the other dorm halls. I think Xander’s is the farthest away.

“You hungry?” he asks me.

“I could eat.”

It’s getting late enough that most restaurants are closing down, but there’s a diner close to campus that’s open 24/7. When we needed to escape my stepfather’s house, it was one of our go-to spots.

“Milkshakes and fries?” Xander suggests.

“Yeah.”

Him thinking of the diner too is like a small sign from the universe that I have no reason to worry. The two of us are so close that nothing can tear us apart. Xander is right. We just have to prioritize each other.

As we pass by one of the dorm halls, a girl bursts through the front doors. She’s quickly followed by some guy who’s watching her closely. He’s wearing jeans and a sweatshirt, and I catch a glimpse of light skin and dark hair before he pulls his hood up.

There’s a part of me that wonders—hopes—that it was coincidental timing for him to leave so quickly after her. I’m proven wrong within a second. The girl takes a side path that cuts through a garden before leading into an area littered with trees and picnic tables. She slows to a stop in the garden, reaching out to touch the leaves of a bush.

It’s too dark to make out most of her features, but I can see that she’s a tiny thing. Short, maybe with a little bit of a stomach, and with long brown hair that flows down her back. She’s so distracted that she hasn’t even noticed the guy who’s following her.

“Are you seeing what I’m seeing?” I ask quietly.

“Sure am.”

We watch for a few more seconds just to be sure. The guy is creeping through the shadows, dodging the lamp posts that light up the pathway. With every step he takes, he closes the distance between himself and the girl.

“Oh, hell no,” I grit out.

Xander cracks his knuckles. “The creek?”

“My thoughts exactly.”

Since the guy is so focused on the brown-haired girl, we’re able to sneak up on him easily. With a hand over his mouth, we drag him out of the garden and through the picnic area. The guy’s shouts are muffled enough that the girl is still oblivious to him.

It’s mostly dark over here, and there’s a gentle slope down to the creek that runs through campus. We shove him to his knees in the water, not caring that we’re both soaking our shoes. He’s struggling, but Xander and I overpower him easily and force his head underwater.

I count to ten before glancing at Xander. “You got him?”

“Yeah.”

“Ready when you are, then.”

Xander yanks the guy up by his hair, and I kick him in the stomach. He doubles over with a loud grunt, which only makes it easier for me to knee him in the face. The moment I step back, Xander shoves his head underwater again, and I help hold him down.

“God, I’ve never wanted to kill someone so bad,” Xander groans.

I snort. “Self-control, Xan. I know you have it.”

“Fuck you,” he grumbles.

“You wish,” I taunt.

Heat flares in his eyes, and he leans over the guy’s body until his lips are a mere inch from mine. “I’d be careful, Ace. Keep up that attitude, and you’ll end up with a red ass and a hard, aching cock that I won’t let you touch for a week.”

I’d call him on his bluff, but it’s nothing he hasn’t done before. Not being able to come for a week was pure agony, but I also couldn’t get enough of it. It made me feel owned in a way I’ve always craved, and when Xander finally fucked me, I came so hard, I swear I almost passed out.

Xander’s lips brush against mine in a teasing kiss before he whispers, “Up.”

Shit. I forgot about the dude we’re very specifically trying not to kill. We pull the guy up, and I get in his face. “What the hell do you think you’re doing, following girls around like that?”

The guy coughs and splutters. “I wasn’t doing anything wrong.”

“You mean you weren’t doing anything wrong yet,” Xander growls. “What were you planning on doing, huh? Stalking her? Scaring her? Raping her?”

With a grunt, the guy lunges to the side with all his might, but we wrangle him back into the water. This time, I’m the one ready to kill him. Xander and I both hold him under for longer than necessary, and when we yank him up, I punch him.

“Maybe you could get away with that shit where you’re from, but it won’t fly around here,” Xander seethes. “Got it, asshole?”

“I’ll do whatever the fuck I want.”

I don’t even realize I’ve pulled my knife from my pocket until I’m pressing the sharp blade to his neck. “You so sure about that? Because if that’s the case, I’ll slit your throat here and now. No sense in letting scum like you live to see another day.”

His eyes widen, and finally, he’s getting it through his thick skull how serious we are. “N-no. I won’t do anything.”

“Good.” I don’t move the knife—not quite yet. “We’ll be watching you. If we see you doing anything suspicious, you’re done, all right? We’ll dump your body so far out in the middle of nowhere that you’ll never be found.”

“All right, all right,” he sobs. “I’m sorry.”

As Xander and I stand, we pull him up with us and shove him to the shore.

“Get lost,” Xander grits out. “And if you report this to the school, just know it’ll be the last thing you ever do.”

The guy scrambles off and runs as fast as he can to get away from us. Once he’s out of sight, I glance down at my knife. I cut his skin a little, so there’s some blood on the edge.

As I rinse it off in the creek, Xander lowers himself onto a nearby rock. I watch him out of the corner of my eye as he examines his hands. I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve seen his knuckles bloody and bruised from a fight, but this time, they’re still unmarred. I don’t want any evidence of this on him. That’s why I punched the guy instead.

“So much for a fresh start, huh?” he asks quietly.

“Well, drowning isn’t one of your typical moves when you get into a fight, so I say it doesn’t count,” I reply lightly.

Xander doesn’t laugh.

I sigh. “I doubt we’ll get in trouble. It was too dark for him to get a good look at our faces.”

Still staring at the water, he mutters, “I hope so.”

“Hey.” I close the distance between us and crouch in front of him. “You’re here. That’s farther than anyone thought you’d get, isn’t it?”

“It’s not far enough.”

My chest squeezes. Back home, no one ever thought Xander would even graduate high school, let alone make it to college. Hell, until my mom remarried and we moved here, I think most people thought the same of me. I was the angry son of an angry man, destined to follow in his footsteps.

But Xander and I pulled each other through. When he wanted to quit, I wouldn’t let him, and he did the same for me. Moving here to Birchwood right before our senior year helped. It gave us both a new school, a squeaky-clean record for him, and an escape from the shithole we grew up in.

Sure, we still managed to get in trouble, but only enough to get us suspended once or twice. We both vowed to change after graduation, but… well, here we are.

“We’re not getting expelled,” I tell him. “I’m pretty sure my stepdad had to put in a good word for the two of us to even get accepted here, so if we run into trouble, he can—”

“For me to get accepted here, you mean. You automatically get in to everything.” He waves a hand. “You have all the power that comes along with being a Rook. Nepotism and all that.”

“Hey.” I lightly punch him in the shoulder. “Secondhand nepotism is what got you accepted, so I’d watch your mouth if I were you.”

That pulls a small, tired smile from him. “I guess.”

“And I’m not a Rook. You know that. I’m not joining without you.”

He looks away. “Sure.”

“Listen, Greg will make sure we stay enrolled no matter what. Fuck him, but he’s committed to Mom, and she loves you. He’s gotta protect you to stay on her good side.”

“Does she even have a bad side?” Xander rubs his face. “That woman is way too nice.”

“She is,” I mumble.

It’s the only reason I was okay with her marrying Greg. He’s protective of her. With him watching out for her and Aurora, no one can touch my family. He can keep them safe in ways I can’t.

“We should go check on that girl,” Xander says. “You know, to make sure she’s okay.”

Standing, I hold out my hand to Xander and pull him up when he takes it. I don’t let go, and he kisses me softly before we trudge out of the creek.

It’s a short walk back to the dorm hall. The girl is still there, but now she’s sitting on a bench with a tall boy with blond hair. They’re both cast in a warm glow from the lamp post above them, and as we creep through the garden, we get a better look at her face.

“Shit,” Xander whispers. “She’s pretty.”

She is—breathtakingly so. But my focus quickly switches to the guy she’s leaning into.

“Is that Colton Heverly?” I ask.

“Think so.”

Colton is one of the kids we graduated high school with. We ran in completely different crowds—me with the football team, Xander with the band kids and stoners, and Colton with the uppity academic types. When he graduated valedictorian, there were whisperings that he only got it because of who his father is, but I disagree. I may not know the kid, but I know his reputation. He’s wicked smart.

“Well, it looks like she’s safe,” Xander says hesitantly.

“I guess we can go, then.”

Neither of us move.

“We should probably check on her every once in a while,” Xander murmurs. “You know, to make sure she’s okay.”

“Not because she’s pretty?” I ask with a teasing smirk.

His eyes snap to mine, a worried expression on his face. “I—”

“It’s all right.” I kiss him lightly. “I’m right there with you. She’s gorgeous.”

Except for me, it’s not just how pretty she is. I’ve seen Colton be incredibly kind to people, but also horrible to those he thought deserved it. If she looked like she could handle him on her own, I’d let it go, but there’s something entirely too innocent about the way she’s staring up at Colton.

She’s got no idea who he is, or what he’s capable of. Someone as sweet-looking as her needs to be protected from his dark side.

“Maybe we can swing by tomorrow?” I ask.

“I think that’d be good.”

With a nod, I turn away, and Xander reluctantly follows. We start making our way toward the diner again, and when he glances back one last time, I snicker.

“I wasn’t trying to make you jealous,” Xander says.

Slipping an arm around his shoulders, I kiss the top of his head. “I’m not.”

This isn’t anything new for us. We’ve shared girls before, although never more than once. We didn’t want anyone to get between us. Besides, finding someone who’d be understanding long-term of the different ways we’re both fucked up would’ve been too hard.

“You mess around with your roommate, though, and I will kill him,” I add. “And I’m not fucking joking.”

He doesn’t say anything—just smiles.

“What?”

“I like when you get possessive of me, that’s all. It’s cute.”

“Cute? I am not cute.”

He slaps my ass. “I beg to differ. Now hurry up. Scaring the shit out of that guy only made me hungrier.”