Page 41 of River of Deceit

I swallow down a sarcastic comment. Blaze is generous enoughwith me, but I’ve never seen him go out of his way for anyone else. Blaze doesn’t have other friends.

As though echoing my thoughts, River replies, “I hope we end up friends, then.”

I hope he ends up dead in a ditch.

We end up in the common room, where Zayden and a few of the guys are watching TV. Zayden looks up at us when we enter, his eyes narrowing when he sees River.

“Who’s that?” he asks suspiciously.

Before River or Pandora can say anything, Blaze answers, “This is River. He wants to make a bid.”

Zayden makes an annoyed expression. “We were taking bids yesterday. Did he submit an application already? And?—”

“I know the protocol,” Blaze says, holding up his hands. “I’m vouching for him, and Asch already volunteered to be his Big Brother—ifhe passes the pledging process, of course.”

What the fuck?

I don’t understand why Blaze is vouching for anyone, let alone Pandora’s friend, and I definitely did not volunteer to help him out on this particular journey. I’ve got my hands full taking care of Blaze. I can’t babysit somebody else, too.

River smiles at Zayden. “There you have it. I’ll fill out the app, then I’ll pass your background check with flying colors. Can’t wait to be a Kappa Alpha brother.”

Zayden’s eyes narrow at Blaze, but he finally shakes his head. “Fine, fine. Nice to meet you, uh, River.” Then he glances over at Pandora, and he gives her a much nicer smile. “Why are you here, then? I know you don’t fit the criteria.”

Pandora smiles back widely. “Blaze and Asch wanted to hang out, and I figured I could introduce River. Since he’s been dreaming of pledging with Chaos.”

“Kappa Alpha Omega Sigma,” Zayden corrects.

Pandora bites her lip in amusement.

“It’s been my first choice at Dyschord for a long time,” River says easily.

It sounds so genuine, but I don’t believe it for a moment. I wonder where he learned to lie like that.

“Here, I’ll give you a tour,” Blaze says to River, and I outright stare when Blaze pats River’s shoulder. “I’m sure we’ll accept your bid. Zayden, the applications are in the usual spot?”

Zayden nods. “Yep. We’ll talk about this later, though, Bouchard.” He turns to me. “Didn’t figure you for the big brother type, Alvarado! But it’ll be good for you. Make you really feel what Kappa Alpha Omega Sigma is about. You don’t need to suck on Bouchard’s balls all the time.”

Pandora bursts out laughing, turning to bury her head against River’s chest to muffle the sound.

Irritation races through me at the comments, but what’s worse is the humiliation of being mocked like this.

It’s not like I could stop following Blaze.

That isn’t in my future.

Thanks a lot, Blaze, I think sourly as River joins in their chuckling. At least Blaze isn’t laughing.

“What can I say?” I ask, grinning despite my mood. “I’m just the big brotherly type after all, it seems. Gotta help carry on the Kappa Alpha legacy.”

I’m going to kill Blaze for this later.

Blaze flips Zayden off. “Zayden, if you value your teeth, you will shut the fuck up.”

I’m torn between gratitude and annoyance that Blaze has stood up for me yet again. I can fight my own battles — but then, it’s not like Zayden listens to anything I have to say.

Zayden immediately scowls. “Fuck off, Bouchard.”

I almost miss Pandora’s expression, a raw hunger when she stares at Blaze. Because of the threat he’d made?