Page 75 of River of Deceit

“Nice claw mark,” Blaze says, drawing a line down his cheek. “What pretty set of nails gave you that?”

“When we said, ‘no talking to girls during hell week,’” I add, “that didn’t mean you could go around fucking one either.”

“What if I was with a guy?” River retorts.

“Instead of going to class?” I ask, arching a brow. “Still broke the rules, my friend. I guess we’ll need to find a way of making you pay penance for breaking your word to the men you want to be your brothers.”

He huffs out a dark laugh, but he only says, “Yeah. I’ll go do some pushups or something.”

I exchange a look with Blaze, who makes a “go on” motion.

Right. He wants me to “have fun” with River.

“Pushups,” I scoff. “You can do exercise on your own time. No, I think you should thank us for not telling anyone you fucked up.” I’m not as quick at this as Blaze is, but I’m not going to humiliate myself, either.

I can humiliate River instead.

“How about you get down on your knees and kiss our shoes?” I suggest.

“How about I don’t?” River retorts.

“Then maybe I should destroy your chances with Kappa Alpha Omega Sigma,” I say, quirking a brow. I might not be the best choice for a big brother, but I stillamone of them.

Blaze crosses his arms and smirks at River. “He can. You need unanimous approval to join Kappa Alpha. One single ‘against’vote will mean you’re out.”

River glares daggers at me, but he gets to his knees.

I don’t care how murderous he looks as long as he does it.

He leans down, kissing the top of my shoe, then pulls back. He starts to move away — to do the same with Blaze, I assume — but I clear my throat.

“I said shoes. Not shoe,” I remind him.

River grits his teeth, but he obeys, kissing the top of my other shoe.

I think I understand better why Blaze gets off on things like this.

“Better?” River asks, and while I can tell he’s trying to sound mocking, he doesn’t quite manage it. He sounds wary.

“Much,” I say. “Now Blaze.”

River’s skin has darkened in humiliation, but he scoots over to Blaze. I spot a few other students stopping to stare at us, and I wave, hoping I appear as confident as Blaze always does.

Own the moment, he says, as if I’ve ever properly owned anything.

After River has kissed both of Blaze’s shoes, he tries to stand up, but Blaze puts his hand on River’s head. “Was that enough?” Blaze asks me. “I think he could do more for you.”

For some reason, I’m keenly aware of how close River’s head is to Blaze’s crotch. I know we’re in public, I know it’s stupid, but part of me wonders what it might be like to watch River go down on him like we’d forced Pandora to do.

I shake that thought away. The voyeurs might tolerate the boot kissing, but they’d do something if cocks were involved.

“Lick our shoes,” I find myself saying, my voice a stranger to me. “Get them spotless.”

Blaze laughs, and the sound fills me with warmth.

“Yeah, do that, River.” Blaze shakes River’s head and forces it lower.

River balks, shaking his head. “Okay, there’s gross, then there’s disgusting. I’m not doing that.”