Page 20 of The Frathole

“That guy has zero game, seriously,” Keegan notes.

“Okay,” Ty says, “I’m not gonna let you guys gang up on my boyfriend’s buddy like that.”

I groan. “I miss when we hated on Alpha Theta Mus.”

“Yeah, can we get back to that?” Keegan teases.

“Be nice,” Ty warns.

“All I have to do is be on my best behavior for the next month,” I say. “Then everything will be fine.”

“Really?” Keegan asks.

“Yeah…”

I look between Ty and Keegan, noting their suspicious expressions. “Why are you making those faces?”

“I just don’t know you to be the kind of guy who can follow the rules,” Keegan adds.

“It’s been three and a half weeks, and I’ve been good.”

“Two and a half,” Ty corrects. “Spring break doesn’t count. And you’ve beentolerable. Mart’s already talking about how you’re walking around naked in your room, listening to loud videos on your phone, hogging the bathroom so that he has to use the communal one down the hall.”

“And every time he’s said anything, I’ve put on pants and turned off the sound. And the bathroom thing…not my fault he doesn’t claim it first.”

“No one thing in that is against the rules, but he’s documenting it because he’s Marty, so all he has to do is get enough to bring to the guys and say you’ve become a nuisance, and then you’re out.”

The hell? “Nuisance? Is that a thing?”

Ty angles his head, giving me a look that tells me it definitely is.

“And you’re only telling me this now? Seriously, I went on a whole trip with my president friend only for him not to warn me when I’m close to getting kicked out?”

“You didn’t mention to me you were doing any of these things, and Lance just mentioned these things to me yesterday.”

“Fucking hell,” I mutter as tension tightens in my chest.

“Don’t freak out,” Ty says. “It’s not enough yet, but you’re really testing the waters, and it’s a dangerous thing to do right now, especially if he thinks you’re trying to get with the girl he’s hung up on.”

“That really doesn’t seem like a big deal,” Keegan chimes in. “Angie would never fuck around with Marty anyway.”

Ty turns a stern glare on him.

“Okay, just saying. Now I’ll shut up.”

“What I’m trying to say,” Ty goes on, “is that there are other options than living at a frat.”

I can’t believe I’m hearing this. “Other options? Dude, I want to be with my friends. I want to be with you two losers.”

Ty smirks, but then it twists into a cringe. “I was gonna wait and talk to you about this later,” he says, like one of my coaches might after a bad game, which just makes me concerned. “Keegan and I’ve been talking, and we don’t think it would be terrible if some of you guys pitched in together for a room at an apartment complex. No one owes the frat money as long as it’s unlivable, andthere’s that complex Troy and Atlas were at. And Brenner and Taylor.”

Brenner and Taylor are Peach State alums, graduated last year, but I’m not sure why where they live should have anything to do with me.

“Butyou’regonna stay here,” I say, “since you have a boyfriend. And Dax is my buddy too, and he loves the Greek life. Keeg?”

Keegan winces. “I’m enjoying saving up the money while we’re here.”

“But Jaxon might go with you,” Ty says. “And Jonah…maybe Kline. When I talked to Lance about it, he said we might be able to find some others from Alpha Theta Mu.”