“I just said. Party, man. Come on.” I tugged open a dresser drawer and rooted around until I found a nice shirt, then I threw it at him. “Put this on.”
He caught it with a frown as I found him jeans as well.
“Party where?” Chris asked, falling onto his bed.
“You’re not invited.”
I tossed a pair of jeans at Denver and pointed at the bathroom. “Shower. Go. Now.”
“But I was—” Denver pointed at his computer.
“Ah-ah-ah… Stop. Do you want to do homework on a Friday or go drinking? Think hard about this.”
He glanced at his work and back. “Drinking. Definitely drinking.”
“See? That-a-boy. It’s Friday. You can finish your school crap tomorrow.”
“Why can’t I go with you guys?” Chris asked again.
“Because I said so.”
Chris grumbled under his breath and put his headphones on, ignoring me.
Denver still hadn’t moved, so I pulled out my shit-stirrer grin and lowered my voice. “Do you need me to help you?”
Denver flashed his eyes at his roommate. “I’m going.”
While he cleaned up, I dropped onto his bed and found a comic book to read while I waited.
“Are you gonna be home all night?” I asked Chris when he abandoned his headphones.
“Not sure. Probably. Nowhere to go.”
Noted. I should have asked Tate what his plans were. The hardest part of this secret arrangement with Denver was finding privacy. It wasn’t as simple as slipping into an available room at a party. We had to be more discreet than usual.
We arrived at Leroy’s room at just after eleven. The music was loud, and there were tons of people present from all different programs. Unlike our venture to Ramon’s party in the country, Leroy had taken over the upper level of his dorm building with his neighboring students’ permission. People mingled around in various rooms and hung out in the hallway, drinking, dancing, and having good old-fashioned fun.
As was typical when I brought Denver to parties, he remained glued to my side until he’d had enough alcohol to remove his inhibitions, allowing him to feel braver mingling on his own. When he vanished an hour after we arrived, I couldn’t help the surge of discomfort that followed.
It wasn’t like me to give a shit what my brother got up to at a party. I was the first one to promote his freedom and encourage him to sow his wild oats however he saw fit.
That night, I couldn’t fight the urge to keep him in my sights. Whenever he spoke with a guy who I thought was being a little too friendly, my spine stiffened, and the urge to plow my way into their conversation and break up whatever was happening was strong.
It was me who’d said that what we shared in secret was merely sexual. It couldn’t be anything else. Making an exclusive deal with my brother was insane on so many levels. From day one, I was certain it would be Denver taking issue with that rule, not me.
Yet, I couldn’t relax and have fun to save my life because Denver was drunk. And when Denver got drunk, he got flirty. When Denver got flirty, he ended up in a basement getting fucked six ways from Sunday by a blond who made him scream until his voice broke.
And now my dick was hard. Fuck.
“Why are you scowling?” I jerked my focus from my brother to Corey who’d snuck up beside me.
“I’m not.”
“You are so. Is Denver pissing you off?”
I flicked my gaze to my brother and the cute redhead who’d become his sole focus. “No.”
“He looks pleasantly occupied.” Corey smacked my shoulder.
I glanced around. “Where’s Alicia? I thought she was coming.”
“She’s mingling.”
I took a swig from my beer and scanned the people surrounding us. This was the first time I’d been to a party and not had fun. It was pathetic.
“I need another beer,” I announced.
Corey followed me as I headed to the ice chest Denver and I had brought. I dug out a can and popped the tab, letting the first icy cold mouthful coat my stomach, wishing it would wash away my sour mood.
“Hey, baby, look who I found—Oh, hey, Harley.” Alicia bounced up beside Corey and stalled.
A half a second later, Shianne appeared by her side.
When I expected to get ragged on for being a dick and not returning her endless calls, she pouted her lower lip and blinked her long lashes instead. “Hey, Harley.”
Right, so this wasn’t awkward at all. Shianne was cute, but she was clingy and needy, and the last thing I wanted was to have her chasing me all around again, unable to shake her off. She was a good fuck, but I wouldn’t be dipping my toe into that pond again.
“Hey.” Was I supposed to apologize for not getting back to her?
“Wanna hang out?” Shianne asked.
No, not on your fucking life!
“I, ah … have to check on Denver.”
Her sad, puppy-dog gaze followed me as I shoved through the crowd in search of my brother.
I found him with the redhead. The guy had Denver pinned to the wall and was kissing him to within an inch of his life. A burning hot rage ignited in my core as I barreled toward them.
I tore the redhead off and pinned my brother with venom.
“Take a walk, buddy,” I told the redhead.
“What the fuck?!”
I halted his protest with a looked that could have melted iron, and he backed off, hands up. “Whatever. Fuck you, asshole. I’m out.”
The minute the guy was gone, Denver punched my shoulder. “What the hell was that?”
“Change of rules. This”—I gestured at where the guy had disappeared—“isn’t happening.”
Denver scowled and darted his gaze around the crowded hallway before leaning close and hissing. “What are you talking about? You said—”
“I was wrong.”
“Wrong? You explicitly told me—”
Denver yelped when I grabbed him by his shirt collar and pulled him down the hallway to the stairwell. I snagged our ice chest on the way by and dodged Shianne, who’d been waiting for me.
“Hey, Harley, I was wondering—”
“Not now!” I snapped, shutting her up.
“Call me?”
I didn’t release Denver during the three-flight descent. He stumbled and held the railing for dear life, knocking into me once and protesting the whole way. Outside, I veered around the corner and headed down a vacant side street until I was sure no one was around. Then I slammed Denver against the wall of one of the surrounding buildings and kissed him. It was bruising and possessive and hungry.
He swallowed all his protests and clung to me, kissing me back and tugging me closer.
The ice chest landed on the ground with a clatter, but I didn’t give a fuck. This was what I wanted and needed. I took his face in my hands and gave him all I had.
I growled into the kiss, then tore my lips from his mouth, peering deep into his stunning hazel eyes. “I know I said it was casual and something to bridge the gap. I know I said we could get each other off and leave it at that, maybe have relationships with other people on the side, but I was wrong. Seeing that guy with his tongue down your throat made me realize I don’t want to share you.”
“Fine. I’m one hundred percent on board with that, but it goes both ways,” he panted, stealing another kiss and biting my lip.