“Sure, why not? Pizza and a swim or the hot tub sounds like a perfect end to the day after moving all my stuff.”
“Oh, cool, are you guys from here?” Tristan asks as we head out of the dorm room and down to the car.
“Nope, we’re from Banebridge, which is about twenty minutes from here,” Gio answers as the elevator glides back down to the ground floor.
“Yeah, we know it. Our guardian just moved there over the summer.” Xavier’s voice is cold and shows no affection when talking about his guardian.
“Oh really? I’m surprised I haven’t seen you around town. Where did you move from?” Gio inquires, and I know he’s surprised. He has a network of people who keep him informed about shit, and it seems like they missed a new family moving to town.
Xavier names the same suburb that Stacey lives in. Well, let’s just be grateful that Stacey hadn’t set eyes on them before now.
“Two of our adopted siblings are still at home and will be attending Banebridge Private,” Tristan adds as we get to the car. “Whoa, nice car.” He runs his hands over the hood and starts spouting statistics which mean nothing to me.
“Tori goes to that school. You’ll have to tell them to keep an eye out for her. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind showing them around.” Gio pops the trunk but doesn’t miss the scowl I give him. “Don’t be like that. It will be good for you to make friends other than Stacey.”
“I have other friends,” I snap at him, grabbing another box, and he grunts as I deliberately elbow him on the way.
“Don’t be a bitch. You’ve got your panties in a wad about something, and I just assumed it’s so bad that you will need to broaden your friend circle.”
I look to the side and spot Xavier and Tristan not even bothering to hide their interest in our conversation. I sigh. “Yeah, you’re probably right. I’ll keep an eye out for new people on the first day, okay?” I tell them all, and Tristan beams while Xavier nods his thanks. I don’t bother to ask what they look like. It’s not often we get new students, so they’ll stand out like a sore thumb.
“Hey, why don’t you come back with us tonight, and have a swim and some pizza and a few drinks? You can crash at our place if you don’t want to go back to yours,” Gio offers, and I gape at my brother.
“Who the fuck are you and what have you done with my asshole brother?”
He beams at me despite my sarcasm. “What, Tori? If you can make an effort, so can I. It might be nice to have some new friends as well.” My gaze moves to the two in question, who look like they are trying hard not to look like they are listening. I somehow doubt these two are going to be as easy to manipulate as his high school buddies, but maybe that’s exactly what he needs—someone to stand up to him and not take his shit. I have a feeling these two are up to the challenge.
“Yeah, I won’t say no to pizza and a swim.” Tristan takes the box from my hands and winks before heading back to the dorm. Rolling my eyes, I grab another box out of the trunk and hurry after him, leaving Gio and Xavier to grab a couple more. With their help, we should only need to do one, maybe two more trips.
On the last run, Gio asks me to stay back and start unpacking his clothes, and I happily agree. It’s not like I haven’t folded his laundry before. Heaven forbid Penelope do it, and sometimes it needs to be done on the days the cleaners haven’t been by. When they get back, I’ve shoved all his clothes into drawers and hung shit up in the closet, and I’m sitting on their comfy as hell couch with the extracurricular pamphlets in my hands.
“Hey, Gio, they have a Krav Maga Club. You should join. You need to stay fit, you don’t want to get the freshman fifteen,” I tease as they join me.
“I’m sure I’ll get plenty of cardio.” He winks, and I screw up my nose.
“Gross. I hope you two are prepared for the parade of skanks about to come through your dorm.” I wave my finger around the room, and the guys chuckle.
“It doesn’t bother us,” Xavier assures me with the first smile I’ve seen on his face. “Just because we’re in a committed relationship doesn’t mean everyone has to be.”
Oh wow, I was not expecting that.
“All those poor skanks who are going to be hoping for the dorm hat trick are going to be so disappointed.”
“What do you mean?” Tristan looks confused, and I roll my eyes.
“Dude, you’re not blind, you’re both hot as fuck. You’ve got to know that women are going to want to fuck you.”
“I knew you were interested!” he crows, and I laugh.
“Just because I can appreciate how you look doesn’t mean I’m interested in banging you,” I point out, and he pouts. “Anyway, I thought Xavier said you were in a committed relationship.”
“Oh, we very much are, but that doesn’t mean we don’t like to invite an occasional person to play with us,” Xavier answers for him, and when I look at him, he’s watching me with the same appreciation as Tristan did, and I feel funny.
Is it attraction? It kind of feels like when I first realized I was attracted to Stacey. I’m still trying to process it when Xavier stands up.
“Would it be alright if we invited our guardian’s niece? She’s a freshman in the female dorms and doesn’t know anyone. She’s kind of shy, and it would be nice for her to have another friendly face on campus.”
“Sure, no problem.” Gio quickly gives in to his new friends. “Look, Tori, another potential friend.”
