“I didn’t realize we had to get over there at a certain time,” I replied. I smoothed a hand down Zach's chest, noting the way he shivered when my thumb flicked over his nipple.
“Tonight,” I promised him. “You've been a very good boy. I think you've earned your reward.”
“Thank you, Sir.” Zach blew out a deep breath.
“Were you worried about telling them?” I asked as we headed back to the rest of our suitemates. I knew his past behavior had been taking a toll on him, but until tonight, I hadn’t realized how much.
“Maybe a little,” he lied, still trying to downplay how he felt so he couldn’t be seen as weak. “I want to get things back the way they used to be. And I think this was exactly what we needed.”
“You may be right,” I agreed. Daniel took Zach’s other hand. I braced myself for Zach pulling away, worried about what others might think of three guys holding hands, but our guy made me proud. He smiled at me and gave my hand a squeeze before pulling me closer.
“Come on, slow pokes.” Jayden stomped over to us, rolling his eyes once he was close enough to see why we were taking our time. “If we don't get our asses over there now, we're going to have to wait in line and Chase is already getting tired.”
“Chase doesn’t seem to be dragging,” Daniel pointed out. “I think you’re the one who’s going to have a meltdown if we have to wait.”
“Yeah, because I don’t want to wind up on a wagon filled with families and overtired, whiny brats,” Jayden admitted. I couldn’t blame him there. One of the only things I wasn’t looking forward to about tonight was the kids. It wasn’t that I had anything against little ones, but I was enjoying my time away from my younger siblings.
“Hey, don't talk about Zach that way,” Matt quipped. Zach stuck out his tongue, and Matt made a similar gesture. “You know I'm right. You're grumpy when you get tired.”
“He’salwaysgrumpy,” Chase added. I opened my mouth to remind them to be nice, but Zach spoke up for himself first.
“Yeah, well maybe I'm trying to turn over a new leaf,” he insisted. “It’s not like I wanted to be a jerk.”
I slid my hand to the small of Zach’s back, digging in my fingertips slightly, silently telling him to let it go for the time being. It might still take a while before he let his guard down and stopped feeling guilty.
The seven of us made our way to the barn, where a familiar looking brunette was selling tickets. He’d been around infrequently enough, I couldn’t be certain if I was actually seeing my phantom roommate or someone who vaguely resembled him. Even though it was his choice to never be around, it didn’t sit well with me that he was truly the odd man out. “Holy shit, is that…?”
Jayden tracked my gaze. “I think it might be, but who knows. It's not like he's ever been around.”
“Hey, Justice,” I greeted him. The guy’s eyes widened, confirming that it was who I thought. I couldn't remember the last time he'd been at the suite. It was safe to say this was officially the last place I expected to see someone like him. He'd always struck me as a bit spoiled and pretentious; the type of guy who wouldn't dare getting mud—or even worse—on his designer label shoes.
“Oh, hey, guys.” His cheeks turned a bright enough red they seem to glow, even in the low light of the torches and lanterns lining the path. He didn't make eye contact as he counted the number in our party. “Seven tonight?”
“Yeah. Seven,” Jayden confirmed. He was in a foul enough mood, I waited for him to ask Justice what was up and why he was practically a ghost. Jayden wasn't exactly known for being discreet.
“That'll be fifty-six dollars,” Justice responded, his tone flat and professional. It shouldn't have stung, because we'd never gotten to know the eighth roommate in our suite, but it did. I wondered what was going on with him, and if he was in some sort of trouble that we should have realized sooner.
He handed over our tickets. “Here you go. The line forms right over to your left.”
“Thanks,” I said with a wave. Something gnawed at my gut, insisting that I hang back and check in on him. As nice as it was to have a room essentially to myself, if he was in some sort of trouble, I wanted to help him out. That was what we did. Even if he was a stranger, he was one of us by virtue of his housing assignment.
I waved for Daniel and Zach to go on with the rest of the guys. I leaned against the split rail fence until Justice had a lull in business. “Hey, so I know it’s none of my business, but you doing good?”
“Yeah, why wouldn't I be?” he responded defensively. Again, he refused to make eye contact. I didn't care how dedicated he was to his job, sorting and bank facing money wasn't that entertaining.
“I haven't seen you around the suite. If you don't come back soon, the rest of the guys are threatening to turn our room into a game room,” I warned him. I doubted they were serious, but twice I’d heard them complaining that it wasn't fair that ‘the kid’ had a room of his own when they all had to share. Because there was some sort of weird, ‘don't ask, don't tell’ policy, in the suite—even though everyone knew who was fucking everyone else—I hadn’t pointed out that sharing the bedrooms seemed to be working just fine for everyone so far.
“I might be back after the holidays.” Justice shrugged. “Sorry I haven't been a good roommate.”
That was…odd. His shoulders hitched up to his ears, and he seemed to curl in on himself. I recognized that behavior. He was scared of something. But what? It sure as hell couldn’t be us.
“I think I should be the one apologizing to you,” I told him. “If you've got something going on, you can talk to any of us. You know that, right?”
Justice nodded, sucking his bottom lip between his teeth.
“I mean it, Justice. Do you need help?” I held my breath, waiting for him to tell me off. Other than his outward appearance, nothing about the man before me resembled the cocky, entitled shithead who I’d seen a few times the first week of school.
“No. I’ll be fine,” he assured me. “You better get going before the rest of the guys leave without you.”
