“That’s right,” Tatum says. “So let’s play something competitive, and then how about we place bets for, oh, I don’t know, maybe I get a bigger cut every time I sell a piece?” He shoots me a mischievous look, and I can’t help but laugh.
“If you want a bigger cut, you should just ask.”
“Nah. My OnlyFans is going pretty well. Did you see my last video? Had two Zeta Taus tag-teaming me. Speaking of…”
I already know where he’s going, so I spit out, “No.”
“But Dax seems like he’d be—”
“No.”
“Maybe I could watch—”
“No!”
I’m surprised by how harshly that last one came out, and even as I responded, I realized he wasn’t being serious, and Caleb is snickering at my expense. Fair enough.
“You know I was teasing you, right?” Tatum says.
“Yeah, I’m not sure why I reacted that way.”
“I have an idea,” Caleb chimes in.
“I do too,” I admit. “Looks like I’m totally obsessed with Dax Armstrong. Guess I have been for a while, but now I don’t feel weird about it.”
“Why did you feel weird?” Caleb asks.
I don’t really want to get into that with them, considering they don’t know about that night I followed Dax home and all the strange shit that pulled us together.
“Anyway,” I say to change the subject—and to keep on brand, in the least slick way possible, “I can’t play video games because I’m going to Alpha Theta Mu after this.”
Tatum cringes. “The fuck?”
“You think those guys are a bunch of dicks,” Caleb adds.
“Eh, I mean, I was a dick myself to the Alpha Theta Mus, so I get it. And the ones who hated me most graduated last year anyway. Of course, there’s still Damien. The other guys seem guarded but willing to be cool with me as long as Dax is. You guys interested in coming by? Now that we’re an item, our friends will need to learn to get along.”
“I don’t know if I should,” Caleb says, still feeling guilty about what went down last year. I know he feels like crap, but it was an accident.
“Come on,” I insist. “I know you want to.”
He twists his lips up before conceding. “Okay, I’d be down.”
Tatum follows with, “Yeah, I know you’ve hung with them a few times, but no harm in having extra security.”
Caleb and I exchange a knowing look. “Oh, you gonna take on Damien for me?” I ask.
“Yes, and if he starts anything, I’m gonna pull down my pants and take whatever punishmentyoudeserve.”
“You’re a real hero,” Caleb observes.
“Anything to get you guys out of trouble. And if his stepbro happens to walk in, then I’ll just have to let them both give me whatIdeserve.”
“It is Alpha Theta Mu,” Caleb jokes. “You know what goes on with stepbrothers there.”
They do have a thing for stepbrothers winding up together. Not that there were many: Troy and Atlas, Ash and Colin, and then Brenner and Taylor—though they weren’t even Alpha Theta Mus. Just hung around there a lot. And I don’t think they were stepbros when they first met, but became stepbros afterward, which in a way makes the case for it even stronger.
Caleb says, “Speaking of Alpha Theta Mu, have you seen the whiteboard?”
