Several minutes of silence.
Then, the clattering of metal.
One bolt. Two. Three.
All six of the locks he keeps on his door.
Valen cracks it open enough to confirm it’s me before yanking me inside and slamming it shut. The locks reset like a ritual.
“Hey,” he says, voice muffled under the balaclava. He tugs it off, tosses it onto the desk, and his hair explodes in every direction like a man who hasn’t slept in days.
“Thought you’d be at your mansion with your girl.”
“Had business here late last night,” he says, pointing at the wall of humming monitors.
I squeeze into his club chair, but the thing is too damn small for my body. It groans ominously under me. He collapses into his gaming throne like he hasn’t moved all night and crushes an empty energy drink can in his hand.
His eyes catch on my feet, and he slowly shakes his head. I rub my palm over the embroidered decorations. It’s a pair of luxury branded slippers I found at an estate sale of some wealthy businessman. One of my most prized possessions. It was back in my day when I thought being the owner of Playboy Mansion was the pinnacle of success. Back when I didn’t know any better. Turned out, they were also comfortable.
“Leave my shoes alone.”
One of his eyebrows arches. “There’s a fireplace downstairs. You could do everyone a favor. Toss them in.”
Ignoring his insult, I take a breath. “Okay, well…I came in here because I haven’t had time to study, and I was?—”
“Already took care of it.”
I blink. “What do you mean?”
Dimples crater into his cheeks as he smirks, giving me a knowing glance. “I got your first set of grades for this semester ready to upload. Turned in your paper on whatever the fuck that business thing was. And renewed your scholarship paperwork with stellar recommendations.”
Warmth floods my entire chest, heavy and unexpected. He clicks away like it’s nothing. Like he didn’t save my entire final semester.
How I got so lucky to have a gazillionaire hacker as my freshman roommate, then best friend,I’ll never know. As much as he plays icy chill, he deeply cares about a select group of people. And I’m thrilled to be one of them.
“Well, you didn’t have to do all of that.”
He smiles in a way I hadn’t seen until he got with his appointed Olivia. “Yeah, I did. You’re my president.” He winks.
I know he doesn’t give a shit about fraternity life. The only reason he joined was that it was expected he would be head ofDelta Pi Alpha, not someone like me. But he never wanted the gig. In fact, his entire plan was to destroy the system.
Me? I just wanted a place to belong.
We were a brilliant match. Maybe the computer knew that when it paired us our freshman year as roommates. When we came up with the plan so he wouldn’t have to take the lead and I could.
I was never expected to even be allowed into a fraternity, let alone become president. But because of the man beside me, here I sit. And I know he’d do more for me. Pay my tuition. Pay for anything I wanted. But there’s no way I would let him.
He thinks I didhima favor by taking over. His patsy.
But he’s done everything for me already. I know what he gave up for me. I know what we did to get me here.
We’re bonded for life—not by ritual, not by fraternity shit.
Bythat.
That one act I never want anyone else to know. Except, the next year’s candidates will have to…
“Will you come to the meeting this evening? It’s about Thriller Thursday,” I beg, but already know his answer.
