Page 29 of Casualties

It's for the best.No way in a million years would Morgan let Ainsley and I be together.He has never once said his sister is off-limits, but I have never given him a reason to.There have been little comments here and there, like when Cassie joked about walking in on us in their dorm room indecently.Morgan made it clear we are like brother and sister, and that would be gross.Fuck, if he ever found out she’s anything but a sister to me, he’d kill me.

Before this weekend, I've never acted on my feelings for her.I couldn’t bear the thought of losing my best friend.Not best friend—we're more like brothers.The trust we have in our friendship is rock solid, and I would never do anything to betray that trust.

Well, except for having secret feelings for his little sister, asshole.

Coming to the conclusion I definitely won’t get sleep tonight, I walk to my desk to continue working on project House Call.Now that we have individual files on each party, the next task is financials.I start with the ringleader of the pack, the man himself, Senator Jensen Samuels.

So far, I’m not finding anything suspicious, but I assumed that might be the case.He has hinted at running for the next presidential election, and you sure as hell better have all your ducks in a row before running for that office.He also has this Goody Two-Shoes reputation, and his records are as clean as a choir boy.But all it takes is one loose thread to uncover something they didn’t think to hide, or at least hide well enough.

I'm not sure I will find anything before Denny approves this list of men.It's not uncommon for him to approve memberships after initial background checks are clear.If we find more as we go, that just works more in his favor.

Denny is a genius for opening this part of the club.To the public it’s a myth, an urban legend, if you will.People come to Denny to partake in their every fantasy, but on the down low.They can’t risk being publicly shamed for what they choose to do behind closed doors.We've come a long way in society, but for people of this stature, there will always be criticism.The exclusivity of Sanctuary Upstairs gives them a way to let loose in a safe setting, and gives Denny the ammo he needs for possible favors in the future.If they refuse, I'm sure he could destroy them—personally and professionally.

* * *

I wake to bright sunlight shining in my eyes.My blackout curtains are wide open, so it’s bright as fuck in my room.Wiping the drool away, I swallow a huge gulp of water to try and rinse the mucky taste out of my mouth.I grab my phone to check the time, realizing my alarm didn’t go off.

“Fuck!”I yell to no one but myself.Class is in thirty minutes, and I need to shower.Quickly jumping out of bed, I strip down to nothing, running for the shower.I hate being late, so this has to be fast.

Leaning into the hot water, I rub body wash all over and rinse off.I don’t wash my hair every day unless I have a grueling workout—second-day hair is easier to style.I learned that from the salon I get my hair cut at.Yes, salon.I tried the whole barbershop thing, and it’s cool for guy time, but nothing compares to a hot chick washing your hair and rubbing your scalp with her long nails.I get treated like a king, and who wouldn’t want that?

I’m only ten minutes late to class.Lucky for me, I’m not the only one tardy on the first day.My eyes scan the class, and I see Denny’s nephew Scott in the back corner.He signals me to one of the two open spots next to him.

“Hey, dude.Where's Morgan?”I look around for my best friend, but there's no sign of him.

“What’s up, man?I haven’t seen him,” he says as he takes his laptop and books out to prepare for class.

Come to think of it, Morgan wasn’t home this morning, and I didn’t hear him come in last night.He said he was going to the club, but damn, he usually doesn't do all-nighters when we have class the next day.I’ll have to take notes for him if he doesn't show up.

Twenty minutes go by when a door opens loudly.The attention of the entire class turns to the back of the room.It’s Morgan.

"Fuck, he looks like shit," Scott says.

“Ah, Mr.Copeland, starting the semester off with a bang.Have a seat.”Our teacher for this class is harmless, so Morgan just smiles and nods, taking a seat next to me.

“Dude, did you crash at the club?You look like hell,” I whisper, making sure he is the only one to hear me.

“Ha, yeah.The club…all night.”He looks exhausted.His hair is a mess, and he's wearing the same clothes he wore yesterday.

That’s odd, he's wearing khaki shorts and a black v-neck t-shirt with black slip-on Vans.Definitely not club attire.If he stayed at the club, his walk of shame would look more like a sloppy James Bond.I'd never say that to him; his ego doesn’t need to inflate from the Bond comparison.

“You didn’t miss much.He's going over the syllabus and his expectations of us this semester.”I pass him the extra copies I grabbed, thinking he wouldn't show up for class.He nods at me appreciatively.

There's something he's hiding, but I won’t pry.How can I?

Classes go by quickly, and it helps that this is our short day.With all three of us in the same program, we're in the same classes with the exception of our elective.Morgan and Scott chose Beginner Art 101, and I chose Music Appreciation.I don’t have an artistic bone in my body, so my love of music made that decision easy.

We’re outside in the quad when Morgan suggests we grab something to eat.He rode his bike to school, so we all get in my Bronco and drive to the burger place down the street.I'm starving since I didn’t have a chance to eat breakfast.The only thing in my stomach is a protein bar and three bottles of water.

We head inside the restaurant and look for a booth.I know I should avoid talking to Morgan about Ainsley, but I need to say something.We haven’t had a conversation about the party last Friday; he doesn't even know Ainsley met Jackson.He's just as protective of her as I am, and I'll need backup putting that friendship to a stop.

“Dude, you need to check your sister.She's acting ridiculous.”Not the best choice of words.

“What do you mean?What’s going on?”I can see the surprise flicker across his face.

“Did you not see the looks she was getting from all of the guys at the party?On top of that, she's encouraging it.It needs to stop.”I can feel the anger heat up my face—there goes the idea of nonchalance.

“I get it Ace, but again, she isn’t a baby anymore.”He lets out an exasperated sigh.I’m sure he’s getting tired of me snapping at him about his sister.“Why haven’t you chimed in yet?Maybe coming from you will be better.”The confusion on his face is evident.Back when we were all in high school together, I wouldn’t have hesitated to talk to her.He must not have noticed the wall she put between us.

---