Page 45 of Seven is Swell

“Good boy. Now let’s go hang with our soul mate.”

He swallows thickly and makes me practically drag him through the halls, and we can hear the ruckus behind our dorm room door before we’re near it, as usual, though this time it’s far less sexual sounding and more just…chaotic.

I open the door, calling out, “Honey, we’re home!”

The whole room goes still, pillows poised mid-swings in the air. We seem to have interrupted an epic pillow fight. Cory’s cheeks are bulging, and I can tell they’re having a hard time not spitting whatever is in them out all over the place. One slips out and I fight the urge to gag. “Are those…gummy bears? Good goddess, Cory, we have company. We’ve talked about this, I’m sure.”

I see the moment they give up trying to keep them contained, and then a second later, their mouth sprays the wet, semi-masticated gelatin rainbow bears all over the room. Delaney does get the brunt of them, which is…unfortunate, but I’m positive Cory will find a way to make it up to her.

“Hey Jackson,” Delaney coos, apparently not even caring that she’s covered in sticky saliva with chunks of gummy bear.

Then her eyes swing to our guest. “Oh. Hi. I think I hear my phone ringing, I’ll just uh…” and she darts out of the room, closing her bedroom door behind her.

“Her phone is definitely right here,” Adam points out as he pulls an enormous bag of marshmallows…out of his pants.

“I’m thinking I don’t really want to know what this game was. On the other hand, I kind of do. Do I?”

Ash walks up looking a little bashful, discarding his armful of throw pillows en route. “Hey there, Zac. How’s it going?”

“You know, I’m not entirely sure. Is this what goes on in most college dorms? I’m very confused.”

“Just think of the weirdest, most sexy thing you can figure out with all the puzzle pieces you're seeing, and you’ll probably be right,” Cory helpfully chimes in as they start to clean up the sticky mess.

“Yeah. Well, she doesn’t seem like she wants to talk to me, so I’ll just be going. Lovely chatting, gentlemen—er, people. Sorry.”

Cory shrugs and goes about their task. I grab a hold of Zac’s collar from the back, ensuring he doesn’t actually run. “Who wants to go and manhandle the conduit?”

“Oh, it’s definitely my turn,” Adam yells as he fucking sprints out of the room.

“Would you like a beverage or something?”

“No thank you, Cory.”

Cory spins around. “You know my name.”

“Is that a blush I see, Mr. Scary Snake Man? Did you look into all of Delaney’s mates? You did, didn’t you? That’s cute. Isn’t that cute, fellow mates?”

“Adorable,” my brother says under his breath as he sits in the armchair near me. He’s eying the way I’m holding onto Zac, and I can tell he’s not liking it much, but this is all for the betterment of our mate, so he can deal.

Chapter Fifteen

Zac

What in the actual fuck am I doing? No really, how did I even get here?

I turn to look at Jackson, if that’s even his real name, narrowing my eyes because I’m pretty sure I was just completely tricked into walking into Delaney’s dorm room. Can I argue I was brought here under false pretenses?

“He needs a beer. Cory, you mind?”

“I got you boo,” Cory says to the other twin that is sitting in an armchair, semi-glaring at me. “You look like you don't want to be here, but surely that can’t be true. What’s wrong with your face? Did your kitten just run away or something? Are you having acid indigestion? Do you need some antacids?”

I eye the room Delaney disappeared into, hoping like hell she isn’t listening to this conversation. The last thing I need is her thinking there's something wrong with my internal digestion ororgans. “I was forced here under duress and would like to return to my quarters, please.”

They all start laughing.

The thing is, I'm pretty sure they’re laughingatme, not with.

“My man, don’t be dumb. Sit. Have a beer. Nothing weird is going to happen.”

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