Page 7 of The Goat in the Bedroom
I was better at saying goodbye than I was at building anything worth staying for.
The last six years were an anomaly in my life. Being in one place for that long, having the same friends for more than a year or two at a time wasn't how my life worked, and I'd stupidly gotten used to it.
And I had only myself to blame. Well... and Gryffen Kingman. He was the one who'd charmed me into being his friend when he noticed we were checking out the same guy in class, and then later when we were checking out the same girl. Who he'd asked out... for me.
We'd been practically connected at the hip since that day.
So really, all this mess of being comfortable for the first time in my life was his fault.
Twenty minutes later, I was climbing the stairs to the third floor of the library. Up here it was always quiet, with row after row of dusty stacks housing books that hadn't been checked out since before I was born, old storage rooms that held mysteries untold, and the occasional hidden alcove perfect for private conversations.
Or other much more fun activities.
I heard voices before I saw anything, low and hushed coming from somewhere deeper in the stacks. Following the sound, I turned a corner and stopped.
Gryff was pressed against the end of a bookshelf, his eyes closed and his hands tangled in the dark hair of someone kneeling in front of him.
Oops.
I definitely should look away.
I was going to. In three...two...what the fuck?
It took my brain a moment to process who the other person was. Xander Rosemount, looking nothing like his cocky teammate who'd just been drafted to the Miami Sharks.
I wasn't shocked Gryff was getting his rocks off with Xan. They'd been pretty good at sneaking around to the casual observer. But I knew Gryff better than anyone at this point, besides his twin brother Flynn.
I saw the way Xander's eyes had followed Gryff, the way one of them would disappear at a party, then the other, only to see Xan return with some beard burn and Gryff with a lazy, satisfied grin on his face. What surprised me was I thought they'd broken it off during spring break.
He’d been a wreck that week and only his trip to LA had distracted him from the depths of breakup despair.
Guess I was wrong.
My first instinct was to back away quietly and pretend I'd never been here. This was clearly private, and something Gryff hadn't shared with me yet, and I should respect that and leave them alone.
But I couldn't seem to look away.
I already knew Gryff was a hottie with a body. Football players and those butts in tight pants were half of what continued to confirm to me that I was well and truly bi. Even if most of my attempts to date men were duds.
But seeing my bestie with his pants open, slung low around his hips, Xan's hand pushing his shirt up to caress abs that didn't quit, all while Gryff had his dick pumping in and out of Xan's mouth in a way that had them both groaning... well, damn if that didn't give me tingles in all the right places.
Until Gryff dragged his eyes open and looked right at me down the row of bookshelves.
Then he winked at me, bit his bottom lip, closed his eyes tight, and let out a muffled groan that clearly indicated he was coming.
My brain finally caught up with my body, or vice versa, because I spun around the corner and clasped the far edge of the end cap. What the hell was wrong with me? I would never, ever put my friendship with Gryff in jeopardy by even considering dirty thoughts about him. Now I was going to have the image of him coming seared into my brain.
Nope. No. Not acceptable. I'd need to cram my head full of numbers, math, accounting, statistics, anything else. Where wasPrinciples of Managerial Accounting when you needed it?
I was about to make the world's fastest sprint back to my dorm to take a cold shower and scrub out my eyes and brain, but then I heard footsteps on the stairs, voices getting closer, and my protective best friend call of duty kicked in.
If someone found them like this, college was a monster for gossip and Xander wasn't out, as far as I knew. And while Gryff had never hidden his sexuality, this was still his teammate.
Without thinking, I positioned myself to stand with my back at the entrance to the row they were in, keeping watch for anyone who might wander into this section and blocking the view. I grabbed a dusty book from the shelf and flipped it open just to look like I actually belonged there. I could hear hushed voices, movement, the sound of someone being pressed against a bookshelf.
“Someone's coming,” I whispered urgently as I heard footsteps approaching.
The sounds behind me went silent immediately. A few seconds later, a group of freshman-looking girls rounded the corner, chattering about their psychology final. I smiled and nodded as they passed, waiting until their voices faded before giving the all-clear.
