Page 105 of Distortion
He sighs, rubbing a hand along his jaw. ‘This is a big year for us. I thought you might be one too many things to deal with.’
‘And now?’
‘I still think this is a big year for us, and I need you tounderstand that some things are going to be hard if you’re going to stay here.’
I frown at him. ‘Things are sometimes hard.’
‘Yeah, but ....’ He stops and steps back, clearly rethinking what he was about to say and bursting this weird little bubble that we’ve been in together for the past few minutes. ‘Do you want a burger?’
I nod.
‘Will you come downstairs?’
I hesitate. ‘Will there be other guys? I mean other members of the frat?’
‘No one will bother you.I promise. You remember that too, right?’
‘Yeah,’ I say. ‘You kept your promises when you actually said those words.’
He grins and starts walking down the hall.
I stare after him, my eyes taking him in in a way I haven’t before. It’s like I’m seeing him for the first time since we were thirteen. I mean, I never saw him as someone I was related to. He was my friend before and has been my enemy since school started. I’m not sure why his manhandling has completely changed things between us, but it has. I liked it. I don’t know what that means, but I definitely did. The soreness from his spanking is oddly distracting. But it’s not upsetting me, it’s making the feeling headier. Increasing it. I shift on my feet. It’s as if I needsomething.
Confused, I watch him go down the stairs. But maybe I’m wrong. Maybe I’m the only one who’s feeling this way.
How would I know?
I have no idea.
I grab my sweatshirt and follow Shade a minute later. Downstairs is a hub of activity. For once there are no nasty comments directed at me by the pledges who are zipping around taking dinner orders and making drinks.
A cup is thrust into my hand by a junior I only know by sight, and I look down at it. Without a word, I set it down on the table and leave it in the kitchen. As if I’d let myself be burned like that again.
I hesitantly go into the living room and find a few of the guys on the couches while one of the pledges attempts to get the movie going on the huge TV on the wall.
‘Daisy.’
I look over and see Blake and Mav. They have a three-seater to themselves. The perks of being seniors, I guess. They move over, creating space between them and I sit down.
More so than ever, I follow the rules. I sit up straight. My hands are in my lap. My ankles are crossed.
‘You can sit back,’ Mav says with a glance at me. ‘We aren’t going to bite.’
‘Not unless you want us to,’ Blake murmurs low.
My eyes widen at him and I shuffle back just a little as I wonder what he means, why he’d say that. I look around, noting that no one is sitting like I am, and, in fact, I’m getting side-eyed.
At The Heath, I was always being told that I didn’t know the rules, so they’d have to be taught to me. They said that was why I was there. I assumed that meant that most other people knew them. But no one here seems to. No one sits up straight and knows where their hands are ... or what their hands aredoingall the time. None of these guys make eye contact specifically when they talk to each other. They don’t speak to each other politely. They don’t enunciate their words. I haven’t seen even one of them eating with a knife and fork at the table.
Maybe no one here cares about the rules.
But if that’s the case, why did The Heath care about themso much? Why was I punished if I didn’t follow them? What was the point of it all?
I shuffle back a little to rest my back against the cushions, but they’re still too far away.
‘May I?’ Blake asks.
‘May you what?’
