Page 10 of Pet Project

Campus security shows up late to the party, as usual, and requests in a not very nice way for me to join them. They also help up the guy, Greg, to take him to the infirmary. There’s a bunch of hushed conversations happening around me while I’m marched away from the classroom to face my doom.

I see Matt running to catch up to that Greg guy and his escorts while I’m doing the walk of shame alone. I assaulted a total stranger because heslightlyresembles the man who haunts my best friend’s every moment. I broke the nose of my neighbor slash professor slash kind of friend when he tried to stop me from making the first mistake.

Mother was right. I’ll never be anything more than a screw up.

11

DONNIE

“They’re a package deal, ya know,” Matt tells me as we walk up the stairs toward his office. “Don’t think I didn’t notice you looking at them both.”

I give him a small shove in response. I fight hard to hold onto the belief that I have no clue what the hell he’s talking about. Both boys are gorgeous in their own ways. Toby is a little blond spitfire while Shiloh is everything soft. I’m not even sure of his ethnicity, but his glossy braids and charcoal eyes are perfection. If Idris Elba and Beyonce had a kid, he’d probably resemble Shiloh.

“I’m pretty sure neither of them are looking for an older ex con to be their lover.”

Matt scoffs. “Ex-con? Really? You were given probation on a misdemeanor charge.”

We both move to the side of the stairwell to make room for the girl racing down past us in tears. Before I can get out what I’m sure would be a scathing responseto put him in his place, a commotion can be heard from the end of the hallway that girl just ran from.

As we exit the stairwell, we can see a crowd ahead and there is no mistaking the chanting of the idiots among them. Some dumbasses decided to get into it over a girl.

“This isn’t high school,” I grumble as we push forward through the students to get to the problem children.

When we clear the last of the onlookers, I freeze. Toby, the tiny wisp of a man that is always so happy and excited in my coffee shop, is beating the ever-loving shit out of a guy that is easily twice his size. This doesn’t fit at all with the joyful man I’ve seen in my shop over the last couple years.

“Mother Fucker!”

Matt’s muffled shout snaps me out of my inactivity. Toby must have hit him somehow because that is most definitely a broken nose. I’ve seen my fair share of them during my hockey playing days, so I grab the rag from my back pocket and throw it at my friend so he can try to not bleed everywhere.

As for the fight, it’s pretty obvious that what Toby is seeing isnotthis hallway. I never would have imagined this man held this kind of anger inside of him.

Dissociative rage is something I’ve witnessed firsthand many times over the years. Hockey players aren’t generally known for being calm and well-adjusted humans on the ice, or even off it in some cases. But welearn how to handle our anger in non-destructive ways if we want to be able to keep playing.

While Matt is trying to stop his face from bleeding everywhere, I wrap my arms around Toby and pray he doesn’t break something onmybody while I’m restraining him. I can’t really afford to be serving customers with black eyes or missing teeth.

Something Matt says finally gets through to the smaller man and he sags in my arms. I hear him mumble something before campus security yanks him from my grip to take him away.

“Shit!” Matt mutters under his breath before pulling out his phone. His fingers fly across the screen before he pockets it and looks at me.

“Can you meet Shiloh outside the admin building and take him to the security office for Toby? The pup is going to need to see him before he will fully relax. I gotta go talk things over with Greg in the infirmary and get my nose checked out. I really want to avoid him pressing charges if I can manage it.”

I nod and leave him with a pat on the shoulder. I can’t suppress the smile when I hear his muttered, “Sparkles is gonna be so pissed.”

While he runs off down the hall in the opposite direction, I head for the stairs. I need to head over to the administrative building and wait for the quiet one, Shiloh. It’s the only thing on my mind, so I don’t even see the blur coming towards me until he crashes into me. Reaching out, I barely manage to keep us both upright while we catch our breath.

“Just the man I was looking for,” I say in response to his crazed look. “Let’s go get your friend Toby out of trouble, shall we?”

12

SHILOH

How in the hell did I not see the coffee shop guy in my rush to get to Toby? And why does it seem like he’s just as worried as I am?

“Matt is trying to talk the guy out of pressing charges, so we’ll see how much trouble yourfriendis in and take things from there.”

The hesitation before he said the word friend has me curious about how much this guy actually knows about us and Kink Manor. If I had to wager a guess, I would have clocked this guy as straight and vanilla as all hell. He doesn’t seem to like pain, neither seeing it nor experiencing it based on what I’ve seen of him. He’s too standoff-ish to be a Daddy.

His holding the door is a pleasant surprise, even if it is only manners. Chivalry isn’t something I’m accustomed to at all. I don’t know if people just don’t see me or if they think that as a black man I will take offense, I’m not sure. The Daddies in the house will hold a door for allof us, but this guy is focusing solely on me as we enter the building. It’s a bit unnerving, yet also exhilarating to be the focus of someone as hot as him.

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