Page 65 of Stutter

“I wasn’t that drunk.”

“We had to pull overtwiceso you could puke.”

He rolls those pretty peridot eyes and grimaces, crossing his arms and leaning against my doorframe. “So you’ve been watching me this whole time?”

I shake my head. “Nope. Raven peeps in sometimes when she misses you, but other than that, it’s just a safety precaution. She watches over me when I’m doing Syndicate things, Damon watches over all of us to… okay, he mostly watches over her because if he doesn’t know where she is, he gets bad anxiety, but he won’t admit that. He’s just used to being able to see her all the time from the cameras during their time at Lorne Wood. And I mean it when I say he’s proactive. He put in her birth control while she was there and before she got out. Did you know he didn’t fuck anyone forthree yearsto make sure he was clean for her before he took her virginity?”

“Damontook her virginity?”

“Well… we kind of… both did.” I admit. “It was so hot. I came all over her tits then used Damon’s cum as lube to reclaim her. I came so fucking much, she wascoveredin it. I’m talkinggobsof cum everywhere. Fuck, she did this thing where she scooped up my cum from her tits and tummy and tried to shove it into her pussy. So obviously Ihadto give her more.” I smile, reminiscing at how my sweet baby girl turned out to be such a sick little cumslut.

His eyes go wide. “Raw?”

“Yeah. I’ve never gone raw before. I always suited up. But with her, it was a spur of the moment thing and I’m so glad I didn’t wear one. It made everything better.”

“Interesting.” He says.

“Still mad you got a tracker in you or…?” I ask, trailing off, throwing on a tight thermal, tucking it into my slacks.

“Yes.”

It’s my turn to roll my eyes while I find my button-up. “You can be mad about it, but if shit goes down, you’ll be glad you can see where she’s at at all times no matter where you are.” I give him the name of the app, to which he sighs, grabbing his phone from his sweatpants pocket and downloads it immediately. “So, that’s her, that’s me, that’s Damon.” I point us out. “You can also change our dot colors. She’s purple on my app. Hey, did Damon tell you the theme for the Holiday Banquet is Roaring Twenties?”

“No, but I received an email last week from faculty. I have my suit ready. Are you ready to receive your award for MVP?”

I sigh. “It’s not for sure mine, yet. I’m only nominated.” I go to my closet and grab my boots, the ones Raven got for me, my other shoes forgotten, shove them on, and then bend when I need to lace them up.

“Jonas, you’ve played wide receiver, running back and played quarterback interim when River was hurt last game. Short of taking Coach Sutton’s position, you’ve kept the Yellow Jackets afloat. Scouts are watching you.”

“I know and in a perfect world, I’d be playing for the Baltimore Ravens.” I don’t tell him that their scouts already reached out, interested in “getting to know me.”

“If the Syndicate was dismantled-“ he starts but I stop it.

“We’d all be in the spotlight, Mav. You, Raven, Me… I’m sure Damon wouldn’t like his patients to know he’s in a polyamorous relationship. I’m sure he’d like to keep his private life just that –private. The last thing Raven needs is to have more people trying to invade her life. Sure, Rayne-Moore is secure. There’s security and bodyguards everywhere to keep out the scum. But stepping out, say in New York City, we’re socialites. Paparazzi catch a whiff of where we are, and it’s bomb after bomb of cameras flashing in your face, trying to ask you the most private of questions. I mean, just look at what happened with the paramedic that took pictures of her on the night they found her… I can’t protect her at all times. But if I can protect her bynotshoving us into that spotlight, I’ll do it. My dreams be damned.”

Raven chooses this exact moment to brush past Maverick into my room and steps up to me with a scowl on her face. She’s so cute. And hot. Oh my god, she’s wearing this tight little white camisole that show her hardened nipples, her pink satin sleep shorts that show off her fat little pussy and fuzzy socks. Her hair is down and free in these luscious chocolate waves and fuuuck I’m getting hard.

Fuck Riordan. Fuck the funeral. Fuck the Syndicate – I’m staying home.

Her little hands go up.I don’t care about being in the limelight. No matter what I do or where I go, they’re going to follow me once I leave Rayne-Moore. If you want to play for the NFL, you should play! You dreams are my dreams…“I w-want you… hap..py.”

My heart melts. I hate that she overheard our conversation but it’sexactlywhat I needed to hear. I take her in my arms, placing my hands on her juicy ass and tug her even closer, making sure to squeeze then rub, because fuck, I love the way she fills my hands. “Youaremy dream, baby. Don’t you getthat yet? Where you are, I are. Coming home to you every dayisthe dream. I thought we settled this before Homecoming?”

She rolls those magnificent honey eyes at me, and I only get harder. “I w-would t-t-travel w-w-with… you.” She pauses and, seemingly getting frustrated with herself, I bend down to rub her nose with mine, encouraging her. She exhales, her breath on my lips and then, “P-p-pap…parazzi… c-can ssssuck mmmy d-dick.”

Closing my eyes, I throw my head back and laugh, my entire being vibrating, filling with joy. I was not expecting that, nor the weird sound that comes from Maverick. He’s laughing, too. It’s a normal fucking laugh, rich and nice sounding, but goddamn, I hardly ever hear it that when it does happen, it’s so fucking strange. I shoot him a grin. “Careful, Professor, you’re losing your perpetual scowl.”

His smile stays but his eyes twinkle at our girl. He points at me. “Youhave a funeral to get to andyou…” he turns his hand and makes a come-hither motion to her. She kisses me quickly and drops to her knees, crawling to Maverick like he has her on an invisible leash. When she reaches him she sits back on her heels, hands in her lap and she looks up at him, ready for instructions. “You owe me thirty-five uninterrupted minutes of Edgar Allen Poe.”

Her shoulders slump.

________

I leave the house in Raven’s luxurious Audi, knowing I need to get my own since all I have is my bike sitting in the garage, waiting for me to ride her, but I wasn’t exactly expecting to move off campus with my girlfriend. I let my playlist play as I drive out of Kingston and into Salem, finding the procession already in motion and just like with Tyler’s, I cut some anus off and cut in, following them to the burial site.

The cemetery is beautiful. It’s a weird thing to say, but so many of the tombstones and angel statues are untouched and covered in snow. Some of them glisten in the sun when you turnjust right. It looks like a haunting snow globe. The reverend utters the same words he did at the wake, and soon, we all take a handful of dirt and throw it on Riordan’s casket, following with white roses, muttering goodbyes. I step to the side, giving the Elders a chance to congregate before tonight’s meeting at the Prescott estate. I am surprised to see that neither Monroe is here.

I keep my gloved hands clasped together in front of me, taking in the peaceful scenery for a moment before he opens his mouth and can ruin it. I catch my adoptive father’s gaze, and he looks away as Stephen Prescott opens his mouth to say whatever to him. I’m sure he’s aggravated and on no sleep because he just touched down at the airport before coming here.

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