Page 52 of Duke
Quincy and Arik. Mother. Fuckers.
“What the fuck?” Dazed, but unwilling to let this go, I slip from Lennon’s body and bolt from the bed, only stopping to yank my joggers up over my ass before I take off after them at a dead sprint. These idiots are headed for their own rooms, so I don’t know what the hell they’re going to do once they get there. Hide?Come on, grunts. You can do better.They especially should be trying to do better considering what they’ve just done. I don’t know why they were in Mason’s room, but the idea that they’d been there the entire time—doing what? Spying on us?—enrages me.
Before they even reach the perceived safety of their rooms, I’m on them, fury streaking through me. I take their scrawny freshman asses to the ground, tackling them both at once. We land with a rough thud, and the air knocks out of my lungs as we hit the hardwood floor. Lucky for me, I have them as my cushion, and it only jars my shoulder a bit. It’s so fucking worth it.
Quincy lets out a groan, but Arik is already fighting back. “Get the fuck off me,” he huffs out.
“Not a chance.” What I do instead is take them both by the hair at the back of their heads, and since Arik woke up and chose violence today, I decide to match his efforts. I slam his cheek back into the hardwood floor. A pained exhale bursts from Arik’s lips, which makes Quincy begin to struggle.
He heaves out a breath. “We didn’tdoanything. I swear.”
Duke and Mason thunder down the hall behind us just in time to catch that last bit. I’m glad to see Lennon hasn’t immediately followed since this is about to get ugly.
“The fuck you didn’t.” Duke squats in front of us. “What the fuck were you doing in Mason’s room?”
“That, I’d really love to fucking know.” Mason’s jaw is clenched tight.
Quincy outright whines, “We didn’t mean anything by it. We had to—”
My brows dart up on my forehead.
“Shut the fuck up, Q,” Arik grits out through teeth that are clamped together so tightly it’s a wonder he can speak.
We can’t keep them here in the hall. I don’t know where the rest of the brotherhood has gone, but I prefer they not witness or hear anything these two snooping jackasses might have to say.
I ease off their backs, and both drink in the air like it’s water in the desert. “I’m going to encourage you two to stand up. I don’t want to hear a motherfucking word out of you until one of us asks you a direct question. Got it?”
“Yes,” they both say, raggedly.
Maintaining the tight grip on their hair, I rise to my feet, bringing both of them with me. They can cuss and snarl all they like, but it’s not going to help them. I jut my chin toward Mason and Duke and their brows go up a fraction. “Take this one.” I let go of Quincy’s hair and shove him toward my friends.
That’s when fucking Arik jerks and tries to take a swing at me. This is dumb for two reasons. One, I still have his hair clenched tightly in my fist, so his range of motion is crap, and two, motherfucker is clearly oblivious to what I do with my Sunday nights. I dodge him easily, then let go of his hair. “You wanna fight with me? Let’s go.”
“You guys are totally fucked-up. All of you fucking Lennon. I knew I wasn’t imagining the dynamic with the four of you. Is that pussy so good you have to share? Can I—?”
Unwilling to let him finish his question, I strike out at him, a nasty left hook connecting with his chin. His head snaps to the side, and I watch him fall to the ground. He’s out cold.
My head keeps wandering back to everything these fucking dicks must have seen and heard while in that bedroom with us. I can tell it’s on Duke’s and Mason’s minds, too, just by meeting their gazes. Well, that and whether I should have thrown that punch. But I’m okay. At least I used my left and not my right. They don’t ask the question aloud, but I bite out, “I’m good,” before I bend down and pick up the little asshole who can’t weigh more than 175 if he’s lucky. Eyeing Mason and Duke, I grit out, “Are we going where I think we are?”
Mason stops for a moment, his jaw working side to side. “Normally, I’d say hell no. But… most of my shit is stored right now.” His gaze slides to Quincy and Arik. “And besides, it’ll be harder to hear them scream from up there.” Lips twisting cruelly, he laughs. “And let’s face it, the entire house is used to hearing weird shit coming from the attic.”
The sound of Mason’s amusement has Quincy thrashing around in Duke’s and Mason’s hold. “Oh, fuck. I swear. We—”
Duke clears his throat, interrupting, his tone all business. “Hold it.” It makes Quincy freeze as Mason and I follow Duke’s gaze. There’s a distinct wet patch directly over Quincy’s crotch. “Uh, did you wet yourself or come in your pants, dude? Just so I know what we’re dealing with if we come into contact with it.” He works his jaw to the side, eyeing the kid whose face has turned bright red.
“I—”
“Either you’re fucking terrified right now or you enjoyed your peep show a little too much earlier, so which is it?” Mason throws his head back laughing when Quincy refuses to answer, but at the same time gestures to Duke that they should wrangle their little friend toward the attic.
I follow them to the other end of the hall with a groggy and mostly limp Arik slung over my left shoulder.
As we pass Mason’s room, my eyes connect with Lennon’s. She stands wide-eyed in the doorway, one of his shirts pulled on to cover her well-fucked body. I try to tell her with my eyes that she has no need to worry, but I don’t know if I get my point across. She’s more than a little shell-shocked. Our girl backs into the room and shuts the door behind her.
Fucking dammit.I hope she’s not about to lose it.
Finally, from ahead of me, Quincy sputters. “It was like free fucking porn, okay?”
Oh, he’s going to pay for that.Mason cuffs his head before I growl out, “Porn that you’re never speaking of again. Fucking got it? Loyalty. Obedience. And silence. Open your mouth, and that’s it. You’redone.” I grind my teeth as I follow them up the stairs. Just what we’d fucking need, to have what they saw and heard spread around the house. It’s not that I mind so much… but Lennon might. And fuck. I’m guessing Duke and Mason might not be so happy about it either. Not that I think they’re ashamed… but these fucking weasels don’t have the right to run their mouths about them. If Duke and Mason want to announce their feelings, that should be on their terms, not because some assholes thought it was good fuckin’ tea to share.
