Page 4 of Tamed (The Courtside King Duology 1)

“We’re not gonna make you do anything.” Cory laughed. “If you don’t want to, that’s fine. There’s the door. But if you stay? And acquiesce like the rest of us did?” He turned serious. “You’ll never find yourself in a fiercer brotherhood. For your bravery, we will always have your back. And should some idiot fool ever do you wrong, we will descend on them like a pack of rabid wolves.”

The sophomores fidgeted, swapping more looks.

“But aren’t there other ways to show our loyalty?” one anxiously asked.

“Sure,” Dante piped in. His voice had gone husky. “But nothing so genuine. This is laying one’s self out bare. We know because we’ve done it. Felt the depth of this sacrifice. You give us your trust and we’ll give you our respect.” His lips slowly curved. “That, and a wicked fucking orgasm.”

The upperclassmen laughed.

Breck stared at them. Holy fuck. They were serious. What’s more, he’d vowed to himself at the start of this night that he’d accept any challenge.

Jegs jerked his chin. “This shit stays in this house? No one ever finds out?”

“No one. Ever.” Cory raked each initiate with a threatening eye. “Because if they did, we wouldn’t bother looking for the rat. We’d hunt every one of you down and beat your asses senseless. That way, the guilty one pays no matter what.”

Breck exhaled, reassured.

Maybe he could do this.

He squared his shoulders. Clenched his jaw.

Wait. Shouldn’t he be horrified?

Some of the other initiates looked downright aghast. Although, wow. He glanced at the rest. Surprisingly, the majority looked more like him. All but done with making their decision and now just steeling their resolve. Or maybe they were all just that intoxicated. He certainly was. Thing was, where he was concerned, this scenario wasn’t so much about exploiting his lack of inhibitions as it was about ramping up that preexisting curiosity.

Yes, he was drunk. He wouldn’t deny that. But he also had that secret thing for guys. That ‘secret’ being the urge to explore with them sexually. An urge that, again, he’d had since middle school. Something that had nothing to do with beer. Granted, the drive wasn’t as strong for guys as it was for the ladies. But it was there, deep inside, and in this crazy moment in time, he found himself wanting to use this pledge as an excuse. As a legitimate justification to take the plunge.

After all, what other chance would he ever get? It wasn’t like he’d make a move on a guy, and he’d never ever ask a brother out. Why bother? He wasn’t interested in them romantically, didn’t want to hold their hand. He wanted aggression, rough grips, rowdy tugs, hard slams. An aspect of sex he couldn’t get from women.

He met his friend’s eyes.

Jegs shrugged. “I say fuck it.”

One of the initiates named Charlie gaped. “Are you for real?”

“Why not? They all did. And we’re just as tough as they are.” He coughed a small laugh. “Besides, how bad could it be? It’s sex for fuck’s sake. And we’re all fucking drunk. Let’s just do this shit and get back to partying.”

Breck smirked and shook his head. Jegs was one go-with-the-flow motherfucker.

The guy to his left, however, shook his head and stood. “No can do.”

Two others got up as well. “Yeah. Not our thing.”

Breck watched them head out as the seniors looked on. Turning to Jegs, he bumped his fist. “Screw it, I’m in.”

The last three initiates swapped drunken looks then shrugged. “Why not. Us, too.”

Cory blinked, brows hiking, then glanced at his buddies. Then just like that, the seniors erupted into laughter.

“Holy shit!” Dante exclaimed. “You guys would’ve done that?”

Socrates shook his head. “We got some freaks in da house.”

Cory howled, holding his sides. “As if we’d fuck ‘em!”

All the blood drained from Breck’s face.

“So… you don’t wanna…” Charlie sputtered.

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