Page 31 of Scandal

Cameron

Tied for first, the most blissful moment of my life is lying naked next to Xan in my bed. I’m debating waking him up already, so we can get going on round two. Round two of many. Unless he’s changed his mind. But I don’t want to let self-doubt creep in. No room for that here. Not when his morning wood is pressed happily against my sweaty thigh.

Thud. Thud. Thud.The knock at the door is not friendly, and my heart starts leaping into my throat. A deep frown takes over my face as Xan’s sleepy orange eyes blink open.

“Xander Briggs,” the familiar voices calls out. It’s my dad’s voice. No mistaking it. Fuck me running.

I’m frozen with fear. Not of my dad, but of the implications of what I did last night. Recalling the email. Sneaking back here in the middle of the night. But what does this mean, that he is here looking for Xan?

Thud. Thud. Thud.“Open the door,” he commands. Never heard him sound so authoritative.

I push my finger to my lips at Xan. “He can’t come in,” I wager. Xan looks doubtful.

“Let’s just see what he wants.” His voice is so low, I practically have to read his lips.

I grab his arm as he shifts to stand, but his eyes are pleading. “I have to comply, Cam.” Now his tone is pleading.

With a sigh, I release my grip and he tosses the blanket back. “One minute,” he calls back through the door.

“No minutes,” my dad counters in a cruel tone and I notice the knob jiggling and turning. He’s brought the master keys for the dorm rooms. What. The. Fuck.

Only when the door swings open half a second later do I realize that I’m ass naked in my bed. Xan’s standing in the middle of the room, with just enough time to cover his package.

“Excuse me,” Dad barks and pulls the door closed again, but not before I could register a campus security officer in full uniform standing next to him.

“What the fuck,” I call through the now-closed door as Xan and I scramble to get our clothes on. Xan manages to pull on his sweats from last night and I pull my rough jeans over my bare ass.

The pounding knock repeats not seconds later, and this time I fling the door open, red-faced and ready for a fight. “That was entirely rude!”

Dad looks right through me. “Mr. Briggs, I have been made aware that you assaulted a student, in clear violation of your probationary contract. You are no longer welcome in student housing. Pack your things immediately.”

“It was my fault, Dad. He hit Zack because of me. Just let me explain,” I protest.

“There is no excuse for physical violence,” Dad counters.

Since Xander barely owns anything, his few possessions are already packed in his duffel. He slings it over his shoulder and gives me a quick look. Sympathetic. Even in this most, he’s worried about me.

“Zack was attacking me!” I shout incoherently. “Please, just listen.”

Xan leans into me as he walks past. “Don’t make it worse, kitten.” I’m left processing his words as he steps into the hall. The campus security guard follows.

How has this all turned so sour so fast?

It’s just me and my father standing here. I don’t recognize him. “Zack attacked me,” I repeat.

“Zack hit you?” he asks with an unchanged expression. He doesn’t believe me. I can see it in his doubtful eyes. My own father thinks I’m lying.

“Yes, and he was trying to...” I pause, choking on the words.Trying to make me give him a blow job.It’s everything Dad warned me about. About being targeted for being gay. About being sexually abused. He was always afraid of that, for me, ever since I came out. Why can’t I just say the words?

Dad speaks before I can. “This is what he does.”

“Who? Zack?”

“No, Xander Briggs. Didn’t you read the file on my computer?”

My ears burn with guilt when it shouldn’t matter anymore. “No. I didn’t read it. It doesn’t matter what it says. I know Xander. You don’t.”

“Mr. Briggs targets students with powerful parents. He manipulates them into doing things for him. He said in his statement that he takes pleasure in it. He barely shows any remorse for his actions. He blames other people for the chaos he causes. He put a cheerleader in a coma for a month. She could have died.”

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