“You can’t kick me out!”
“You’re not out,” I said mildly. “You’re still a brother, but you won’t be president of this house.”
He started to say something, but I made a slashing motion in the air with my hand, and he flinched.
“We now have only one candidate for house president,” I stated. “Is there anyone who would like to throw their name in the ring for election? You will be welcomed.”
Conner laughed. “Are you kidding? Everyone is scared of you now!”
“The only person who should be scared of me is you,” I replied.
“That was a threat!”
“I didn’t hear any threat,” the guy beside me said. Everyone else started to say the same.
“Anyone?” I asked after a few moments.
No one came forward.
I glanced at Jack. “That means Jack will be our next president. Hope you’re up for the job.”
“I’ll do my best,” he spoke out.
Conner started talking again.
“Get him the fuck out of my sight!” I yelled.
He was carted away.
“We’ll still hold a formal vote to make it official,” I said to the remaining men in the room. “And I’ll start mentoring him now.”
Everyone nodded and shifted like they weren’t sure what to do.
I cleared my throat. “I’d like to thank everyone here for their loyalty today. You did the right thing by not following him. I’m thinking that’s enough house drama for one day. Meeting adjourned. Enjoy what’s left of your weekend.”
No one left the room. It was like they were all glued into place.
I glanced down at the cracked podium.
“We’ll take care of that,” my buddies offered.
“Thanks. I’m just gonna go get some air. Be right back.” I walked out of the room, my neck prickling the entire way.
Soon as I turned the corner for the front door, people started talking. It was low whispers. Some excited and some filled with awe.
I heard the word “gay” whispered by more than one man.
I walked right out the front door into the frigid morning air.
I kind of sensed what Con believed on Friday when he told me to say hi to Drew. Such innocent words spoken with so much underlying meaning.
I ignored him. I thought he was just being an asshole. I never thought of it as a threat.
Not only had that little pecker head just tried to get me kicked out of my own damn fraternity, but he also told everyone I was gay—and he said it using language that made me cringe.
I wasn’t gay.
I yanked my cell out of my back pocket and texted Drew.
Can’t make it to breakfast. Frat business.
Everything okay? he texted back.
Yeah. TTYL.
After my terse reply, I shut my phone off and shoved it back in my pocket. I didn’t want to talk to anyone right now.
Especially Drew.
I wasn’t gay.
Except… maybe I was.
Drew
The day job was the actual equivalent to a soul-sucking grim reaper.
Every morning I got up and put on my dress pants and button-down shirts. I had a drawer full of ties with stripes and “professional” patterns. I hated wearing a tie. What was the point? Like a scrap of silk hanging around my neck was supposed to make me more capable of doing my job?
Felt more like a noose.
Some days when I got to work and the boss wasn’t there, I took it off and shoved it in my desk drawer. And every day, I wore my leather jacket on the drive to the office because at least it made me feel a little bit more like me.
It was getting harder and harder to get up every morning and go to a job I really hated.
Okay, to be fair, I didn’t hate the actual job. I didn’t mind messing around on computers. I was good at it. But doing it all day, every day, to the tune of someone else’s instructions?
Fucking torture.
I needed this job. It paid well, even for a basic position, not at some fancy company like my father wanted me to be at. That’s why I stayed. With the salary I was paid, I was able to cover the portion of the rent and shit at the house and still have a lot left over, which I could put into my car.
Granted, I probably wouldn’t have so much left for the car if I had to pay actual rent. Especially for a house like the one I lived in. A four-bedroom, two-story in one of the best neighborhoods in the entire state. We had our own gym, an updated kitchen, big family room with a fireplace, and a fenced-in backyard. The driveway was big enough for all our cars, and there was even room in the garage for me to store all the tools and shit I used on the Mustang.
‘Course, I wished I could park my car in the garage, but that’s where Romeo’s lime-green Hellcat was kept.
I wasn’t mad about it, though. The guy paid an entire year of the rent up front and then moved in the entire family (except Trent). The only thing all of us split was the utilities. So yeah, I was lucky because I had a lot left over for my car and shit.