The Private Club 3(3)

“I won’t let you treat women like that anymore.” I walked over to his desk. “You hear me, Greyson?”

“What are you going to do about it?” He looked up at me with bleak eyes.

“Meg, come on. We should leave.” Katie called me over to her, and I turned to look at her with unseeing eyes.

I noticed that she and Brandon were standing together holding hands. Once again, they were reunited—just like that.

I turned away from them to stop the pounding in my heart and the jealousy from seeping through my veins. Why was it so easy for them? We still didn’t even know what was going on, yet Katie was quick to believe that Greyson was the evil one.

“What happened to Maria?” I looked at the floor as I spoke. “How did she die?”

There was silence in the room then. I could hear someone’s distant footsteps as they walked around the club, and then we all listened as a door closed somewhere. I looked at Greyson then and his blue eyes gazed into mine with an emotion akin to sorrow.

“Which Maria?” Katie’s voice was squeaky, and I knew that she was in for a shock.

I spoke up then. “Brandon wasn’t engaged to a Maria in college, Katie.”

“What?” She sounded confused. “What’s she talking about, Brandon?”

“The Maria I told you I dated in college was a lie.” His tone was somber. “I was never engaged to a Maria in college.”

“But what about all the stories you told me?” Katie frowned. “They were lies?”

“I did date a Maria. And no, not crazy Maria,” he sighed. “I only pretended to date her because I promised her father I would look after her.”

“Then what fucking Maria did you date?” Katie screeched.

“He dated a girl from the club,” Greyson said. “Even though it was against the rules.”

Brandon nodded. “I made a mistake.”

“What?” Katie rubbed her eyes. “Maria was a girl from the club?”

“She was the girl who changed everything.” Greyson jumped up. “She was the girl who changed our lives.”

“She turned us from regular guys to the sort of guys you see put on trial for war crimes.” Brandon sighed.

“She’s the one who made us realize that...” Greyson paused and looked at me.

“She’s the one who made us realize that we were no better than cold-blooded killers.” Brandon stared at Katie with sad eyes and I saw her body trembling as she stared back at him. The words from his mouth had been spoken slowly, and each syllable had seemed to cause him pain. It was as if he were reliving the horror that had changed his life.

Katie stood there, frozen. She didn't know what to say or what to think. This changed everything. Suddenly everything she thought she knew had been called in to question. Now she knew that a saint and a sinner could be the same person. I looked at Greyson for a moment and wondered what his truth was. For some reason, I had a feeling that he was all sinner and that the pits of hell were waiting eagerly for him.





Chapter 2

Greyson

24 Years Ago





Two girls stared at me from across the room. One smiled at me with wide, eager eyes. The other one tried the seductive approach. They both played with their hair, and I knew that I could have either of them. I turned away from them and waited for Brandon to enter the room. I was disgusted with their behavior. Not because they weren’t allowed to flirt with me. I didn’t care about that. They were both fairly attractive. I was disgusted because I knew they were best friends. I saw them everywhere together, giggling and whispering and doing whatever else girls did. Yet they were both trying to attract my attention. Didn’t they care that one of them would get hurt if I hooked up with the other one?

“Brandon, here!” I called him over, grinning at him and the box of pizza he had in his hand. “I hope you got pepperoni.”

He grinned back at me and slid into the seat next to mine. “Who said you’re getting any?”

“Hurry up. I want a slice before Professor Carter gets here.”

“You know he’ll be ten minutes late as usual.” He laughed and handed me a slice. It was deep dish and pepperoni. I grinned as I stuffed a mouthful of pizza into my mouth.

Now this was more like it. Brandon had been my best friend for the last four years, the person I was closest to in the world. I’d never do anything to jeopardize our friendship. I’d definitely never date a girl he was interested in. That’s one of the reasons why men were better than women. We cared more about the bro code and keeping our friendships strong. I’d never let sex come between me and Brandon. We were brothers for life.