Chapter 2
Big Man on Campus
Edge
The new kid stood out like a peacock in a flock of pigeons. Everything about him was bright, colorful, and eye-catching. It was obvious he was doing his best to blend into the scenery, but everything about him screamed for my attention and it wasn’t because he was covered in ink and rocking a studded belt, or that he was wearing combat boots instead of Sperrys.
It was his attitude.
He came across so entirely unimpressed that he was sharing space with the culturally elite. He didn’t so much as flinch or waver when the son of a former President of the United States shoulder-checked him into a locker, and he didn’t blink when a former child star made a grab for the headphones, which seemed like his lifeline, and were permanently attached to his head. Other than a blush and the slip of a swear word, he didn’t seem at all affected he’d interrupted me and my flavor of the week. There hadn’t been an ounce of concern in his dark eyes while he watched me get sucked off. Sure, it could have been the shock of the compromising position, but something told me the new kid had no idea who he was sharing the halls with, and he didn’t seem to give two shits about anyone’s pedigree or the branches of their family trees.
It was refreshing and confusing at the same time.
Rutledge Alexander Darby the fourth wasn’t used to someone not knowing exactly who he was, and precisely what he was capable of doing.
There was a reason I didn’t hesitate to get head in the school bathroom whenever I wanted. I wasn’t worried about getting away with anything or getting down and dirty with anyone, anywhere on this campus. The building had been in my damn family since the gold rush. I was more than a legacy at Castle Pines. I was part legend and part fairytale, so half the kids who drifted in and out of these halls never believed most of what was said about me. It made my penchant for quickies in the bathroom much easier and kept the speculation about my sexual orientation at the forefront of the gossip mill. I hated taking guys back to my room. Well, I hated having them there when they wanted more after I was done with them. I didn’t like anyone in my space long enough to ask questions and figure out that the shiny surface I showed the world covered up a lot of tarnish and rust. Fortunately, my standing in the school, and having a best friend who didn’t mind playing lookout, helped keep my love life light and untangled. What was the point of being locked away with a bunch of other horny teenage boys if I couldn’t try a little bit of everything there was to offer?
I was here because my name was on the building and this was part of my birthright. There wasn’t anyone on this property who would dare question me or try to rein me in. That meant I got away with murder on a regular basis—okay, not murder, but a blowjob in the bathroom was the least of my everyday sins. The administration started turning a blind-eye when I was old enough to figure out there were some pretty fun things I could do with my dick to pass the time. The students didn’t question my extracurricular activities, because the few times they had, I’d made them pay, or Cutter had beat them up. It was bad for business to worry about me liking boys instead of girls, so my preference quickly became something that was never talked about.
I’d been enrolled at Castle Pines since kindergarten. The dorms here are the only home I’d ever known. I was one of two students who could say that. Cutter Cunningham was the other. Cutter and I were more than roommates, we were best friends, closer to brothers than anything. Cutter had my back. No one was getting to me unless they went through him first—meaning he was pissed as hell at the new kid, and annoyed that I was amused by the whole situation.
I was almost as well-known outside of school. My father had taken a cue from his great-great-grandfather and turned the family money into a fortune that was unrivaled. At last count, he was the seventh richest man in the world, something my mother took full advantage of when they divorced. She wasn’t anything special, according to my father’s side of the family. Nothing more than a bartender who happened to be working the right shift at the right time. Dad got stuck in New York when the weather was bad one sad, winter night, and Mom offered to keep him warm. I was a byproduct of that fateful encounter. I was also the leverage she used to secure her future and make sure she never had to work another day in her life. The Darbys wanted nothing to do with a no-name woman from the wrong side of the tracks, but an heir was not to be overlooked. My mom practically sold me to the Darbys and never looked back. I was raised by nannies until I was old enough to attend Castle Pines, but my entire childhood had been chronicled by the press. Social gawkers liked a scandal and a handsome bastard. I was both. My father made sure the press only got wind of the things he wanted them to know. He was purposeful in the information he allowed in the hands of anyone else, even though I refused to hide from prying eyes and nosy reporters.
There wasn’t much that surprised me on this campus anymore. I’d been here so long. I’d seen and done it all. But the punk rocker, with his swirling, brightly-colored tattoos, his black-painted fingernails, and his bleached-blond hair with the dark roots was someone completely unexpected. He didn’t bore me at first glance the way everyone else at this school did. I hadn’t felt a spark of interest like he’d fired up inside me in a long time.
“Stop staring at him.” Cutter’s words were uttered in a low growl, and there was no hiding the annoyance laced through them.
It was the last class of the day, my only elective left before graduation. I didn’t give a shit about creative writing, but the new kid seemed deeply invested in every word coming out of the teacher’s mouth.
I turned to my best friend and cocked a brow. Cutter was pretty much the only person on the planet who got away with telling me what to do. Along with being the impenetrable wall that stood between me and the rest of the world, he, more often than not, acted as my conscience. He swore I was born without one, and considering how easily my mother ditched me for some cash, was it any surprise?
Cutter swore under his breath and leaned back in his chair. He made the table we were sitting at look like doll furniture. I teased him that the school cook must have ulterior motives when it came to him. It was a respectable theory since he was so much bigger than the rest of us, even though we all ate the same thing. I was tall, hovering right around six-three, but Cutter easily looked down at me. It was beneficial having someone his size standing between me and the rest of the world, but it also meant the boy I considered my brother wasn’t a pushover or scared of me at all.
“You look like a creep. At least blink once or twice.” Cutter reached out a massive paw and pushed my shoulder. “He’s not even into dudes. He told you no one at this school is his type, and we’re all dudes, so…”
I swatted his hand away and leaned back in the chair, tapping my pen against the table in front of me. The kid sitting on the other side of me shot me an annoyed look, but when I shifted my eyes to meet his, he immediately looked away and swallowed so loudly I was sure the classroom next door heard him.
“You didn’t see the way he looked at me when Jared pulled off my dick. The new kid is as gay as I am. Mark my words.” There wasn’t a doubt in my mind. I saw the way his dark eyes flared in appreciation before his common sense reared its ugly head. “He meant he isn’t into the yacht club, future fortune-five-hundred type that makes up most of the student body here. Can you imagine someone who looks like him letting Jared go down on him in the bathroom between classes?”
Jared was cute and all. I’ve always had a hard time telling him no when he came sniffing around, but he was a carbon copy of everyone else at this school, and he was far too eager to give me whatever I wanted. There was no challenge there; no surprise. The new kid seemed difficult and mouthy, and I hadn’t even been alone with him yet. The thought sent a shiver down my spine.
“I don’t want to imagine Jared going down on anyone in the bathroom.” Cutter huffed the words out and crossed his arms over his massive chest.
Cutter had accepted long ago the person he was closest to happened to prefer cock to pussy, but that didn’t mean he was always comfortable with it. Cutter didn’t care that I was gay, but he wasn’t exactly excited to hear about my exploits, even though he was a trooper about playing bodyguard. I thought he was one of those straight boys who protested a little too much about how uncomfortable gay intimacy made them. After all, he knew what I was doing when I went into that bathroom with whomever I went in there with, and he still hung around to make sure I wasn’t interrupted. He’d gotten more than an eyeful over the last few years, and I wasn’t blind to the curiosity that sometimes flashed in his pretty eyes.
“Not even if the person Jared is giving head to has double Ds and a vagina?” I wiggled my eyebrows at him and winced when he plowed a meaty fist into my arm. He didn’t pull his punch either.
“Shut it. And I’m serious, you don’t need to be messing around with some guy we don’t know anything about. He looks like a thug, and no one seems to know how he managed to fast-track admission. That’s trouble you don’t need to be chasing when we’re so close to graduation. Let’s do our time and get the hell out of here.” He nodded at the end like his word was law, but he knew me better than that. When I wanted something, nothing stopped me from getting it. I was spoiled that way. I was spoiled, period.
I stopped tapping my pen and leaned forward on the table, eyes glued to the back of the new kid’s head. I couldn’t believe he was ignoring me. It thrilled and excited me at the same time.
“Who’s he bunking with?”
The dorms were more like small condos. There were two separate wings on opposite sides of the mansion. The left side was for all the kids in the lower grades, the right side was for high school and divided by floors. The freshman had the lowest floor and the seniors the highest. Our class sizes were incredibly small, the student-to-teacher ratio one of the best in the country. There was a reason most of our graduates went on to Ivy League colleges. Since we all lived together, ate together, shit and showered together, everyone knew everyone else. I fully intended to pump whoever the new kid’s roommate was for information.
“Why do you care? If you’re not his type, there is no way in hell he’s your type. Come on, Edge. Can you imagine bringing a guy who looks like that home to your old man?”
Cutter had a point. Dad was already pissed his only son was a queer. He would shit bricks if I brought home a guy who looked like he came from the same place Mom did. Not that I’d ever been serious enough about any of my conquests to bring them back to the Darby estate in Connecticut.
“Of course he’s my type. He’s pretty.” The ink and attitude did nothing to take away from him being seriously handsome. His mouth alone was enough to inspire jerk-off fantasies for days.
And I wasn’t picky. That was one benefit to being trapped in a school full of good-looking boys. I tended to have my pick of the cream of the crop. When a rich family had a dirty little secret they wanted to hide, Castle Pines was where they sent us. While we were here, no one had to answer any burning questions about why their son was dancing in a glittery G-string during Pride. As long as those secret, special boys were good at sucking dick and didn’t mind a cock up their ass, I was willing to consider all comers. After all, we had a lot in common. I was my dad’s worst kept dirty secret.
“Mr. Darby. Mr. Cunningham. Would you like to share with the class what is so interesting back there?” The teacher’s voice had Cutter glaring daggers at the side of my head and the rest of the class snickering.
I lifted an eyebrow and leaned back in my chair. “We were talking about the new guy.” I had zero shame.
His spiky blond hair flipped around when he turned his head to scowl at me. I grinned at him and almost purred when his dark eyes took on a dangerous glint, narrowing even more.
“Ah, yes. Mr. Lowell, I’m sure you’ve been the topic of much discussion today. Your look is very… interesting.” It was pretty clear our teacher thought it was anything but. “Why don’t you tell the class a little about yourself. We don’t usually get new students at the start of senior year of high school. These boys”—he swept his arm in front of him, gesturing to the classroom— “will be your brothers-in-arms by the time graduation rolls around.”
I was sure the pouty punk rocker was fighting the urge to flip me off as he turned to look at the teacher. His broad shoulders lifted and fell with a sigh as he quietly spoke.
“I’m Sebastian Lowell. This is my twelfth school in four years. My father is in the film industry, so we’ve moved around a lot. I’m here to graduate and get into a good university. I don’t really care about anything else.” He wasn’t here to make friends or play games. He didn’t say it, but it was laid out in each and every word he spoke. “Castle Pines will be the only school I’ve attended for longer than three months if I don’t move before graduation. I want to be a writer, so this is the one class I’m excited about taking.”
The teacher plumped up and puffed out his chest at the last part. No one was excited about electives—I was sure the brightly colored individual in front of him wanting to be in his class was music to his ears. He turned his back to the class and walked to the front of the room, continuing to drone on about whatever he was talking about before. As soon as his attention was diverted, the new kid turned slightly in his chair, and sure enough, when the coast was clear, he flipped me off.
I choked on a laugh that had the teacher turning around again, but I gave him a look that indicated if he questioned me again there would be consequences.
“Find out who his roommates are and what dorm room he’s in.” I’d had enough today. I twisted and gave Cutter a look which left no doubt I was dead serious about my request. “Find out who he is and where he came from.”
Cutter’s answer was a heavy sigh followed by the slow shaking of his head. “For the record, I don’t think this is a road you want to go down. You have no idea how to handle working for something, Edge. All this is going to do is piss you off and make you reckless. We’re so fucking close to the end. Can’t you keep your shit together a little longer?”
I was lethal when I didn’t get my way. He knew that better than anyone. But I was also dangerous when I was bored, and I had been bored for so, so long. The arrival of this new guy was the only thing in forever that made me feel like I wasn’t sleepwalking through my day.
“Will it make you feel better if I promise to proceed with caution?” That wasn’t my style, but I could do it if it made Cutter back off and get on board with me.
“Do you even know what that saying means?” He snorted when I rolled my eyes at him.
“I’ll keep my shit together. I won’t ruin his life or make him obsolete if he’s not interested. I just want to feel him out. No one has captured my attention like this, Cutter.” He had to know what a big deal that was. I tended to look through people because I didn’t want to see their desperation or adoration. I wasn’t a god or a demon, though I often got treated as both.
I got another sigh, but this one was followed by a nod. “Fine. I’ll help you play. But if you go too far, I get full discretion when it comes to decide when enough is enough. This year is important. You can’t fuck up.”
“I want to get in his pants and maybe make him smile, not marry him. I won’t go too far.” But I always did. I couldn’t see a boundary if it was staring me in the face. Limits were a foreign concept, and I wouldn’t recognize someone else’s threshold if I tripped over the damn thing.
It was a good thing someone as brutal as Cutter had his hands on my reins, because I was impossible to control.
The new kid was about to find out how fun making new friends could be.