STORY EXCERPT

Greg jogged over to mitigate the damage. “Hey!” He cleared his throat. Coming to a stop in front of Nathaniel and the guy with a notepad, Greg held out his hand. “Hello, I’m Greg Sanders. I take it you’re from Queer Vermont?”

“Jordan Smith.” The reporter nodded, looking around the frat. He appeared to be in his midtwenties, only a few years older than Greg. But unlike all the partygoers who wore togas, he was dressed in khaki trousers and a short-sleeved shirt. “Looks like things are getting lively here. Do you mind if I set my guy out to take some pictures?” He gestured to the cameraman—a man who looked to be in his forties with a beer belly and a disgruntled expression.

Greg guessed he was a little old to be out so late. Or maybe he just didn’t like college kids.

“Nathaniel, Greg, this is Bill.” Jordan introduced everyone. “He’ll be taking the pictures. We’ve decided to go with candids for the article. Thought that would make it more dynamic.”

“Oh.” Greg frowned. He’d assumed he was going to be photographed. It embarrassed him to think it, but he’d sort of been looking forward to the exposure. “That’s fine.” He watched as the unhappy-looking Bill walked off through the throng of people. Greg wasn’t sure how anyone was going to have fun with that guy crouched at their feet taking pictures. Then again, it wouldn’t be long before everyone was drunk. Hell, as soon as Greg could finish this interview, he would join them.

“So, Greg—what effect do you think Eta Xi has on queer life on campus?” Jordan tilted his head and pulled a pen out of his messenger bag. He seemed less interested than business minded. Like he wanted to get some good sound bites and then get the hell back home to his life.

Greg had no idea what to say. At that moment he wanted to answer that Eta Xi drove people apart, picking and choosing whom they did and didn’t want, creating an underclass among an already disenfranchised group. But the lawyer in him told him to zip his mouth shut.

Nathaniel piped up. “Oh, Eta Xi is great! They throw the best parties on campus. Hell, straight boys wish they could draw in the crowd Eta Xi pulls.”

“Um…” Greg tried to stem the tide of Nathaniel’s mouth vomit. He tried to remember the talking points he’d written down for this interview. “Yes, our parties are well attended. But we also do a lot of volunteer work in the community—”

Jordan cut him off. “So, Nathaniel, how would you say the campus sees Eta Xi? Are the ‘straight boys’ cool with your presence? Do they come to your parties? Do you go to theirs?”

Greg blinked. He wasn’t sure why Jordan was interviewing Nathaniel instead of him, but he didn’t know how to answer the question. So he just pretended to listen calmly as Nathaniel started gesticulating wildly about how a lot of straight boys weren’t as straight as they seemed and how plenty of them liked to go “on safari” at Eta Xi parties. Greg wondered if it was possible to self-destruct from embarrassment.

“You don’t actively encourage this, do you?” Jordan pumped his eyebrows at Nathaniel as if he was titillated by the idea.

But Greg had a horrid, sinking feeling that Jordan was trying to lure Nathaniel into saying something that would bring shame down on the frat. “No! We are friendly with the campus community, but nothing more.” He stepped partially in front of Nathaniel, like he could stop Nat from talking. “I’m sure everyone feels completely, um…safe and respected at our parties.”

Jordan’s eyes glazed over. “Yes. Yeah, I’m sure you’re a welcoming community where everyone can join together…”

Greg nodded vehemently and launched into the phrases he’d memorized for the interview. “Brotherhood” and “compassion” and “equality and egalitarianism” blurted from his mouth while in the background Nathaniel tried to interject “jocks!” and “hot sex!”

Honestly, by the time Jordan held up a hand to get the two of them to stop talking, Greg had no idea what he’d said. He only knew that he wished Nathaniel would have taken the hint and shut the hell up.

Unfortunately, when Bill trundled back to Jordan, the reporter asked one more question. “So, how did you guys end up together? Nathaniel, you’re a pledge here, right?”

Greg died inside. He literally shut down. Nathaniel said some things about…something. But Greg couldn’t listen. Because by the time the article hit the stands, Nathaniel would know he wasn’t getting into Eta Xi. And most likely, he and Greg wouldn’t be a couple. And that just sucked, because Greg wanted them to be a couple—frat or no. But he didn’t know if Nathaniel would be able to stand the sight of him once he found out the truth.

ADULT EXCERPT

“You cool with this?” Greg palmed Nathaniel’s ass, nosing his way between the cheeks.

“Yeah.” Nathaniel’s reply came out high pitched and breathless. He’d only been rimmed a few times, and the feel of Greg’s lips was making him crazy. He reached for his dick and gave it a quick tug, but Greg stood up from where he was crouched. He grabbed Nathaniel’s hand and placed it against the bricks.

Greg dragged Nathaniel’s hips back, almost making him trip over the pants still wrapped around his ankles. “Keep your hands on the wall.”

Nodding, Nathaniel hung his head between his arms. He closed his eyes, feeling the creep of Greg’s hands up the back of his thighs, the huffs of Greg’s warm breath on the curve of his ass, and then the delicious vulnerability of Greg spreading his cheeks apart and swiping his tongue over Nathaniel’s pucker.

Nathaniel’s legs shook, and he swerved his hips to get closer. He wanted to switch things around, get Greg’s back to the wall and those ridiculously tight jeans open. Nathaniel wanted to suck him until he shot all that newfound sexiness down Nathaniel’s throat.

But apparently, that wasn’t going to happen, because Greg had already stood and was rifling around in his pockets. Nathaniel couldn’t bring himself to look over his shoulder to see what was going on. The delicious sense of rightness and abandon was fading a little now that it seemed like they were actually going to do this thing. Nathaniel had only bottomed flat on his back or lying on his stomach. But he didn’t want to pussy out—especially now that Greg was acting like everything Nathaniel had ever thought he’d wanted. Especially since Nathaniel would have loudly proclaimed that Greg would never have the balls to do something like this and Nathaniel would.

Still, he flinched when Greg’s lubed finger found his hole.

“You done this before?” Greg asked, his fingers slicking around, pressing but not penetrating.

Nathaniel thought about giving an offhand “yeah” but didn’t want to lie. He could talk as big a game as he wanted in the dorms, but Nathaniel didn’t see the point in being coy. “Not against a wall.” He tried to give Greg a little chuckle, but Greg chose that second to slide his finger into Nathaniel’s ass, causing Nathaniel’s knees to buckle.

“So you’ll tell me if it’s too much, okay?” Greg pressed a kiss to the back of Nathaniel’s neck, and it was almost overwhelming. Not the probing at his ass. That part was intense but not painful. But something about that kiss, soft and sure and so intimate, made Nathaniel feel all the more naked. Suddenly, he didn’t know if he could go through with this, at least not with Greg.

“Listen—” Nathaniel’s attempt to slow things down was swallowed by his moan. Greg pumped a second finger into him, using the leverage to lift him almost onto his toes. The whole world narrowed to Greg’s insistent stretching and his soft lips on Nathaniel’s neck. It was as if the length of his spine was strung tight with an electric charge, and his dick waved in front of him, about to burst just from the pressure. “Oh God…” He didn’t want to come just from fingers in his ass, and to be honest, Nathaniel had never thought he could, but that was the direction things were taking. “Shit, if we’re gonna do this thing, you better hit it now.”

Greg nodded against his neck. He pulled back, and Nathaniel heard the rip of a foil wrapper and then felt the press as Greg’s cock fit to his rim. His heart pounded high in his chest—he was turned on and confused and just a little worried, but before he could second-guess what they were about to do, he arched back, pressing himself down onto the head of Greg’s dick.

“Shhh…” Greg hissed as he molded Nathaniel’s hips. He pumped forward in quick thrusts.

It was shallow, but Nathaniel shivered with the sting of the initial stretch. He panted, trying to get used to the sensation, to get his feelings back to the good place and away from the sense that he was too small and that he would be way too easy for Greg to hurt.

“You okay?” Greg held still, big hands wrapped around Nathaniel’s waist.

No way was Nathaniel going to admit that maybe he wasn’t. Instead, he reached down for his cock, wanting to stroke himself back to feeling horny and completely in control.

“Want me to?” Greg reached around to cover Nathaniel’s hand with his own. His fingers were wet with lube, and his touch was firm and strong. Stroking Nathaniel like he was, his stomach pressed flat on Nathaniel’s back like a warm, solid shield.

“Yeah.” Nathaniel pressed his hands into the wall again and let Greg do the work. He smelled grass and Greg’s aftershave, felt his legs getting stronger and his body shifting to accommodate Greg’s cock. He pushed himself backward, impaling himself as far as he dared, then added a twist of his hips before doing it again.

“Hell, yeah.” Greg rubbed Nathaniel harder and picked up his pace. His thrusts were short—all he could manage with his arm still wrapped to Nathaniel’s erection—but they were slow and intense, like a writhing vibration that Nathaniel could feel all the way from his shoulders down to the back of his knees.

“Oh, honey.” Nathaniel squirmed, and pumped forward into Greg’s hand and then back onto Greg’s cock. He felt completely serviced and fucked and taken care of, and soon his legs were shaking for a whole different reason. His balls pulled up tight, and his dick felt ready to explode. “I don’t know if I can come standing up.”