Chapter 1
----
Two hours, five minutes and thirty-eight seconds. That was how long before Justice could blow off this mess of a party and retreat to the safety of his apartment.
He dodged a frat brother making out with some blonde chick and leaned against the wall, wishing desperately he were somewhere else. Anywhere would do--prison, a desert island with no water, a country music concert, the fiery pits of hell. Anything would be preferable to being the only openly gay guy at a college kegger.
"Will you try to at least look like you're having fun?" His older brother Craig thrust a plastic cup of beer into Justice's hand.
Justice took it, more aware than ever just how un-alike they and the lives they led were. Even though their birth certificates claimed they were blood related, they couldn't be more different. Where Craig had sunny, blond hair, Justice had plain brown. His dull, gray eyes didn't even come close to attracting the same attention as Craig's deep blue ones. The most stark contrast had to be their builds, Craig had the muscle-bound, football player look down perfectly, whereas Justice was small, thin and...well, insignificant.
"Sorry," Justice mumbled automatically as he took a sip of the tepid drink. It seemed he was always apologizing to his brother or father for some reason or another. It'd gotten to the point where he'd considered prefilling out "My bad. I know I'm always fucking up" cards just to make things easier on himself. That is if Hallmark made cards with that saying. But didn't they claim to have a card for every occasion?
Craig gave him a patronizing smile. "Look, don't be a brat. I'm doing this for your own good and as a favor to Dad. You need to get out of that shithole apartment of yours once in awhile or people are going to start thinking there's something wrong with you."
It was on the tip of Justice's tongue to argue that his apartment was far from a shithole, but he held it in. He'd learned long ago that it didn't do any good to argue with his brother. It only ended with Craig either hitting him or verbally cutting him down.
"You're right. I needed to take a break from all my homework and stuff." Justice forced himself to smile. "Thanks for bringing me."
"Just make sure you don't embarrass me."
Craig gave him a not so gentle punch on the shoulder before walking back to his friends. Once more alone, Justice busied himself by people watching. Since he didn't have much else to do, it seemed like the most entertaining way to pass the time.
There were two beefy, dark-haired guys who were interesting eye food--that was until they started sucking face with the same girl. Ew! There was no way they couldn't be exchanging all kinds of interesting germs with that kind of tongue action.
Then there were the three sorority sisters who were sitting on the couch to the left of him. The middle one sobbed loudly, while her two friends patted her back in sympathy. Justice couldn't be for sure, but it seemed that she'd been dumped by some jerk named Randy. That was okay, though, because Randy was an idiot who had a dick the size of a thumb with an IQ to match and he couldn't find a G-spot even if he had Google Maps and a GPS at his disposal.
Distracted by thoughts of poor Randy and his misfortunate penis, Justice took a huge swig of beer. As soon as the now warm liquid hit his mouth, he cursed himself for being an idiot. He'd never been able to handle beer on a good day, let alone the cheap junk they were serving at the party. His stomach rolled as he forced himself to swallow. Even though he managed to get it down, he couldn't hold back the full-body gag that followed.
Bringing his hand to his mouth, he prayed that nobody noticed his embarrassing moment. A soft chuckle off to his right dashed all those hopes. Horror danced in his chest as he jerked his head in the direction of the noise. Then, when he got a good look at the source, his heart began pounding for a whole new reason.
Just five
----
Two hours, five minutes and thirty-eight seconds. That was how long before Justice could blow off this mess of a party and retreat to the safety of his apartment.
He dodged a frat brother making out with some blonde chick and leaned against the wall, wishing desperately he were somewhere else. Anywhere would do--prison, a desert island with no water, a country music concert, the fiery pits of hell. Anything would be preferable to being the only openly gay guy at a college kegger.
"Will you try to at least look like you're having fun?" His older brother Craig thrust a plastic cup of beer into Justice's hand.
Justice took it, more aware than ever just how un-alike they and the lives they led were. Even though their birth certificates claimed they were blood related, they couldn't be more different. Where Craig had sunny, blond hair, Justice had plain brown. His dull, gray eyes didn't even come close to attracting the same attention as Craig's deep blue ones. The most stark contrast had to be their builds, Craig had the muscle-bound, football player look down perfectly, whereas Justice was small, thin and...well, insignificant.
"Sorry," Justice mumbled automatically as he took a sip of the tepid drink. It seemed he was always apologizing to his brother or father for some reason or another. It'd gotten to the point where he'd considered prefilling out "My bad. I know I'm always fucking up" cards just to make things easier on himself. That is if Hallmark made cards with that saying. But didn't they claim to have a card for every occasion?
Craig gave him a patronizing smile. "Look, don't be a brat. I'm doing this for your own good and as a favor to Dad. You need to get out of that shithole apartment of yours once in awhile or people are going to start thinking there's something wrong with you."
It was on the tip of Justice's tongue to argue that his apartment was far from a shithole, but he held it in. He'd learned long ago that it didn't do any good to argue with his brother. It only ended with Craig either hitting him or verbally cutting him down.
"You're right. I needed to take a break from all my homework and stuff." Justice forced himself to smile. "Thanks for bringing me."
"Just make sure you don't embarrass me."
Craig gave him a not so gentle punch on the shoulder before walking back to his friends. Once more alone, Justice busied himself by people watching. Since he didn't have much else to do, it seemed like the most entertaining way to pass the time.
There were two beefy, dark-haired guys who were interesting eye food--that was until they started sucking face with the same girl. Ew! There was no way they couldn't be exchanging all kinds of interesting germs with that kind of tongue action.
Then there were the three sorority sisters who were sitting on the couch to the left of him. The middle one sobbed loudly, while her two friends patted her back in sympathy. Justice couldn't be for sure, but it seemed that she'd been dumped by some jerk named Randy. That was okay, though, because Randy was an idiot who had a dick the size of a thumb with an IQ to match and he couldn't find a G-spot even if he had Google Maps and a GPS at his disposal.
Distracted by thoughts of poor Randy and his misfortunate penis, Justice took a huge swig of beer. As soon as the now warm liquid hit his mouth, he cursed himself for being an idiot. He'd never been able to handle beer on a good day, let alone the cheap junk they were serving at the party. His stomach rolled as he forced himself to swallow. Even though he managed to get it down, he couldn't hold back the full-body gag that followed.
Bringing his hand to his mouth, he prayed that nobody noticed his embarrassing moment. A soft chuckle off to his right dashed all those hopes. Horror danced in his chest as he jerked his head in the direction of the noise. Then, when he got a good look at the source, his heart began pounding for a whole new reason.
Just five
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