“He's not as hopeless as he pretends to be,” Tobias says, but I already know that.
“Are you guys going to mercilessly tease me for being a virgin?”
“Probably.”
“Jerk-off stain,” I grumble, and Tobias laughs. It's a reserved sort of sound, but I appreciate the effort.
“That's … a really good insult, actually,” he says as we head up the stairs. He takes me to the room he shares with his brother, and I find my palms suddenly sweaty as I step inside. It's the same set-up that I saw in Ranger's room: two beds, an electric fireplace, and dressers on the wall at the end of the short entry hall.
Micah is already curled up on his bed, so I take a seat on Tobias' and pretend not to be staring lasciviously as he pulls his soggy shirt over his head, revealing a long, lean body that's chiseled in all the right places. My mouth waters, and I curl my hands into my jacket to keep them steady.
His nipples are hard, probably from the cool rainwater and all that, but I can't help but focus on them and wonder what they'd feel like beneath my palms. Cody had the ugliest nipples, I swear to God, like they were long and bumpy and had weird curly black hairs growing out of them. Tobias' are … nice. Like, way nice.
“Are you ogling me?” Tobias asks, feigning shock as he puts his fingers to his smooth chest. “Avert ye eyes, you perv.”
“By checking him out, you're checking me out, too. We have the same DNA, you know. Same nipples—because clearly you like those—same feet, same hands … same cock.”
“Gee, thank you for supplying information I never asked for,” I grumble, stripping off my jacket and tossing it aside in a wet heap on the floor.
“Were you raised in a barn?” Tobias asks, picking it up and hanging it on a hook near the door. He turns the fireplace on and then, much to my chagrin, doesn't bother to ask me to turn away or close my eyes before he drops his wet sweats and underwear, flashing all sorts of stuff that I wasn't quite ready to see.
Tobias' dick is half-hard and on its way, erm, up.
“Oh my god, you teabagger, put it away!” I throw one of his pillows in that general direction, but keep my eyes focused on the dancing flames in the fireplace instead. I'm getting a mad sense of déjà vu here, thinking about Spencer and Ranger and that night in their dorm room.
That makes the mood pretty somber, pretty quick.
Tobias slips into some fresh sweatpants and sits down next to me, the mattress bowing under his weight. Tomorrow is Sunday, the last day before school starts up again. It feels like we're on a countdown, like if Spencer doesn't show up before then, then he's really gone. He's really dead.
“Do you guys have any video games in here?” I ask, feeling my eyes start to water again. Tobias puts his arm around my waist and pulls me into his lap, squeezing me close. The warmth of his bare chest seeps into me, driving away some of the cold. It's a different sort of cold though, like an icy fog that I know will come drifting back as soon as he lets me go. It's not the cold of a stormy night; it's the frosty feeling of an unbreakable melancholy.
“Do we have video games?” Tobias asks as Micah finally gives up on trying to be an aloof jerk and sits up, pulling his wireless earbuds out and dropping them into a case on his nightstand. He watches us with half-narrowed green eyes. “What do you take us for? Of course we do.”
“Let's play a racing game or something. I need a mindless distraction.” Micah climbs out of bed and gets something set up on the wall-mounted flat-screen on the wall above his dresser. Each boy has their own TV. How spoiled.
Tobias moves back to lean against the headboard, still holding me, while I play a versus match with his brother. After a few rounds, I realize there are tears on my face, but I pretend they're not there. Instead, I try to enjoy my time with the twins, brushing the wetness off my cheeks until I'm laughing and then yelling at Micah with game rage.
“You cheated on that last track!” I shout, tossing the controller his direction. He ducks, and smirks, letting it bounce harmlessly amongst his pillows.
“We always cheat,” the twins say in unison.
“You … toilet-paper-wad foreskin dildos,” I grumble, and they both howl with laughter.
That’s when the door flies open and smashes into the wall.
It’s dark out there and bright in here, making it hard to see who’s standing there.
The question is: is that the killer waiting there … or Spencer Hargrove come back from the dead?
