Chapter Five – Where Did Rusty Parker Sleep Last Night?

Last night was dark and full of secrets, boys and girls. Our king, Rusty Parker, after seducing and abandoning a fair number of equally fair maidens, abandoned the hippest party on campus and disappeared as if the earth had swallowed him. We’re pretty sure it wasn’t the earth doing the swallowing to our king last night, but that still begs the question…

Rusty Parker, where did you sleep last night?

“I’m not in the habit of reading Xpress, but now I’m curious since a bunch of random people keep pestering me.” Dex put his phone on the table and linked his hands on top of his head. “Who did you do it with last night, Rusty?”

Such questions came with the territory when you were a celebrity. Rusty sighed and continued to create a house from his French fries. Satisfied with the result, he reached for the ketchup bottle. If he painted the walls red, it would be a horror movie.

However, his hand met nothing but air. Kane had grabbed it and was now staring at him with interest.

Rusty just opened and closed his fingers a few times. “Give.”

“We’re curious, Rusty.”

“You should teach your mates not to give me weird booze,” Rusty told Kane.

Kane shrugged. “You can say ‘no’ on occasion, Rusty. Now, spit it out. What new girl grabbed you and dragged you to her lair? If this information doesn’t surface in the next twenty-four hours, we’ll have to turn off our phones.”

Rusty leaned back in his chair and looked at Dex, and then at Kane. These guys were serious. And Kane was going to eat all the ketchup given the way he was squeezing the bottle over his fries.

“I chased a cat boy.”

Dex and Kane stared at him with interest. “A cat boy?” Dex asked. “You’re sure it wasn’t your imagination you were chasing? There are no cat boys around here, and I don’t think there’s any cosplay convention taking place anywhere near.”

“It was a cat boy,” Rusty insisted.

“All right.” Kane always played the diplomat. “Let’s say that there was a cat boy. Did you catch him?”

“No. He jumped into a tree. I couldn’t follow.”

Kane and Dex traded one of their famous shared glances.

“No,” Rusty said pointedly, “it wasn’t just a cat. It was a sexy dude, dressed in a black latex suit, with tail and ears and all.”

“Are you sure it wasn’t a flying squirrel?” Kane insisted, like the annoying prick he was. “Mistakes are easy to make, especially at night.”

“Did you chase this cat boy all night? And where?”

Rusty paused. Usually, he would just say everything. But he didn’t want these assholes of friends of his to think that he suddenly had a thing for his tutor. Not everyone turned gay at the sight of a sexy tail, the way it had happened to Maddox, as soon as he had laid his eyes on Jonathan. That wasn’t like him. Plus, it wouldn’t have been that much of an issue, but Matty was straight and wanted to hook up or get a girlfriend or something. Spreading rumors that he was getting into the gay with the king could hurt his chances of scoring.

Determined that it was all for a good cause, he kept his mouth shut.

And Kane and Dex exchanged another look.

“He was real,” he said and stuffed his mouth with the east wall of the French fry house. He didn’t need any ketchup. “And yeah, I chased him all night. It was exhausting. But fun.”

“He is keeping things from us,” Kane said slowly.

Dex tooted his agreement.

“I’m not,” Rusty said aggressively. Well, he sounded like he was keeping things from them. Damn, there was no way to fool these wannabe parents. “You know what? I am. But it’s my right.”

“Were you at least here on campus?”

“Yes. I didn’t leave.”

“Are you for real about the cat boy?” Kane asked.

“Yes.”

“He’s telling the truth,” Dex concluded. “Did you do it with him?”

Rusty groaned. “No. For your information, I’m not-fucked. So, unless one of you is offering me a hand, lay off.”

“Wow, he’s serious,” Dex said with satisfaction. “Rusty didn’t get his dick wet last night.”

“Yeah, yeah, call Xpress,” Rusty said and scoffed. He grabbed the glass of water from the table and marched toward the stairs. He didn’t want to offer any other explanation.

“What are you doing with that?” Kane asked, always aware of everything everyone did and wanting to know why.

Rusty raised the glass while walking up the stairs. “I need it to get my dick wet.”

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