“Hurry up. I want a slice before Professor Carter gets here.”

“You know he’ll be ten minutes late as usual.” He laughed and handed me a slice. It was deep dish and pepperoni. I grinned as I stuffed a mouthful of pizza into my mouth.

Now this was more like it. Brandon had been my best friend for the last four years, the person I was closest to in the world. I’d never do anything to jeopardize our friendship. I’d definitely never date a girl he was interested in. That’s one of the reasons why men were better than women. We cared more about the bro code and keeping our friendships strong. I’d never let sex come between me and Brandon. We were brothers for life.

“You’re such a pig.” Brandon laughed at me as I grabbed a second slice and chewed it down quickly.

“I was hungry.”

“Why didn’t you eat before class?”

“Dude, I was too busy planning out the club.”

“You’re still thinking about starting a club?” Brandon sighed.

I ignored the expression on his face. “It’s going to be epic. We’re going to have our own world.”

“We don’t need our own world. This one is hard enough as it is.” Brandon pulled out the textbook and started reading. “Now, shh. I need to read real quick.”

“What’s our motto going to be?”

“Motto? What are we, Boy Scouts?”

“Idiot.” I glared at him. “Let me think. What about ‘Two boys, one world.’”

“Nope.” He shook his head. “Two men, one exam in three hours, which one man is going to fail.”

“I studied last night.” I winked at him. “But I do like the idea of two men. Two men, one club.”

“What about just two men?” Brandon looked up at me thoughtfully. “It’s always just going to be us.”

“No, it’s not.” I shook my head.

“I don’t mean just us at the club, but just us in charge of the club.”

“That’s true. Doesn’t that sound g*y though? Two men?” I made a face. “You know I love you, but I don’t want you, bro.”

“You’re breaking my heart.” Brandon clutched his heart and laughed. “You’re full of shit, Greyson. As if you could get a guy like me.”

“Eww, you’re making me sick.” I laughed. “Let’s do this again. Two men, one club, infinite women.”

“Now that’s hot.” He grinned. “Infinite women is always nice.”

“I thought you were a one-woman man?” I raised an eyebrow at him.

“That was when I was young and dumb.”

“That was last year.”

“Things have changed.” He shrugged and I let it go. Both Brandon and I had changed since high school. Both of our worlds were different now. We never spoke about it, but we both knew we were brothers for life. The only people we could both count on were each other. It was as simple as that.

“Yeah, who needs one woman when you look like us? We’ll have women begging to be with us.”

“They can beg all they want,” Brandon laughed. “They’ll be lucky to have one night with me.”

“Now that’s what I’m talking about.”

“One night with the Italian stallion and they won’t know what hit them.”

“You’re not Italian, Brandon.”

“I’ll be anything I want to be.”

“Well, I’m hung like an African.” I grinned.

Brandon shook his head at me. “That’s so racist.”

“It’s not racist if it’s true.”

“Greyson, I’d shut my mouth if I were you. People already think you’re a cocky asshole.”

“Well, they wouldn’t be lying.” I jumped up. “I’m the f**king king. I run this shit.”

“You’re a rap star now?”

“I’m king of the world. We both are—or we could be. Once we start this club, we’ll be loved and worshipped. It’ll be the most exclusive club in the world.”

“You think so?”

“We’ll make it that.” I paused. “And no one but us will know exactly what’s going on.”

“How’s that possible?”

“We’ll think of a way.” I sat back down again and thought for a minute before looking at him seriously. “We can’t trust anyone, Brandon. This is between us.”

“I know.” He nodded back at me and smiled. “No matter what happens, it’s between us.”

“Hey, Greyson. Hey Brandon.” The two girls finally made their way over to us.

“Hey.” I nodded without smiling.

“What you guys up to tonight?”

“Fucking one of you?” I looked at them as they giggled and thought I was joking. “Or would you prefer it to be both of you?”

“You’re so funny, Greyson!” The blonde giggled again and pushed her chest out. Her blue eyes twinkled as she slowly licked her lips. She was letting me know that she wanted to be the one who got the prize.

“I’ve heard that before.” I nodded in agreement and grinned at Brandon, who was sitting there with big dopey eyes. I wanted to laugh out loud.

He was such a dope. He could talk the talk now, but he’d never really walked the walk, aside from a one-night stand he’d had the day his father had married yet another woman a few months ago.

“You guys can come over tonight if you want. We can have a study date.”

“I don’t study with girls.” I stared at the redhead. “I fuck.”

“We try to be accommodating.” She grinned at me eagerly and then looked at her friend. I could so f**k both of them. I knew it as surely as I knew that I could get the blonde to go into the men’s room and suck me off at that very moment.

“Brandon and I have laundry to do tonight.” I yawned and sat back. I could see the surprised look on his face as I blew the girls off.

“Maybe we can help.”

“Maybe not.” My voice was sharp with irritation. “I’m not interested.” I spelled it out to them clearly. Blondie’s face fell and the redhead had an evil glint in her eyes as they realized they’d been dismissed, but I didn’t care. “So, Brandon, wanna catch a movie later? I’ll pay.” I heard the girls’ sharp inhalations as they walked away and I grinned.

“You just told them you were going to do laundry tonight.” Brandon shook his head. “And then you slipped up and asked me to a movie. They most probably think you’re a jerk now.”

“That wasn’t a slip-up.” I gave him my ‘who do you think you’re with’ glance. “That was my don’t-swim-in-the-ocean-if-you-don’t-like-sharks lesson to them.”

“You didn’t have to be mean.”

“I wasn’t being mean. I was being real. They’re sluts.”

“Greyson!” Brandon hurriedly looked around the room to see if anyone was listening.

“Come on now. We could have had a foursome tonight and they don’t even really know us.”

“I’d rather a threesome and you stay in your room.” Brandon grinned and I laughed.

“You know it’s true.”

“Well, they were a bit obvious.”

“I don’t want those types of girls at the club. Women should know their place.”

“What do you mean?”

“All women do is bring men down. Men lose their shit over women. And for what? For some pussy? Gimme a break.”

“You’ve heard of the power of the pussy, bro.”

“Only because we give it to them. Everyone knows men run the world. But that’s strong men only—weak men crumble.” My mind fell to my brother. “Women try to make you love them and then they leave with either your money or your heart.”

“Not all women.”

“What women do you know who give a shit about you?”

“I dunno.” Brandon shrugged, and I slammed my hands on the table.

“Exactly. There’s no point trying to lie to ourselves or even go down that road. We can get what we want from women who know the deal.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, as long as we keep our hearts out of our pants, we’re cool.”

“So we’re going to have girls at the club then?” Brandon said after a few minutes. “What will the girls be doing?”

“Whatever we want them to do.” I raised an eyebrow. “There will be no request too big or small.”

“So it’ll be like a private, no-questions-asked strip club?”

“No.” I shook my head. “Strip clubs are sleazy.”

“Sex club?” Brandon’s eyes widened.

“There will be sex. And plenty of it. But no. It’s not just about being a sex club either. It’s not anything we have to define. It’s what we want it to be. It’s just the private club. No one will really know what goes on there. That will be part of the allure.”

“So we’re just going to call it the private club?”

“Yeah.” I nodded. “And only you and I will know what’s going on.”

“You’re f**ked up, you know that, Greyson?” Brandon shook his head at me and grabbed his books as the professor came into the room.

“Every single day of my life,” I whispered as I pulled out my pen.

I saw the blond girl walk back into the room with a tissue in her hands. She was rubbing the corners of her eyes, and I could see she’d been crying. She avoided eye contact with me, and I stared at the front of the room, trying to ignore the guilt in my heart. I’m preparing her for the real wolves out there, I told myself. Better to learn the harsh realities about men now.

The professor started talking, but I couldn’t hear what he was saying above the throbbing in my ears. As averse as I was to love, I still didn’t want to hurt anyone. That wasn’t my goal.

I stared down at my desk and thought back to my life before my mom had died. I thought back to the joy and the laughter and I missed it. But then I remembered the man my father had become since her death and I knew that I couldn’t break my vow to myself. I was never going to allow a woman to break me down like my father had been broken.

Chapter 3

Meg

Present Day

“Brandon is not to blame for anything.” Greyson’s voice was firm. “I was the one who is responsible for what happened and what continues to happen. Ultimately, I make all of the decisions at the club.”

“So you’re saying that all the shit that goes on here is you?” Katie’s face was void of emotion, but I could tell she was hopeful.

“Everything that’s gone on here is all me. Brandon didn’t even know about it until it was too late.”

“Greyson,” Brandon spoke, and Greyson shook his head.

“You’re right, Brandon. You have a new life now. Leave.”

“Let’s go, Meg.” Katie looked at me. “Let’s just go.”

“I don’t know.” I hesitated. “I don’t think I should go.”

“You don’t need this job. Brandon got you fired.” She glared at him. “And he’ll help you get your job back.”

“I don’t want my job back.”

“Then he’ll help you get a job at a new firm.”

“I don’t want that.” I looked at the confusion in her eyes. “I need to see this through.”

“See what through?” She sounded mad. “Please, just leave with me.”

I shook my head. “I can’t do that.”

“You should go, Meg.” Greyson joined the discussion, and I looked at him with hurt eyes.

“I’m not going anywhere until I find out what happened to Nancy and exactly what’s going on here.”

“You think you’re going to save all these girls?” Greyson’s tone sent a chill down my spine. “You think you can—”

“Just tell her, Greyson,” Brandon pleaded. “Please, let’s just get it out in the open.”

“I don’t think so.” Greyson sat back down. “I want you to leave now.”

“You think that I’m just going to leave and—”

“Brandon.” Greyson’s voice was cold. “This isn’t your problem. You and Katie need to leave.”

I stood there as a warm feeling spread through me. He hadn’t asked for me to leave this time.

“I’m not going without Meg.” Katie stood her ground. “There’s no way I’m leaving her with this maniac in this place.”

“I’ll be fine.”

“I wouldn’t count on that, Meg.” It was Greyson’s turn to speak up. “I’ve told you before that I’m no angel.”

“I haven’t been burned yet.”

“You haven’t been close enough to the flame.”

“I’ll take my chances.”

“Meg!” Katie chided me. “I get it. He’s cute. But please… He is not worth it. I can tell from one glance that he’s not a good guy. Please, Meg. Let’s go.”

“Listen to your friend, little Meggie,” Greyson laughed. “She knows what she’s talking about.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” She glared at him.

“I’m just saying that you should know what it’s like to date a dirty dog.” He smiled at her sweetly. “Now leave.”