The Peach-Pounding Peters of Peterson Hall, #1

Chapter 17: From One Opportunity to Another

Just as the Halloween party at the Peters' suite had begun tonight, Jerrick, Lincoln, and I had gone back to their lamp-lit dorm room. We'd taken off our Halloween costumes, and we were in our underwear.

I had to admit I was still bummed about Twunky being unavailable. Well, okay, I could still fuck him, but I couldn't date him. And why was I even thinking about dating nowadays? I wasn't ready for that.

Was I?

I still couldn't get over the possibility of homelessness. Yeah, there was Buff, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized how challenging it'd be to feign a truly-happy marriage to him. He wasn't stupid; he'd eventually figure out I'd be miserable by his side. He was a shitty person and not worth being with, but billions' worth of money kept calling my name.

"Are you okay?" Jerrick asked, sitting beside me on his bed.

I snapped back into focus and gave him a rushed nod and a weak expression. "Just thinking about stuff."

Lincoln sat across from us on his bed, and he managed a tight smile. "I now have the power to ruin Buff and he doesn't know it."

My eyebrows shot up. "What?"

Lincoln nodded. "I told Twunky to give me his phone one day so I can hack into it."

It'd been Lincoln all along?! Wow...

"What did you find?"

Lincoln sighed. "Well, first of all, I want you to stick with Buff. Marry him if you need to. But I want some of that money. I really need it."

I was confused because I'd never known Lincoln to be money-hungry. Then again, I'd never known I was until I'd recently become desperate. I sighed. "It's not going to be easy."

"Of course it will. He's obsessed with you, Pete. He'll do whatever you say at this point."

Jerrick gave me a nod. "I heard all about it."

"And Buff told us your parents disowned you, so you have nowhere to live, huh?"

Fuck. Of course the two of them knew my business.

I shook my head and then lowered it. The humiliation of my personal business being aired out struck me hard, especially my financial situation.

"Look, Pete," Lincoln said. "Buff's never going to let you go. You making him think you love him is practically a gift to him. You got it made with him. You just have to fake it for a while."

I scoffed. "It could be years."

"I know. But just do it, okay? I'm not letting you back out on this."

Jerrick blew a big breath. "I'm not suggesting anything, and I won't judge you, so whatever you decide, I just hope you'll eventually be happy."

I'd never be happy. Not really. Definitely not being married to Buff. I had to think whether it really was worth the money or if starting from scratch on my own would eventually lead to some kind of happiness if I succeeded. That was the thing, though; being homeless and working a full-time job didn't seem to guarantee any of that. But if so, it required an insane amount of patience. I could be forty someday and barely be comfortable in life.

I gave Lincoln a set of pleading eyes. "Let's destroy Buff instead. If what you discovered is that damaging, why not?"

Jerrick didn't say anything about that. Was he uncomfortable?

Lincoln paused for a moment, and his eyes got misty. "Because I won't get anything out of it." His voice began to crack. "I know it makes me sound selfish, but you're not the only one who wants out of here. Except I can't leave right now because I don't have money or a home without his family involved. Me and my mom were practically poor before she met Buff's dad. We had nothing but a small trailer home and a few things, limited clothes just to make laundry cheaper. We almost never ate out anywhere because we couldn't afford it. Granted, she had government assistance, but it wasn't much, so we got cheap groceries because they last longer."