Pledge

15. A Step Back

15. A Step Back

Mitch watched as Matt, Scott, and pledge number six walked across the campus lawn together the following day. They moved slowly, and they almost looked comical, all dressed in black basketball shorts, white tee shirts, and matching white sneakers and snap-back hats. Even their backpacks were the same now, as well as their black socks.

He thought about catching up with them, but when Scott locked eyes with him for a moment before quickly returning his gaze to the ground in front of him, he thought better of it.

Scott Hoying really hated him now, didn't he?

He thought about the events that led him here as he sat in his class. He wondered where he had misread things, and where exactly he had crossed the line.

It had definitely happened when he spent the night with Scott. Or perhaps it had been when he paddled him.

Shit. He had no idea.

But the thought of Scott being afraid of him made his skin crawl. He hated how disgusting it made him feel.

But those blue eyes simply wouldn't leave his brain alone. The feeling of his lips on Scott's, the feeling of his stubbly cheek, how they fit together on that bed so perfectly that night... how Scott had physically reacted to him...

Before he knew it, class was over and he left, returning to the house for the introduction of the beginning of hell week.

"Take off these tee shirts and give them to me." Brad was scolding them as Mitch walked in. All nine pledges were in front of their APM, standing there rigidly.

The pledges complied, taking their shirts off and extending them towards the man in front of them. Mitch noticed immediately that each of them had lost weight. He tried not to look at Scott, but he found himself skating his eyes off of the man's body. He had seen him shirtless on several occasions already, and he looked... smaller.

But God, he still looked gorgeous.

Brad took the tee shirts and inspected the tags. "Good. All the same brand." He threw them into a pile on the floor. "Now your shorts."

The men eyed one another warily before taking the shorts off and handing them to Brad, leaving them standing there in black boxer shorts.

Zach took this opportunity to circle around each of them to ensure that even their underwear was the same.

It was, and Mitch was thankful that they didn't do something ridiculous, like making them take those off, too.

They continued the process of inspecting the clothing, down to their socks and shoes. Once satisfied, Brad threw the clothing together in a pile. "Good. House needs a good cleaning. Get to work. You can do it like that. You don't need these." He kicked the pile of clothing with his feet. "Oh, and one more thing." He approached Scott, getting close to his face, menacingly. "Welcome to Hell Week, boys."

"Pledge number nine, come here?" Jax asked, popping his head into the living room where Scott was scrubbing the inside of the fireplace. Mitch looked up from the book he was pretending to read, eyeing Scott as he stood and followed his big up the stairs, silently.

Scott was gone for exactly twenty minutes. When he returned, he did not look at Mitch, or at any of the other brothers who laid about the room, studying or playing on their phones. Instead, he got back to work on the fireplace. Mitch watched as his back muscles flexed with his movements, and admired how his skin had returned to silky and smooth since his lacerations on the tree and his welts from his first paddling had healed.