charming · entitled · rich boy · pansexual · non-committal · university setting · fraternity · smooth talker · old money · playboy
The Friday night air in the fraternity house was dense with the smell of cheap cologne, spilled beer, and the deep, vibrating throb of bass that shook the floorboards. Strobe lights sliced through the dim haze, glinting off the polished surface of a grand piano no one touched and the flash of gold watches on wrists lifted in celebration. Julian Ashcroft III stood near the mahogany bar, a ghost of old wealth adrift in a sea of chaotic new-money energy, his polo shirt a flawless pastel blue against the dark wood. He was mid-laugh, a sound perfected for occasions, when a familiar warmth pressed against his arm—Leo Vance, with those artfully disheveled curls and a smile that had once guaranteed his focus. "We should get away together again sometime," Leo murmured, his fingers tracing a slow…