Venom

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The rasp of Vaughn's voice caresses my ear, so close and intimate, I swear he's singing to me, and me alone. It's a song I've heard countless times before, yet it still manages to send a shiver of desire down my spine. The man puts most vocalists to shame. His songs are intoxicating, their power and allure enough to make him a legend for years to come.

I press the earbud further into my ear, pushing the sound closer to my mind to infiltrate my brainwaves.  The beat vibrates through my temples. Pure ecstasy. My hand hovers over the repeat button, ready to replay the song once again. As it tapers to silence, however, the sound of someone shouting jars me out of my Venom-trance.

It's far enough away that I could probably get away with ignoring it if I just turn the volume a tad louder...

Colton bursts through my bedroom door. His emerald eyes scowl at me, his mouth contorting as he shouts a slew of muffled words I cannot decipher. I raise a brow and pop out one of my earbuds.

"...I've been fuckin' calling you for ten minutes!" he yells, gesturing his hands around like a symphony orchestra conductor.

"Sorry," I mutter, twirling the headphone cord around like a lasso. "Didn't hear you."

He rolls his eyes and pulls the chair out from my desk. When he plops down, he runs a hand through his thick, disheveled hair. Despite being my twin brother, I am wholeheartedly convinced he got the gene with all the looks. Even when he's not trying, Colton's appearance is flawless.

"Let me guess," he says, offering up an unenthusiastic stare. "Did I interrupt a date with you and Mr. Vaughn?"

I pause the next song and pull out the other earbud. My brother knows me too well. Most of my friends know how much I listen to the nation's most adored band – Venom. Hell, most of them listen to their songs, too. Who doesn't?

What my brother knows that they don't, however, is that I have a perpetually growing crush on Venom's lead singer – Vaughn Rutter.

"What's up?" I ask, ignoring his droll question.

"I've got to work late tonight. I was hoping you could get dinner?"

I grimace. When Colton and I moved out of our parent's house after high school, we were so blindsided by our newfound freedom that some of the downsides hadn't yet come to fruition. Like having to do our own laundry. Or cleaning our own shit stains out of the toilet. Or doing dishes.

Or cooking.

"Colt," I groan into my pillow. "I've cooked the last four nights."

"I know," he says, talking quickly as if about to strike a bargain. "And I'm not gonna' lie, they all kind of tasted like shit."

I scowl and he smirks before continuing. "Hey, mine taste even worse. I'll admit it. But I'll make you a deal. If you cook tonight, I'll throw in a load of your laundry this weekend. And fold it."

I ponder the offer, rolling onto my stomach and propping myself up on my elbows. "And you'll put it away, too."

Colton leans back in his chair and scrunches his nose. "That depends. Will I find any dildos with Vaughn's face on them?"

"What? Colton. That's not how... You wouldn't...never mind," I say, pinching the bridge of my nose and waving off my brother's asinine comment.

The guy's my twin and my best friend and probably the straightest man I know. As much as I appreciate how accepting he is with my sexuality, he knows little to nothing about what it means or what it's like to be gay.