Thomas turned the alarm on his phone off as soon as the buzzing woke him, then remained in bed, appreciating the silence. The length he had to go to just to get some—

Foot steps above him.

Thomas grabbed his phone and checked the time. Three minutes past five in the morning. No. There was no way. His father should still be asleep. He’d set the alarm two hours early, specifically to get at least an hour with no chances of his father coming by to ask about his studies or offer to tutor him, since they were both up.

The joke in the family was that Eric didn’t need sleep. The only time in was in bed was with his wife and he wasn’t sleeping then.

Right now, Thomas was questioning how much of that was a joke and how much was that he was the worse luck the world offered.

You up? He messaged Paul. The chances were good he was. His best friend liked to get in studying before leaving home and even if they didn’t have classes today, he might still—

Just got out of the shower. What are you doing up so early?

Hoping you aren’t going to mind if we get started early. My dad’s already up, and every minute I’m here is a minute he has to snag me into a ‘quick’ study session that’s going to eat the entire day. We can stop by the Starbuck on the way, and I’ll pay for your coffee.

Alright. Give me fifteen minutes and I’ll be at your door.

Thomas hurriedly showered, then dressed. Stopping only as steps sounded along the hallway, remaining still and watching the door in case the handle moved. A door opened further down the hall.

“Come on, sleepyhead,” Eric said. “You have practice today.”

Roland mumbled a reply Thomas didn’t make out.

“Yes, which is why you want to get there early, getting a good workout session. You want to impress the coach, don’t you?”

Another reply Thomas didn’t make out.

“That’s the spirit. I’ll be back in five minutes and we’ll get going.”

The door closed, and the steps moved away, then the stairs creaked as Eric went up one flight.

Thomas was out of his room, pulling the shirt over his head and in the kitchen, going through the fridge for something that would do for breakfast. Last night’s spinach lasagna called to him, but that needed to be reheated, and his father was coming down from the third floor again.

He grabbed two bananas off the counter and hoped they weren’t something his mother would need, then headed for the door. 

He was outside, gently closing it, when the garage door opened. He rushed to the sidewalk and checked the time. Thomas thought about jumping behind the Leslie’s rose bushes when the car ease out of the garage, but opted for staying still and counting on another well known Eric Hertz trait to keep him safe.

His father stopped the car, exited it and went back into the garage, the door lowering behind him without ever looking around.

His father hyper-focused.

It made being on the receiving end of that focus nearly unbearable, but it meant that if he could avoid drawing attention to himself, Thomas could go entirely unnoticed by his father.

Paul pulled up next to him, and Thomas was in as his father exited the house. Thomas did not look in their direction, only making out the man and his brother in his peripheral vision as they headed to his father’s car.

“What are you waiting for?” Thomas whispered. “Start driving before he notices us.”

With a chuckle, Paul stopped looking over his shoulder and drove away, and then Thomas could relax.

* * * * *

His best friend sighed appreciatively as he finished the coffee, then stepped out of the car to join Thomas.

Thomas looked at the coffee shop by which Paul had parked, both because it was closer to where Pledge week was being held and because he expected the University’s parking would already be filled.

Because of how early they’d left, they’d taken their time getting there. Paul had scoffed at the banana Thomas had offered him, instead stopping at an affordable place and buying them both breakfast.

Now, The Knoll, the park they were reaching, was already active; people manning booths and others visiting them. Paul was quick to point to this one and that. And laughed when Thomas thought he’d seen his father heading toward them, only for it to be some other rat with black fur covering his head.

Thomas launched into a rant about how his father ran his life, which only ended because Paul left him to check a booth. Then there were attempts on his best friend’s part to get Thomas interested in this frat or that, but the rat couldn’t muster much of an interest.

Then came the oddest way someone could get roped into going to a frat party, by the monkey treating it as a fait accomplie. Limbani had all but claimed to have seen it in a crystal ball, and Paul had been more than willing to side with them instead of his best friend.

And now Thomas was headed to his Studies for Success class with Paul keeping him company since the tiger’s Advanced Chemistry lab was in the afternoon. 

“You know that monkey’s in for a disappointment, right?” Thomas said. “Like I told him, there is no way my dad is going to let me go to a party, even if I don’t have classes the next day. That’s just free time I can fill with more studying, as far as he’s concerned.”

“Not going to sneak out?” Paul asked. “Laurence seemed to have thoughts on how you could make that happen.”

“You planning on teaching him how to dance?” Thomas replied, diverting back to the golden tiger.

Paul chuckled. “That’s on him, but I think Limbani’s the one I have to watch out for. He seems to me like the kind of guy who’ll do just about anything to get in your pants.”

“You mean yours.”

“No, I’m pretty sure it’s yours he was trying to get his hands in. If he danced with me, it’d be because he thinks it would make you more open to the idea.”

Thomas looked away and grumbled his reply, hoping no one would notice the tent forming in his pants.

“What’s that?” Paul asked, smirking.

“I said, I am open to the idea. Leaving aside how way too forward he is, yes, I’d like to experience the sex you said happens at that party, but it’s not going to happen, Paul. My dad isn’t—”

“You mean the man who can’t seem to stop having sex with your mother won’t appreciate you getting some too?”

Thomas snorted. “It’s not the same. My Dad compartmentalizes. There’s his life with my Mom, his life with his family, and his life at university. Then, it’s his life with Judith, his life with me, and then with Roland. I’m not going to say never the twain shall meet, but when he’s in one mode, he doesn’t really make the connection with the others. I’m not Thomas Hertz, son of two really sexual people who can’t wait to get laid on his own. I’m his son, undecided student, disappointment.”

“You’re being too hard on yourself.”

Thomas shrugged. “He’s still not going to let me go. And no, I’m not sneaking out. It’s one thing to get out of dodge before he realizes I’m there and sits me down to study, but he already has my weekend planned out.”

“Then at least ask him. Don’t chicken out, Thomas, just because you think he’ll say no. Ask him and see what happens. If he says no, I’ll come over and study with you.”

Thomas started to protest that Paul didn’t have to sacrifice himself on his account, then saw the smile and glint in his best friend’s eyes.

“Neither one of us has biology,” Thomas pointed out.

“Maybe you’re thinking of making that your major, and me, as your best friend, is helping you find out?”

“You realize that if Judith walks in on us, we are never hearing the end of it.”

Paul smirked. “You say that like I have a problem with it.”

* * * * *

Thomas stepped into the house to quiet and he chuckled to himself. Now that he had the house to himself, he wanted to study, just to get the monkey out of his mind. He’d forgotten they shared a class in Studies for Success, and Limbani had plopped himself next to him and not stopped smiling knowingly the entire time.

Even two hours of Chemistry after that hadn’t been enough to get the idea the monkey might have been willing to pull him under the desk and do it right there out of his mind, or that Thomas thought that would have been hot as hell.

If he was watching it in a porno. He was never doing something like that in real life. He’d get expelled, and then he’d have to explain that to his father and…

Yeah. He was never having that conversation.

He dropped his backpack in his room, then continued past Judith’s on left, Roland’s on the right and Victor’s old room, facing it. He pulled the bathroom door opened and found himself staring at his younger brother’s body. Those defined muscles, under damp short black fur, continuing where it turned white. And he had no problem imagining those muscles continuing under the towel Roland had wrapped around his waist.

His brother glared at him just as Thomas started to slam the door shut. “Do you mind?”

Thomas swallowed as he leaned back against the closed door, trying to chance the image of his half naked brother out of his mind. The image of his hot half naked brother out of his mind.

When had Roland turned into such a hunk?

And why was Thomas thinking of his fifteen-year-old brother as a hunk?

He headed for the stairs and the third floor. Judith would kill him if he used her bathroom, so he had to use the one attached to his parent’s bedroom for the ice-cold shower he needed to chase the image of his brother dressed only in that towel that didn’t want to leave his mind.

There was no doubt about it now. He had to get his father to agree to let him go to that party.

* * * * *

Thomas’s head snapped up and away from the text when the entrance door closed and stood up from the dining table. He’d been reading about the early days of the United States, to prepare for his class tomorrow, and he’d sat in the dining room instead of his bedroom to ensure he wouldn’t miss, or ignore, his father’s arrival. Catching him now meant Eric would still be in teacher mode, and he would be sufficiently distracted to hear what Thomas said, agree to it, but not take in what he’d agreed to.

“Sure,” Thomas whispered to himself, “and if you believe that, someone’s got a bridge to sell you, or better yet, can get the entire Golden Gophers team in my bedroom to pleasure me.”

The older rat crossed the dining room archway.

“Dad,” Thomas called, and Eric didn’t even looked up from the phone as he vanished on the other side. Definitely still in teacher mode, but too deep in it to realize someone else was home. 

Thomas nearly sat back down with a ‘well, I tried,’ thought, but Paul would ask exactly what consisted trying, and this wouldn’t be acceptable. Thomas opened his mouth to call after his father again, since the alternatives were finding him in his office and doing it with his father’s full attention on him, or during dinner, where his father would be distracted by the food, but Judith would be there to comment on what Thomas wanted and Roland would have to hear how pitiful his brother was.

His father’s head appeared off the side of the archway. “Oh, Thomas. How was your visit to The Knoll? Did you find any brotherhood to help you be the best you can be?” His father stepped into the dining room.

Thomas was momentarily stunned his father knew he’d gone there, then realized that of course his father would know. He’d probably instructed half the university staff to keep him appraised of Thomas’s movements.

“No,” he replied, then hesitated. An attentive Eric wasn’t how he wanted to have this conversation. But his father was now looking at him expectantly as Thomas left the word trailing. “One of the frat’s having a party tomorrow evening and me and Paul thought we could go.” He said, basically vomiting it.

“Are you sure that’s such a good idea?” Eric asked, taking a seat opposite where Thomas stood and motioning for his son to sit, too.

This was going to be as bad as if they were in his office. At least there were no witnesses.

Thomas did his best not to wince as he sat and strained to listen for Judith or Roland, now that he’d basically jinxed himself.

“I know that Friday seems like a day where anything goes once you’re free from class, Thomas,” Eric said, folding his hands before him on the table, “but you need to keep in mind your course load. Getting into the habit of taking it easy now, before you’ve taught yourself a proper studying regiment is an easy way to fall behind. And allowing that to happen this early in your year will only compound the problem as the weeks progress. I think you should seriously consider if that is how you want your year to start. Don’t you think it would be much better for your to spend the weekend putting yourself ahead so that—”

“I’m home!” Nadia called. “Is anyone here?”

“In the dining room,” Eric and Thomas said in unison.

Fifteen seconds later, she was in the archway, dressed in tight exercise clothing and holding carry bag in one hand.

“You’re home early,” Eric commented.

“Am I?” She put the bag on the table and took out her phone from the arm holder to look at it. “So I am.” She chuckled as she put it back. “I cut out of class early to buy supplies for /tomorrow’s show. I am going to be making Ravioli Classica in traditional Romanian spinach sauce.”

Thomas licked his lips at the thought that was going to be what they’d have for dinner. He had no idea what it was, but it would be delicious. The big upside, as far as Thomas was concerned, to his mother having a successful online cooking show was that he got to eat everything she made.

She draped her arm over her husband’s shoulders and pressed her hand against the side of his. “You two have this far too serious look. Am I interrupting anything good?” She grinned at her son, and Thomas couldn’t help feeling like she knew exactly what the conversations was about and what Thomas’s intentions for the party were. While Judith had a knack for walking in at the right time—or the wrong time, when you were the one on the receiving end of it—to get the dirt on her siblings, their mother always seemed to know exactly what her children were up to.

“Our son is considering going to a party tomorrow.”

“What a wonderful idea. Wait, that is after class, right? You’re not thinking of missing class for a party, are you, Thomas?”

“It’s after dinner,” he said.

“Nadia,” Eric said, his tone growing more serious. “I don’t think you should encourage Thomas. University isn’t a time to throw good sense to the wind and party.”

One of her hand moved down her husband’s chest. “Oh honey, Thomas is eighteen. Now is the perfect time for him to throw good sense to the wing.” She undid one shirt button and slipped a hand under the fabric.

“Nadia,” Eric said, turning his head to look at her. “Is now really the time?” The last word caught, and her hand was over his father’s pecs, so Thomas had no problem imagining the nipple pinch that had just happened.

“When is now not the time?” she replied, grinning.

He narrowed his eyes as she leaned in and Thomas debated making a run for it. It looked like this was about to turn into a make-out session, and he didn’t want to be around for that. Hearing it through the paper-thin walls and ceilings was one thing. He’d been witness to a few, when the two of them arguing inexplicably turned into the two of them kissing, then French kissing, then… well, they’d kept their clothes on, but the hands had been everywhere they could and places Thomas really shouldn’t have known they were going.

“We need to think of his future, Nadia,” Eric said, sounding slightly out of breath. His mother’s hand was now on his stomach. If it moved lower, Thomas was running.

“Oh, I am,” she replied breathlessly. “A party should alway be part of your memories. Do you remember that one party in our first year of college?” she lowered her voice, and Thomas found himself leaning in against his will. “The one where we met?”

“I do, Nadia,” his father replied, glancing at Thomas. “That is exactly why I don’t think he should go. The things that we did then are not—” this time his voice caught so completely the words stopped.

The hand had moved lower while Thomas had been distracted. He thanked God the table blocked the view of what his mother was doing to his father. Eric’s ears turned red as he panted.

“Oh yes,” she whispered. “The thing we did.” She smiled. “The things we started.”

Eric squeaked a moan.

“You remember this one?” she asked softly. “On the couch, where they might all have noticed?”

Thomas swallowed. Please let them not do this to the point he noticed more. He might be eighteen, and knew quite well his parents were sexually hyperactive, but that didn’t mean he needed a demonstration.

“Do you remember what it led to?” she asked, grinning. “Do you think this should lead to—”

Eric was up and Thomas looked away as buttons broke off and he caught enough to know his mother’s hand was down his father’s pants.

“Nadia,” Eric said, pleading slightly and Thomas glanced. His father was trying to move his mother’s hand away. “I can’t walk like this.”

“You’re forgetting something before I can let go of it.”

“Nadia,” Eric said, offended. “Not in front of Thomas.” He seemed to realize Thomas was there, and frowned.

“And?” she asked. Thomas wanted to laugh at how hard she was making this on his father. But how the fuck was he supposed to find the fact she was basically giving him a hand job right there in front of him funny?

“You can go to the party,” Eric said. “Be back—” His mother kissing his father kept him from putting a curfew on Thomas’s evening. Then the slurping started and Thomas looked down. He was going to die of embarrassment right here, right now. How had he grown up with those two as parents and not ended up traumatized?

“You have fun tomorrow,” Nadia said, and Thomas looked up in time to see the grin she gave him before they disappeared around the side of the archway.

Thomas put his head in his hands and tried to decide if outrage or relief was what he should be feeling.

On one hand, he’d just been witnessed to his mother blatantly using sex to get her way with his father. It wasn’t the first time it had happened; his mother was far too free in recounting her and his father’s sexual escapades. But this was the first time he’d been witness to quite so much of it.

On the other hand, she’d engineered it so Thomas had gotten permission without having to say which frat house was throwing the party. Considering what Thomas had found on the university social site about Sigma Theta Gamma, he was certain his father knew about them, and that he would categorically refuse to let Thomas go. It wasn’t that they were the premiere gay frat house known for their three times a year sex party. It was that Thomas being exposed to so much sex at this fragile time in his education would lead to him letting his grades drop.

So much sex.

“Oh balls,” he breathed as the realization sank in, and his crotch reacted to it. “I’m going to get laid.”

The grin that followed as he imagined the possibilities was as painful as his erection.