The Scavenger Hunt

As promised, here is the next installment. The next two should release the next two weekends, pending the return of some edits.. but they are written and will submitted for publication either the next two weeks, or as soon as I get them and have time to make the edits. After that.. you're waiting on me to finish Ch. 13 (and an epilogue).

This time around, drama is still roiling with Travis' frat pledge, but Taylor's trying to help him get it knocked out. There are a couple of scenes with more than two people, but neither are really threesomes -- one involves our beloved trio, but one is only there via phone call. The other is the heart of the chapter and is mainly Travis getting it on with a woman while Taylor watches, but is only minimally involved. Thus, this one's placement in Erotic Couplings.

Thanks to samuraisan and thatsbogus for all their help with editing, beta reading, and motivation. Not only would these chapters not be as good without their help, but these chapters wouldn't be, period.

Enjoy!

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The Scavenger Hunt, Chapter 10

I was trapped on a charter bus somewhere in the God-forsaken wasteland of central North Carolina, and I wanted to scream. Sure, there were some specific people I wanted to let loose on, but none of them were on the bus with me, so any poor random fucker would be just fine.

I had no fucking idea what was going on. The people who were talking to me had even less of an idea, and the ones who could provide answers had gone to complete radio silence. All I knew for sure was that everything was going to hell in a proverbial handbasket. The worst part? I wouldn't get back to campus until Sunday night, so it'd be three more days before I could deal with it -- and three more days for shit to possibly get worse.

It was a far cry from where I was when I boarded the bus a few hours ago. Back then, the memories from one of the most incredible nights of my life were still fresh in my mind.

I'd slept between two of the most beautiful women in the galaxy -- if you can call what we did "sleeping." Sure, all three of us napped here and there, but we were all too excited by the new dynamic of our relationship to rest for long. I woke up the first time with Beth's mouth on my cock, and I pulled her on top of me for a 69 that got both of us off. Later, I woke up to see Taylor and Beth scissoring each other, grinding their pussies together until they both came. As the sun started to break through outside, I woke up to Taylor's teeth on my nipple. A quick glance down showed Beth between her legs, taking her time exploring Taylor's pussy for the millionth time. I grabbed Taylor's breast and kneaded it, squeezing and pinching her nipple as Beth made her cum.

Finally, Taylor and I had to wake up to get ready for our trip to Virginia, but even that included sex -- namely, me fucking Taylor from behind under the shower spray. I came all over her ass, and when we looked up, Beth was standing just outside the shower grinning at us.

Beth walked us to the door of the apartment and gave us both long, deep kisses. We responded by pushing her against the wall and kissing all over her face, neck and shoulders while fingering her to one last orgasm.

I'd hoped that since it was our last regular season road trip of the season, we might be able to swap buses and have some of the softball players ride our bus and vice versa, so Taylor and I could spend some more time together. After all, the softball team was awful, so there was nothing riding on their trip, while the baseball team only needed to take two out of three against one of the weaker teams in the conference to clinch the title.

Alas, Coach Bazewell was his usual self and we rode our own individual buses. Still, that couldn't wipe the smile off my face. Chet still wasn't talking to me, but that was okay, too -- I was floating on air and supremely confident that whatever was going on with Lexi, I could handle it.

Taylor and I texted back and forth for the first half-hour of the trip, mostly about last night but also hoping we'd be able to ride together on the way back. She'd told me she wanted to take a nap and she'd see me when we got to the hotel. That made sense -- she'd gotten as little sleep as I had. So, I put my headphones on and drifted off myself.

While it was a good 2-plus hour nap, when I woke up, the real world reared its ugly head at me. I had a few texts and most of them were good. One was from Sandy, thanking me again for the other night. One was from Beth, gushing about last night. The last was from Laci Daniels, and I figured she probably wanted to hook up again. Knowing Taylor, it wasn't completely out of the realm of possibility.

That wasn't it at all, though.

Laci:

Hey, Travis. Has anyone asked you about what we did a couple weeks ago?

I felt my face turn tomato red. She'd only sent the text 20 minutes ago.

Me:

No. Why?

This can't be happening again.

Laci:

You know J.D. King, the building manager for the gym? He pulled me aside this morning and told me he heard a rumor.

Me:

Yeah, I know J.D. What kind of rumor?

Laci:

Something about a video of me in the gym. I told him of course there's video of me at the gym, since the dance squad performs at every basketball game. He said, "Yeah, but you guys don't perform in the upper deck."

Yes, it fucking can.

Me:

Holy shit, Laci. Is that all he said?

Laci:

Basically. Fuck, Travis. The dance team is subject to the same Code of Conduct rules the other athletes are. If that video gets back to anyone, I could get kicked off the team, or even expelled.

Me:

I won't let that happen, Laci. I'm out of town with the team, but I'll be back Monday and I'll get to the bottom of it.

Laci:

How? Do you think maybe your friend had something to do with it? The one you told me about in the bathroom, that saw us from across the gym?

Of course, I hadn't forgotten that Jamie had seen us, but I

had

completely forgotten I told Laci about it. If it was Jamie, it wouldn't be the only time she'd attempted to take a video of me in a compromising position.

Me:

No idea, but she's where I'm starting. I know it sounds stupid, but please, try to have a good weekend and don't worry about this.

Laci:

You're right. That's completely stupid. But I have no choice.

Me:

I'm sorry this is happening. Like I said, I'll take care of it.

She didn't reply. I thought about yesterday's conversation with Chet, and something else popped into my brain.

Me:

This doesn't matter, but I'm curious. J.D. didn't say anything about me being with you in the video, did he?

Laci:

No, actually. But how many guys do you think I've fucked in there, Travis?? Of course it's you.

Of course it is. So why are

you

the only one who got warned?

Me:

No others, Laci. Like I said, I was just curious. I'll get back to you on Monday.

Laci:

You better.

So now, I wanted to kill everyone who'd ever been associated with Alpha Kappa Pi, with the

possible

exception of anyone related to me. I fired off another text to Jamie, knowing it would be a useless effort -- she'd never responded to any of the others I sent. I tried a different tactic instead.

Me:

Hey Shawn. What the fuck kind of games are you guys playing, man? Tyson's fucking girlfriend keeps showing up at the worst times, and she's sending me cryptic text messages. What the hell is going on?

I had no earthly idea if he'd respond, but about five minutes later, he did.

Shawn:

Relax, Travis. You know I can't answer any of that right now. Just keep working toward your goals. I promise, everything will be explained later.

My head basically exploded. Now I had an audience with one of the people I did want to scream at, so here went.

Me:

RELAX??? ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME??? RELAX???!!! That's all you have for me? I know you motherfuckers think your little fraternity is the only fucking thing that matters, but you're taking this shit way too far now. You're fucking with people's scholarships, with their careers, and with their lives. But you know what pisses me off most of all? You're fucking with MY FRIENDS. You guys wanted me in this God-damned fraternity, so you should have known that's something you just DON'T fucking do. If you don't make this shit right, and I mean right fucking now, you can take your damned frat pledge and shove it straight up your ass.

It didn't make me feel any better, and when the next half-hour passed without a reply, I started feeling worse. My head was spinning, and for the first time in a long time, I really didn't know what to do.

There was only one thing in the world that made any sense to me right now. Even though it still confused the shit out of me, my connection with Beth and Taylor was the only ray of light in the sudden shitstorm brewing in my brain.

I opened up my text with Taylor.

Me:

We need to talk.

**********

Never mind talk, I didn't even get to see Taylor until later that night.

She hadn't texted me back by the time we reached the hotel, and Bazewell herded us right back on the bus 10 minutes after we got there. I checked my phone once on the bus ride to Radford's stadium.

Taylor:

That sounds ominous.

Me:

Feels that way, too. Not about you or Beth, though.

Taylor:

I should hope not. The frat?

Me:

Yeah. We're already on the way to the stadium. We'll talk tonight, though?

Taylor:

As long as you promise to talk quickly.

Her emoji batted its eyes at me and even with everything going on, I couldn't help but laugh. Taylor had roomed with Jaleesa, Jamar's "friend", on this trip, the idea being that we could swap roommates for the night. I certainly hoped so, but that train of thought was best left for later. I dropped my phone into my bag as the stadium came into view -- it was baseball time.

Our coach wasn't big on the normal clichés, but this was a big series, and he made sure we knew what was at stake. Winning the conference meant we'd host the conference tournament, giving us the best shot to make the NCAA tournament. I didn't pay super close attention to everything he said in the pre-game meeting, but we all got the message.

I'd be lying if I said I completely buried everything going on once the game started. But unlike the day after Trina, when I was distracted and played poorly, this time being pissed off made me lock in even tighter. We hit first and Jamar legged out an infield single on the first pitch. I don't know if that pissed off the pitcher and he wanted to send a message, or the ball just slipped out of his hand, but he damn near broke my jaw with his second pitch.

I hit the third pitch so hard it still hasn't landed.

Those were the only two RBIs I stole from Chet that game -- he wasn't talking to me, but he had no problem driving me in with three separate homers. I got a hit in every at-bat, stole one base, and made a few solid defensive plays at short. Lex was at his best that game, too, giving up a single hit and striking out 13. So, we ended up killing a field mouse with a tank in a 14-0 shutout.

Once baseball was over, though, the outside world came rushing back in and my brain was a mess. Whoever chose the restaurant for our post-game meal needed to be fired, because living in the Carolinas, I could walk home drunk from a bar and stumble into three places with better barbecue than the stuff I was eating now. Really though, Bobby Flay himself could have prepared the meal and it wouldn't have mattered. I mostly picked at the too-dry pulled pork and over-vinegary cole slaw as the rest of the team celebrated.

I kept up appearances and pitched into the conversation when it came around to me, but my mind was elsewhere -- namely Lexi, Laci, and what I'd started thinking of as

This Stupid Fucking Fraternity.

No one had returned my texts or calls during the game, so I was left on my own to worry and wonder just what the fuck was going on. It didn't help that Chet was sitting across the table from me. He wasn't a big talker anyway, but every time our eyes met, he could barely hold it before looking down or away. It was like he'd gotten over being angry, and was now just disappointed with me.

And honestly, that hurt much worse.

It didn't get any better once we got to the hotel. Our game had ended due to the mercy rule after 7 innings, but the softball game had gone to extra innings, so that meant the team -- Taylor, really, because I didn't give a damn about the others -- was about an hour and a half behind us.

Jamar had gone to Lex's room to play Xbox while he waited for Jaleesa to come back, but Chet was Lex's roommate. Even if he wasn't going to be there, I wasn't in much of a gaming mood. Without Taylor there to bounce things off of, I let my mind -- and my fingers -- run wild.

I texted both Jamie and Shawn again, knowing I'd get no response. I toyed with calling Tyson and just blowing everything up right then and there, but I didn't. Not because of the frat pledge -- at this point, I honestly didn't give a shit whether I passed the test and they let me in or not. There was just something about Tyson that I couldn't put my finger on -- part of it was the way he acted in front of my dad at the party, but most of it was an unformed thought lurking around the edges of my subconscious. Either way, I saw no way contacting him would make things better, but many ways it could make it worse.

I typed out a text to Laci asking how she was holding up, but realizing that was the dumbest possible question I could ask her, I deleted it. I considered texting Lexi, but I didn't know how appropriate that was. It was already gonna take a miracle to get Chet to be friendly toward me again, and I didn't want to do anything that might make it worse. I might need to talk to her once we got home to get more information, once I started poking the bears and hearing how they roared, but I'd definitely talk to Chet before I did that. Hell, maybe I should just bring Chet in here right now and tell him everything. He's a smart guy, right? Fuck it, I don't even --

"Knock, knock," came a sweet, sultry voice from the hallway, accompanied by the sound of her hand doing just that. I just about broke my ankles scrambling off the bed and to the door.

"Jamar didn't give you his key?" I asked when I opened it. Taylor stood there wearing as little as possible for being in a public space -- a black crop top, teal workout shorts, and flip-flops. The shirt barely covered the bottoms of her ample breasts, the shorts left all but a few inches of her legs on display, and the shoes showed off her toes, still painted turquoise from yesterday. In short: she needed to get the fuck in the room before one of my teammates spotted her and embarrassed themselves.

"No, he did," she replied, flashing the card at me. "But if I let myself in, I couldn't do this."

She enveloped me in a tight, full-body embrace, right there in the doorway where anyone passing by could see. Her hand snaked behind my head and held it in place while she forced her tongue into my mouth and halfway down my throat. I wasn't really in the mood for physical stuff at the moment, but I couldn't help but hug her back just as tight and answer her tongue with my own.

I tried to pull away after a second to bring her inside, but she wasn't willing to let me go, so I pulled her far enough inside that she had to let go of the door and let it close. We made out for a few more seconds before I broke free.

"That was... fucking amazing, Taylor," I said.

"Yeah," she said, a half dreamy look on her face. "But you stopped it."

"I did," I said. "I want to talk to you first. I'm fucked up in the head right now."

"Oh?" she asked, her eyebrows raising a little.

"I'm confused, Taylor," I admitted. "And I don't know what to do."

"Well, lucky for you," she said, gently shoving me backward until I was standing next to a bed, "I know just what to do."

I grinned a little. "Look, I wanna do that, too, but right now, we need--"

"Shhh," she whispered, placing two fingers on my lips and looking deep into my eyes. "Sexy times first. Talk later."

Now, I was starting to get just the slightest bit aggravated. I quickly spun us around and gave her a gentle shove onto the bed, then backed away and sat on the other one.

"No, Taylor," I said, and I didn't miss the brief look of hurt that passed over her features before the more playful pouty face took over. "Look, you know I want to fuck you until you can't walk straight. And I will. But this is serious. It might end up affecting you and Beth, and I don't want to wait."

"OK, OK," she said, the look on her face hardening just a little. "Tell me what happened."

I did. I told her about Chet trying to take my head off at practice, and about Laci's frantic texts from this morning. She already knew about Jamie's presence at the frat party, when I'd slept with Trina, and about her being in the gym when I fucked Laci, but I told her about the cryptic text I'd received while driving Sandy to what turned out to be a hotel room. I hadn't thought to mention T.J. confronting me about sleeping with Brianne before, but it was another instance where someone found out what I'd done, so I told her about that, too.

"Wow," she said. "This is turning into way more than a simple scavenger hunt."

"It really is," I said. "Don't get me wrong; I expected there would be some problems with it. Most of my classes are connected, so I figured there would be some rumors and I might get confronted by one woman about something I did with another. I thought maybe someone might get clingy and jealous, too. But none of that has happened. Instead, the fraternity is trying to undercut everything."

"Yeah," she agreed. "I mean, it's hard to imagine they'd do that, but it can't be anyone else."

"Agreed," I said. "You and I are the only other ones who know about everything, and I trust you implicitly."

"I'm glad," she replied.

"So, I can't help but sit here and wonder... who are they going to come after next?"

The playful smirk returned, and she slid off the bed and crawled the short distance over to mine. She knelt in front of my feet and put her hands on my knees.

"I don't know," she said. "Neither do you. And you know what we can do about it right now, on a Friday night in Bumfuck, Virginia? Absolutely nothing."

"I mean, I know that, but --"

"Travis," she started, but made a point of rubbing her cheeks over my knees before re-establishing eye contact. "You've dropped into problem-solving mode. When we get back to campus and you can do something about it, that won't be a bad thing. Right now, all it's doing is freaking you out. A blind man could see how much stress you're feeling right now."

I chuckled. She gently spread my knees maybe three inches apart.

"Lucky for you, I know exactly where your stress-relief valve is," she said, then ran her hand up and down the length of my cock just to demonstrate what she meant.

"Like the venom from a rattlesnake bite, right?"

"Exactly," she smiled, then pulled my sweatpants down. "Let me just suck the poison right out."

She made a good point, even without considering that the distance between her tongue and my cock was rapidly dwindling. Still--

"But listen, Taylor--"

She let out an exaggerated sigh before fishing her phone out from between her tits. She punched a few buttons, then handed me the phone.

"Time to re-focus on the good things in your life for a little while, Travis," she said. "If you insist on talking, talk to her."

I looked down and saw Beth's splash screen staring back at me as the call tried to connect. Beth answered just as Taylor sucked me into her mouth.