He nodded. “It’s intense.” He leaned against the bannister leading up the stairs, and Faith stood beside him. “But it was good until Levi wanted to join a fraternity.”

“You didn’t?”

Jason shrugged. “I wasn’t much of a joiner. I liked doing my own thing. But Levi was persistent. He said the social life would be better, the girls hotter.”

“As if any of you had a hard time getting women.” Faith’s expression was priceless. Shock mixed with disbelief and a healthy dose of sarcasm in her tone.

“Hey. Freshman guys do not get the girls. Trust me.”

“If you say so.” She lifted one foot, bracing it on a higher step. But she didn’t push him for more serious conversation.

Still, he knew it was time. “All the frats had strict rules about alcohol because the drinking age was twenty-one and hazing was strictly forbidden both by school rules and the national fraternity. But why follow the rules, right?” he asked with disgust and obvious pain in his voice.

He didn’t even bother to hide it from her nor did he consider it a weakness. No, this event was what defined him and the kind of life he lived. He wasn’t embarrassed about hurting because he’d lost his best friend to a stupid, juvenile practice performed by self-righteous, entitled assholes.

Beside him, Faith froze. “Hazing?” She obviously hadn’t considered how Levi had died, because she sounded horrified as realization dawned.

“Hazing. A secret practice carried out by older classmen in the basement of this house.” Jason gestured with a sweep of his hand toward the building behind them. “Good old-fashioned kissing ass of seniors, doing their bidding, paddling, eating disgusting things I’ll spare you from hearing about, and forced alcohol consumption.” He clenched his jaw at the memories he did his best to keep far away from his present reality.

“God. Jason, I’m sorry. If you don’t want to tell me what happened, I understand.” Faith’s green eyes were bright with unshed tears as she held on to his hand with hers, her free one in the pocket of her jacket.

The irony didn’t escape him and he explained it to her. “I didn’t talk about it with anyone. My parents sent me to therapy and I went because they insisted, but I didn’t speak. Week after week, I sat in silence until the therapist gave up. So did my parents. They left me to brood. I never wanted to discuss it … until now.” He wanted to tell her about the raw pain he’d experienced and then let her soothe the remaining ache.

“Then I’m listening.”

He nodded, grateful. “The final initiation, as the upper-class guys called it, was scheduled on a Saturday night. Up until that point, we considered it just bullshit we had to get through to join, but Landon heard rumors that this last party usually got out of hand. And the guys in charge our year were determined to make a name for themselves in the history of the frat. They’d make it more difficult for us than any year before.”