Total pages in book: 152
Estimated words: 140629 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 703(@200wpm)___ 563(@250wpm)___ 469(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 140629 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 703(@200wpm)___ 563(@250wpm)___ 469(@300wpm)
“I don’t fucking care, okay? We need to find Gunner. He might be in trouble!” Caspian demanded and locked the door to the trailer. Fluffer escaped right under his feet, but he didn’t have time to deal with the furball right now. If he wanted back home, the flap at the bottom of the door was all he needed.
Noah stared at him for a prolonged moment, as if he were trying to read his thoughts. “Are you worried about him or your real body?”
Caspian walked toward the truck, nervously glancing around. It was dark, and Gunner wasn’t used to being in danger. He might walk into a bad situation without knowing, unless Caspian managed to locate him. “How can you even ask that question?”
Noah had to power-walk in order to keep up with him. “I mean… he told me he hadn’t exactly been kind to you.”
Caspian barely remembered it anymore, as if the old Gunner had been a different person, separate from the cute boy occupying too many of Caspian’s thoughts. “I’m not gonna fault him for something he did in high school. We’ve both outgrown this.”
“I’m happy to hear that you think so. He puts up a front, but he’s—” Noah froze at the sight of Todd and his brother leaning against the back of Gunner’s truck.
“Heard you got some news, Russo,” Todd said with a scowl, casually resting a baseball bat on his shoulder.
Chapter 25 – Caspian
A baseball bat? Really? The instincts instilled in Gunner’s body allowed Caspian to defend himself just fine against fists, but how was he to deal with a weapon when he didn’t have one of his own? Still, the fire burning inside him grew when he realized those fuckers were yet another obstacle to finding Gunner.
“Not now.”
Todd scowled, and his brother obstructed the way to the door on the driver’s side, his eyes glinting like a coyote’s. “Yes, fucking now. Or does your little boyfriend not let you talk to strangers, huh?”
Neither Todd nor his brother were strangers. But Caspian had no doubt this conversation would be going off the rails for reasons other than logical sentence structure.
Noah licked his lips. “Is he talking about…?”
“Not in front of my little brother, fuck face,” Caspian growled, squeezing his hands into fists. His vision blurred at the edges, and he stepped closer, only mildly wary of the baseball bat. Something inside him told him to go forward. To confront. To punch first. He’d never experienced such impulses in his own body, but he loved the rush they gave him, and his confidence had soared after the daily boxing lessons with Gunner.
Todd cocked his head with a mean grin. “Why not? You told the whole trailer park you’re a faggot. Why hide it now? Took you long enough to show your true colors, but I always felt there was something off about you.”
Caspian stopped inches away from Todd and stared straight into his mean, squinting eyes. “Yeah, I don’t fucking care. Is that all, or do you actually have something to say? Don’t have time for idle chatter.”
Todd pushed at his chest with the handle of the bat, but Caspian wouldn’t budge. “Sure fucking do. You’re out, fag. We do a man’s job, so there’s no place for you with us, get it?”
Which might just have been the best thing that happened today, yet it still hurt to be called a slur to his face. Todd had done it back in high school, and when Gunner and his buddies had ganged up on Caspian at the gym, but it was different this time. This time, Todd wasn’t using it as a generic belittling remark but a weapon against a man whose sexuality he knew.
“Fine. Now get away from my truck,” he said and shoved at Todd.
“You watch those hands!” Todd yelled and pushed him back. “We’re done when I say we’re done!”
The desire to destroy this fucker burned hot in Caspian, like a pile of paper covered in gasoline. The humiliating confrontation at the gym came right back, and Caspian wished to rip the bat out of Todd’s hand and smash in his skull. “Fuck you. You want me out? Fine. Now get out of my way, or you’ll regret it!”
Ralph stood behind his brother like a silent warning. They couldn’t shun Caspian and be done with it. No, they had to make it a fight. Caspian didn’t know if this was some gangster masculinity issue he didn’t comprehend, or simply years of low-key animosity being let off the chain, but once more he was forced to see Gunner’s life issues weren’t a question of just changing jobs. He was in debt, entangled with these homophobic assholes, and a witness of the many crimes they’d committed together.
“No!” Noah yelled the second Caspian realized Todd swung the baseball bat at him.