Total pages in book: 145
Estimated words: 135792 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 679(@200wpm)___ 543(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 135792 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 679(@200wpm)___ 543(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
Liv’s words speared right through Knox’s heart, because they reflected his feelings. Liv was the only person he could trust not to let him down, the only constant. He would have flipped his shit if Liv disappeared on him this way.
Tears filled his eyes so rapidly he lowered his head to hide it. “You don’t understand because you like girls. And me? I’m a faggot just like my dad said!”
Before he could even finish the sentence, Cerberus barked and pulled on his leash so abruptly, he yanked it out of Shane’s grip. A blink of an eye later, the pit bull charged at Knox, all teeth and violence.
Knox’s eyes went wide and he acted on pure instinct, jumping on the hood of the truck, but the dog still managed to close his teeth on the leg of his jeans. The beast yanked on the fabric with a growl, but then Liv stepped in, looping his arm around Cerberus’s neck in an attempt to pull him away.
“Down! Fuck, down boy, down!” Shane cried, and the dog finally let go. Liv only stopped struggling against the beast when Shane roughly shoved him away. “Don’t you touch my dog!”
“He was biting Knox! What was I supposed to do?”
“Teach him to not throw around slurs, because I train my dogs to react to them, in case Ros is on his own somewhere!”
Knox slid down from the hood of the truck, holding his chest where his heart was working overtime. “S-sorry,” he mumbled. “I didn’t… mean it like that.”
Shane scowled at him. “Oh yeah? What other way is there? I don’t care. Don’t call yourself that as an insult. So you like dick. Boo-fucking-hoo. Live a little.”
Frank approached, pulling Shane a step back. “He’s just a kid, Shane. Give him a break.”
Liv was oddly still, leaning against the side of the rusty vehicle and staring at the dog, which received a fast back rub from its owner.
And now Knox felt bad about what he’d said on top of his own meltdown. He was so used to throwing that word around, he hadn’t thought twice. In fact, he’d used it to express how angry he was at himself, but in the process he’d offended the people who’d given them shelter.
And now Liv was upset with him. Liv, who didn’t deserve any of this, and was all the way here in Pennsylvania because he’d saved Knox’s life.
Frank was the one to speak out. “I think we could all use a drink. How about that?” He patted Liv’s stiff shoulder. “Let’s go. You two can stay a few feet behind and talk, but don’t fall back too far.”
Liv murmured a thanks and rubbed his face before meeting Knox’s gaze. Now that the high-beam flashlights turned the other way, his pale T-shirt was the most visible part of him. “This homophobic shit needs to end, Knox. I’m serious,” he said, peeling himself away from the vehicle.
Knox followed with his shoulders slouched. “It’s just… I got overwhelmed. I started thinking about my dad, and tonight everything got so real,” he mumbled, kind of wanting to hold Liv’s hand, yet unsure how to go about such a thing.
Liv growled so loudly Cerberus looked back at them before Shane commanded him to heel again. “Why would you fucking care, huh? You hate the fucker, he beat you up as a kid, and he’s rotting away because he assaulted some poor family. Why would you care about his opinion, huh?”
“I guess I’m angry that I proved him right after so many years of trying to show him he was wrong about me. And I am a crybaby. I literally walked off because I didn’t want you to see my meltdown.”
Liv spun around, placed both his hands on Knox’s shoulders and studied him in a way that had Knox forgetting his own name. “It doesn’t matter if he knew you were gay… somehow. Nothing wrong with liking guys. Fuck him. He’s not the one who helped us out. Those gay guys did. And if you want to cry, don’t run away. Come to me. I’ll take care of you.”
Knox’s eyes welled up, and he sniffed, unable to fight back the tears anymore. He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Liv’s neck. They took care of each other, but Liv was older, had his shit together, and when Knox’s dad went to prison, Liv had been there for him. Not his useless mom, out for a new guy to sponge off a month later. Liv.
“Maybe that’s why I walked away. Because you would have cheered me up, said kind things to me, and I wanted to punish myself.” Knox squeezed Liv, wishing to never let go.
Liv exhaled, stroking Knox’s back with tenderness he didn’t deserve, but that was Liv—always seeing people for better than they actually were. “You don’t deserve to be punished. We had fun, or so I thought, but then you disappeared and all I could think of was that I fucked something up, or hurt you, or said some wrong thing when I just wanted to talk dirty—”