Part 18 (2/2)
Corey's gaze moved past Sledge. ”I went with him last night.”
”Where to?”
”I... Ah... Go away!” Corey yanked his beanie over his eyes.
Sledge grabbed Corey's wrist and pulled the beanie back up. ”Tell me straight or I'll pull the d.a.m.n thing off.”
Corey tried to free his hand. ”Lemme go!”
”Not until you tell me,” Sledge said, grabbing the other one.
”I went to his place in Herne Bay. Okay!”
Sledge let go and cupped Corey's face, trying to see if there were any new bruises. ”Did he hurt you?”
Corey yanked his face free. ”No!”
”What were you thinking goin' with him? You know he has a thing for you. He could've forced you.”
”He didn't do anything to me that I didn't want!”
Sledge went still. ”What's that s'posed to mean?”
Corey stared back, his face frightened. ”Nuthin'.”
”No, you tell me now or I'll bash the s.h.i.+t outta that f.u.c.kin' h.o.m.o,” he said, pointing at Tyler.
”Then you might as well bash me too, cos I'm the same as him.”
”No, you're not.”
Corey started shaking, his expression terrified. ”Yes, I am. I'm a f.a.g, a queer, a princess and a f.u.c.kin' h.o.m.o-all the things you hate. So, leave Tyler alone, this isn't his fault, it's mine, cos I went to Kirstin's party looking for him.”
Sledge shook his head. ”You can't be a f.a.g, you went with Juliet.”
”Well, I am.”
”But you had that threesome with...” me. No! Corey didn't touch him AT ALL, and the chick blew Corey, therefore his mate had to like females, because he'd gotten hard. And Tyler was hot, and if he was desperate enough for s.e.x even he would let the guy blow him, but that didn't make him or Corey gay. ”You're confused,” Sledge said. ”One blow, or whatever you guys did, doesn't make you a f.a.g,” which he knew all too well, the memory of the transvest.i.te sucking him off coming back.
”I'm not confused,” Corey replied.
”Then why didja f.u.c.k Juliet?” Sledge glanced over at his sister, thinking Tyler was a h.e.l.l of a lot prettier. ”Did she put you off females?”
”What?!” Juliet screamed.
Corey shook his head. ”No, I like her-”
”Cos I look like you!” Juliet yelled at Sledge. ”He used me cos he wants you! And you really wanna know why I punched him?”
”No, Juliet!” Corey shouted.
”Cos he called out your name when he came!”
Sledge's face fell, the memory of Corey shouting his name finally hitting home. He turned back to Corey. ”That's why Juliet beat you up?”
Corey started crying again.
Sledge's mind went back to the threesome. Oh G.o.d, Corey had been perving at him. ”You set up that threesome.”
”I'm so sorry.” Corey spun around and ran for the house.
Tyler went to follow.
Sledge grabbed him from behind. ”Oh, no you don't, you're not ever goin' near him again.”
”He's my boyfriend, so lemme go!” Tyler shouted, trying to free himself.
”He's not your boyfriend!”
”Yes, he is, cos it was my name he called out last night, not yours!”
Before Sledge knew what he was doing, he had blood on his fist with Tyler screaming underneath him. Something banged into his side, knocking him off Tyler. He landed on his back as Corey rolled off him. His mate curled up into a ball, his moans punctuated with swearing.
Naf ran over to Corey. ”Bro, you alright?”
Corey shook his head, then hit out at Naf when his brother tried to help him up. Sledge pushed Naf aside and scooped up Corey in his arms. Corey continued to swear, his expression pained.
Sledge glared down at Tyler. ”Move your car,” he barked.
Tyler covered his nose. ”f.u.c.k you,” he said, his voice m.u.f.fled.
Naf bent down and searched Tyler's pockets for keys. ”They must be in the car.” He jumped into the Alfa Romeo, then reversed out onto the road.
Sledge carried Corey over to Juliet and her car. ”Open the backdoor; I'm taking him to the hospital.”
Juliet pulled it open, her expression full of guilt. Sledge gently laid Corey on the back seat, then took his sister's keys. Without a word, he got in and backed out.
17.
Ash Ash walked around the blue Ford as Juliet unlocked it, wondering why she was picking him up from the hospital in Corey's car.
He slipped into the front pa.s.senger seat and clicked on his seatbelt. ”What happened to your car?”
She shut her door. ”Sledge is borrowing it, cos...” She bit her lip, looking like she was about to cry. ”It isn't my fault, it's Corey's, but Sledge looked at me like I caused the problem. He always blames me for everything.”
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