Chapter 18
Bennett
As soon as we pull up to the address my brother gave me, I’m out of the car and looking for him.
“Do you see him?” I ask Easton.
We’re in downtown Silver Valley. For a Wednesday night, it’s pretty busy.
What the hell is Isaiah doing out at one in the fucking morning?
Doesn’t matter. Right now, I need to find him and make sure he’s okay.
When he called me, sounding like he was crying, my heart fucking sank. He asked me to come get him. He says he’s not hurt, but I don’t believe him. Not one bit.
“No,” Easton says. “Maybe he’s inside?” Easton nods towards the restaurant, but it looks closed.
Grabbing my phone, I call Isaiah. “Hey, where are you?”
“Back alley next to the pizza place,” he rasps.
My eyes dart over to the dimly lit alleyway next to the building we’re in front of. I’m racing forward, Easton following after.
“Isaiah.” His name comes out in a rushed breath as I run over to him. “What the fuck happened?” My eyes widen as I take in the state of my little brother.
He’s sitting on the ground, the most broken and defeated look on his face. That and the fact that he’s bloody and has a black eye forming.
“I’m fine,” he growls at me, pulling his face from my grasp when I try to get a look at it.
“Fine?” I scoff. “You’re not fucking fine. Who did this?” I demand. Who the fuck beat my little brother up? I’ll fucking kill them.
“It doesn’t matter. Can you just take me home? Please.” I hate how sad he sounds.
Isaiah isn’t a small guy. For being fifteen, he’s already reaching six feet. Playing hockey has made him fit, so he can easily defend himself. He’s gotten into more than a few fights when it comes to defending his friends and Raiden.
He’s come home with a bloody lip or a bruised cheek before, but never this.
“Someone hurt you. And I want to know who. And why?”
Isaiah closes his eyes, letting out a pained groan as he leans his head back against the wall.
“Please. Tell me what's going on. It’s me. You can trust me with anything.”
He opens one eye, looking behind me. “What’s he doing here?”
I look over my shoulder and find a worried Easton standing there, arms crossed like he’s standing guard.
“You can trust him.”
He snorts out a laugh. “Anyone who hurts my brother is someone I can’t trust.”
Now is not the time to defend Easton. I’ll deal with that later. “So, you can understand why I’m freaking the fuck out, seeing my little brother fucking beaten to a bloody pulp?!”
“You’re being dramatic. It’s a split lip, maybe a black eye.” He shifts, letting out a sharp gasp. “And maybe a few bruised ribs.”
“Christ,” I growl. “Isaiah,” I warn.
“Fine.” He sighs heavily, still giving Easton a glaring look. “He needs to go.”
“I’ll wait for you on the sidewalk, okay?” Easton puts a gentle hand on my shoulder.
I look up at him and nod. “Okay.”
“So, what the fuck is going on between you two?” Isaiah asks.
“This is not about us. We can talk about that later. Stop trying to deflect.”
“Remember when Raiden brought up the fact that I like guys?”
“Yeah. Not a cool thing for him to out you like that, but yeah.” I nod.
“Well, there's this new guy at River Ridge High. His name is Parker. He came to town last year. Over the summer, we started hanging out and...”
“It became something more than just friends?” I hedge.
“Yeah,” he mutters. “But the thing is, he’s kind of in the closet.” Isaiah looks my way. “His past is complicated, so he keeps his sexuality to himself. You know how some of the people at River Ridge can be.”
“Homophobic assholes, trust me, I know.” I’ve had some nasty comments made about me more than once when playing their school’s hockey team in the past.
“We’ve been dating in secret.”
“Isaiah.” I sigh, taking a seat on the ground in front of him.
“I know, okay? I know that's not how our family works. We’re out, we’re proud, and all that bullshit. But sometimes life isn’t that easy! Sometimes it’s not all rainbows and sunshine and doesn’t get to work out that way.”
My chest clenches as my gaze drifts toward Easton. “I know,” I mumble before looking back at him.
“He’s worth sneaking around with. I like him. A lot. He’s kind and sweet. Funny and thoughtful.”
“But?” I know there's more to this. “Did he do this to you? Did you want more, and he acted out?”
“What? No.” He shakes his head. “No, he didn’t do this to me.”
“Then who?”
He lets out a heavy sigh. “His teammates.”
“What the fuck!” My voice rises.
“They caught us kissing. Parker freaked out, acted like I was the one coming onto him. Said some not-so-nice things, and then his friends started harassing me. I tried to leave, said a few colorful words myself, but there were four of them and one of me.”
“And what, he just sat by and let it happen?”
Isaiah casts his head down, telling me all I need to hear.
“I’m going to fucking kill him.”
“No.” He shakes his head. “Please. It’s not his fault. You don’t understand.”
“I get that he has his reasons not to be out, and that's fine. But when he’s throwing you under the fucking bus, putting your safety at risk, that’s fucked up.”
“I know.” He sounds so defeated. It’s dark back here, but I can see the gleam of tears in his eyes.
“Who were the guys on the team that did this?”
“Bennett, you can’t go and kick their asses.” He glares at me. “You’re an adult, they’re kids. You’d get arrested.”
“I’m not going to go beat them up.” I roll my eyes. “As much as I want to, I won’t.”
“Then what are you going to do?” His brows furrow.
“Have a few choice words. Just words.”
“You’re not going to be very happy,” he warns me.
“I’m already not happy.”
“I’m not sure who most of them are, but I do know one guy.”
“And?”
“It’s Laden. Laden Pinston.”
“Wait... As in Liam’s brother?”
“Yup.”
I gape at him. “He kicked your ass for being gay, when he has an openly bisexual brother?”
“Bizarre, I know.”
“This is fucking bullshit.” I shake my head. “Okay, first, let’s get you home.”
“No, please,” he rushes out. “They don’t know I’m gone. I snuck out. If I go home and mom sees me like this, you know she’s gonna tell the dads. They’re going to lose it. I can’t deal with that. Not right now.”
“Okay.” I nod. “How about you come back to my place and crash in my bed?”
“Thank you.” He nods.
Getting to my feet, I hold out my hand. Isaiah takes it, letting me help him up. He lets out a grunt of pain, and it pisses me the fuck off.
“You okay?”
“I’m fine,” he mutters.
We walk slowly toward the sidewalk. Easton pushes off the wall, walking toward us.
“Everything okay?”
“Just fucking peachy.” Isaiah glares at Easton.
Easton sighs. “Parker doesn’t deserve you. Whatever reason he has to hide who he is, letting you get hurt to hide that, is wrong.”
“Rich, coming from the guy who punched Bennett for kissing him.”
Easton looks pained. “Trust me, that was the biggest mistake of my life. I reacted out of fear of my own confusing feelings.”
“Feelings, huh?” Isaiah looks between us. “You saying you liked Bennett or something?”
Easton laughs. “More than liked.” I’m surprised to hear him admit it.
“So you loved my brother?”
“I love your brother. And that's why I’m telling you, it’s one thing to be sympathetic toward someone struggling, but it’s another if you're causing harm to hide it. It’s the biggest reason why I kept Bennett away, rather than keep him around and force him to deal with my fucked up life.
It was better to let him go than to keep him close and hurt him more. ”
“There’s more to this that I don’t know, isn’t there?” Isaiah looks between the two of us.
“Yes. But now is not that time. Let’s get you to bed.” I look at Easton. “Is it okay if he sleeps in our room tonight?”
“Of course.” Easton nods.
The ride back to the hockey house is tense. It takes everything in me to hold my shit together.
Once we get home, I help Isaiah inside and to my room. We clean up any broken skin, then get him some ice and pain pills. Once he’s settled in, I pull Easton out of the room.
“Let’s go.”
“Where are we going?” he asks as I head toward the door.
“To have some choice words with Laden’s parents.”
“It’s nearly two in the morning."
“I don’t care.” I shoot angry eyes at him. “You coming or not?”
“Let’s go.”
I know where Liam’s parents live, having been there a few times while we were dating.
It’s not until I’m pounding on the door that I remember Liam has been staying with his parents, instead of getting a place with his friends like he originally said.
“Bennett?” His sleepy face looks surprised to see me here. “What are you doing here? Is everything okay?"
“Okay?” I snort out a laugh. “No. It's not okay. Where is your brother? I’d like to fucking talk to him.”
“Laden?” His brows crease. “Sleeping, I’d guess. Why?”
“Because I just brought my little brother home after your brother and his friends beat the shit out of him.”
“What?” His eyes widen. “No.” He shakes his head. “He wouldn’t do that.”
“Well, he did. And guess why? Because my brother is gay.” I look behind Liam to see a younger version of him standing a few feet behind him. “You think it’s fun to beat kids up because of who they’re attracted to?” I shout. “I should fucking have you arrested, because this is a hate crime.”
“Whoa, hold up. Let’s chill out for a moment.” Liam turns to look at Laden. “What is going on?”
I expect the guy to deny it, but he looks terrified. Guess he didn’t think he’d get in trouble for this.
“It was their idea,” Laden blurts. “I was just there.”
“Bullshit!” I snap. “Four guys against one, why? Because he was kissing a guy?”
“Parker said he came onto him!” Laden says.
I don’t want to out Parker. I never want to out someone. But I’m not letting his guy throw my brother under the bus.
“So, your friend couldn’t have told my brother no and walked away? Did you really need to gang up on him, call him nasty fucking names, and kick his ass?”
“Laden.” Liam looks hurt. “What the fuck?”
“I’m sorry.” Laden looks terrified.