Chapter 20 Reason Twelve #2
“Listen, buddy. Any other time I’d be all for this, but I’m not interested.”
“Pull it out.” His voice was gruff, carrying a heavy huskiness in it. “Let Daddy have a look.”
“‘Daddy?' Really? You’re thirty-three, tops.”
“Oh, I’m a top alright. And I’ll top you real good.
Have you ever had your prostate punched by nine inches of solid steel?
” He pushed himself off the wall and walked toward me.
“You sure we ain’t never met? ‘Cause I never forget a face.” The man clicked his tongue obscenely against his cheek.
“And goddamn, that face is unforgettable.”
“Fuck this,” I said, throwing my hands into the air.
“I’ll hold it.” I turned around and made my way out of the bathroom and back into the bar.
I searched the room for Kate, to no avail.
The dance floor was crowded, and I had to wedge myself between girls and gays to make it to the bar.
A woman with an out-of-fashion, lopsided bob smiled at me from behind the counter.
She had a bedazzled eyepatch covering her left eye, a glittery display of a rainbow, stretched across the fabric.
“What can I get ya, sweetie?”
“Don’t suppose you have something to mend a broken heart?”
The woman rolled her visible eye. “Liquor. I got liquor.”
“Like I said, something to mend a broken heart. Jose. Make it a double, please.” I pulled out my wallet and reached for a twenty.
“Has Kate Sanders closed her tab yet? I can’t find her, and she’s kind of my ride.
” As I finished asking, my phone vibrated in my pocket.
I pulled it out. There was a text from Kate.
Call Gray. Love you bunches <3
“Never mind. Looks like I’ve been abandoned.”
As I waited for my shot, I bit the bullet and opened the unread texts from Gray. There were four in total. Each one was as painful as the last.
I didn’t mean to hurt you
Please don’t hate me, Half-pint
This is killing me
I miss you. God, I miss you so much
The bartender pointed behind me. “Seems like you’ve got an admirer.
” She leaned in and whispered into my ear.
“I’d watch out for him, though. Kyle. Real piece of work, that one.
” She handed me my shot, and I reared back my head, letting it slide down my throat.
After groaning through the feeling of flames shooting down me inside, I handed it back to her and pulled out another twenty.
Kyle.
Why did that name sound familiar?
“One for the road?” I said.
She nodded, motioning toward Kyle. “Just be careful. He’s got a crazy look in his eyes.” I glanced back at him quickly before turning toward my pirate friend.
“He’s just horny. It’s whatever.” I slammed the second shot and tucked my change into her tip jar. “Love the eye patch, by the way. You’re ferocious, and I’m absolutely here for it.”
The bartender lifted her head to the sky and roared at me like a lioness.
As I walked across the dance floor, someone grabbed my wrist, holding me in place. Whirling around, I saw Kyle. He leaned forward with a subtle smirk. When he reached my ear, he practically fucked it with his voice.
“Why you running, baby?”
“Not interested,” I shouted over the music.
I tried walking away, but his grip was too tight.
“I said,” I jerked my arm away, breaking the lock he had on me, “I’m not going to fuck you.
” I walked across the bar, feeling his eyes burning into me from behind.
I tried to look back without being noticed, and just as expected, there he was.
There was a smaller room behind the entryway, and at that point, I was just trying to put space between us by wandering around aimlessly.
As I entered the door, I realized I’d been transported into a nightmare.
The room looked like it had been coated in Pepto-Bismol, and the pastel pink walls were filled with photographs of wondrous drag queens in bizarre poses.
One queen sat upon a pile of men who were contorting their bodies into the shape of a throne.
Another was singing directly into a rhinestone-covered dildo like it was a microphone.
It was a mess, and all of it was terrible.
Also terrible, I realized, was my choice of escape plans.
The room was completely empty, save for one sad, lonely old man who was dancing with himself.
Kyle approached from behind and wrapped his arms around my waist. “I’m gonna make you feel real good, baby.” He crooned into my ear.
“And I’m gonna get arrested for murder if you don’t back the fuck off, dude.”
“What’s the matter? I ain’t had no complaints before.”
I turned around, crossing my arms against my chest. “Listen, I'm sure that you’re a lovely man—you know, aside from the creepy personal space thing—but I’m not looking to get laid tonight.”
“Just cause you ain’t looking for something, don’t mean you can’t find it.
" He flashed a heathenish smile at me before grabbing his cock through his jeans.
He took another step forward and licked the entire length of my face.
My mouth gaped, and before I realized what I was doing, my open palm was connecting with his cheek.
I covered my mouth, in shock that I had just slapped a man.
When his head snapped back in my direction, his entire face had hardened.
I didn’t have time to react. His arm reared back, and I watched in horror as his fist made its way toward me. There was a dull pressure that spread across my eye and down my cheek. I fell back, my shoulders slamming against a table behind me, and I landed in a crumpled heap in front of him.
Kyle gripped his hand and winced. “Fuck! I think you broke my fuckin’ hand, man.
” His cheeks were red and his jaw clenched so tightly that the muscles twitched.
All I could do was watch as his leg pulled back and then came crashing forward against my stomach.
I let out a scream and tried to scramble away, but it was no use.
He pulled his leg back again, and he delivered another three kicks to my abdomen, only stopping when I held my hands up in front of me and pleaded with him to stop.
He drew in a sharp breath and took a step back as his eyes grew wider and wider.
“Jesus Christ.” The color left his face, and he took another step back, stumbling against a table. “Kent?"
The realization hit me all at once. Memories flooded through me, and even in my drunken stupor, I saw him. The youngest of the three. The one that mouthed that he was sorry when no one was looking.
I shook my head and hoisted myself up from the floor, grabbing a chair, only to realize I was too drunk to lift it. “Get away,” I shouted at him. To my right, the elderly man continued dancing by himself, not paying us any attention.
Kyle took a step forward, his hands out in front of his chest. “I’m not gonna hurt you no more, I promise. I’ve wanted to find you for so long. To tell you I was—”
I picked up an ashtray and chunked it, missing him by miles. “Get the fuck away from me.” I ran to the next table over, picked up the ashtray that sat on top, and held it above my head.
He took a step back, his hands still out in front of him. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I didn’t want to take part in that. That night—”
“G-get the fuck away f-from me.”
There was a door in the corner of the room with a sign that read Employees Only.
I made a run for it, holding the glass ashtray the entire time.
I didn’t look back to see if he was following me.
To my relief, the door was unlocked. Inside, I clicked the lock before pulling out my phone.
Instinctively, I searched for Gray’s name and hit call. It rang three times before he answered.
“Kent?”
“Gray,” I choked out. “Help, Gray. N-need you.”
“Kent? What’s going on?”
“What’s wrong?” a woman’s voice called out in the background.
“Grayson,” I whined.
“What happened? Are you okay? Talk to me.” The worry in his voice was overpowering. Raw. Guttural.
“Please. Please, Gray. Come get me, Gray. Please? I n-need you. Saw him. From the lake. K-Kyle. With the matches.” I tried to control my breathing but my chest felt like it was collapsing in on me. “Two-liter, please?”
“Where are you? I’m coming. I just need to know where.”
“Kate and me—gay bar in Cobb.”
“Manhole,” Gray muttered into the phone, sounding like it offended every fiber of his being. “Are you alone right now? Are you safe?”
“Yeah. He was—he was outside last I saw him, but he just—he wouldn’t stop.
” The panic from the attack mixed mercilessly with the jealousy coursing through my veins.
“Gray, please,” I whimpered into the phone.
I beat my hand against my chest, hoping it might help.
"It's all gas and matches, and I can't make it stop. "
“I’m coming, baby. I promise. I’ve got you.”
"Bun-bun? What's wrong?" Sarah said in the background. Her voice cut into me like a knife. It was the middle of the night, and she was either at his apartment, or he was at hers. And because I was a drunken mess, I shouted at him.
“Why is she there? It’s one in the goddamn morning. Dammit, Gray.”
“It’s not like that, I promise. I’m coming for you. Stay on the phone with me, okay?”
“Don’t sleep with her, You can’t. I know I don’t get to have you, and that’s okay, I can cope, but—”
“I didn’t. I won’t. I’m coming. I’m coming to find you. Just don’t hang up, okay? Stay with me. Don’t let me go, I’m here.”
The sound of his truck door opening came through the phone, and a bell chimed a few times in the background.
“You gotta stop leaving your keys in your truck, dammit. Someone is going to steal it. This isn’t fucking Mayberry," I said between my sobs. Gray’s laugh centered me, taking a bit of the edge off.
“Where are you right now? Is there anyone with you?” he said.