I watched Wes smile. He was so beautifully handsome. So rugged yet he had a heart buried under all that muscle and scar.
“But Billy wanted the money. He forced his hands in my pockets and just grabbed. I’ll never forget that feeling. His fucking chubby hands touching me. I felt like… I don’t know. Something then gave way. I threw my head forward and smashed my face against his. Both of our noses exploded. Then Billy let out a scream, touching his face. He turned his head and started to throw up. Turns out Billy didn’t like the sight of his own blood. I stood there, frozen, not sure what was going to happen. Then two kids showed up. Then two more. Then ten more. Next thing I knew half the school stood there and put two and two together. I became a hero. Then the teachers showed up.
“Billy was a pudgy kid with no parents. His uncle abused him in the worst ways possible. All of this I didn’t know as a kid, but the teachers knew. It’s why people put up with him. They felt bad. So I took the brunt of it. I was told that Billy was very poor and he didn’t know any better than to try and get money.”
“No way,” I whispered. “That’s terrible.”
“Well, Billy’s family… whatever. There was only room for one broken family in town. For me and Shane, we were outcasts. So that was my first fight.”
“What happened to Billy?” I asked.
“He brought a gun to school. Was caught, taken away. Last I heard, he was murdered.”
“Jesus.”
“Yeah,” Wes said. He rubbed his face. “Any other life questions?”
“Sorry I asked.”
Wes looked at me. “Don’t be, sweetie. It’s good to be distracted a little.”
Silence fell again between us. The fire burned. Something between me and Wes burned too. My body hungered for him and I couldn’t deny it. It started the first time I saw him. That night at the fight. Him facing the wall, his back rippling with muscle. His emotions right there.
Yet I had been at the fight with Luke, the man who killed Wes’s brother.
“What are we going to do?” I asked.
“Right now? You’re going to shut your pretty eyes and sleep. I’ll take care of everything else.”
“No, Wes. This isn’t a joke.”
“I know.”
“My brother is crazy. He killed my father.”
“The Dragman…”
“Yes,” I admitted. “He killed him. I know it. I don’t remember much of anything. But he did it. He killed him. And he used me because…”
I couldn’t talk about it now. Another confession to Wes. I had already told him I was a murderer… in the sense that because of my family his brother was dead. But what I didn’t get to finish was the actual story.
Of how I was wanted for murder.
~
I opened my eyes a little. There was a figure in front of the fireplace. My heart tried to jump, but I reminded myself it was just Wes. He was doing what he said he would do - protect me. I had no idea how late it was. My eyes were still heavy. The blanket on my body was accompanied by the blanket of warmth from the fire.
But it was Wes who provided the ultimate warmth.
He stood at the fireplace, his hands in fists. Touching the mantle. His head hanging down.
Just like the first time I saw him.
I wanted to sit up. Stand up. Walk to him. Comfort him.
He was in so much pain.
My eyes grew heavier and sleep wanted to fight. I let sleep win the battle.
That was fine with me - Wes and I had a much bigger war to fight together.
22.
(Wes)
I couldn’t wait any longer. I grabbed my cell and made a call to Tommy.
He didn’t answer.
I stood on the porch of the cabin, swallowed up by the darkest night I’d ever seen. Not that I was used to being out in the fucking woods or anything. Even in the middle of the night, there was always a pale light from buildings or a broken streetlight or something. That’s where I did my best thinking in my life. Walking the streets with my hands in my pockets, begging for a clear thought or for someone to fuck with me.
Out here, the only thing that would fuck with me would be a bear. Christ, I would have probably fought a bear. Why the hell not?
Have you ever killed someone?
What a question to be asked, right? In my mind I had taken out half the world, but that was just my own personal anger. But to actually end someone’s life. What a sense of power that must give. It also came with a responsibility that I’m not sure any decent person could handle. That’s why people either lost their minds or just kept killing, trying to clean up the regret over and over.
No, I had never killed someone. I had come close with that guy out back before. My mind wondered just who in the hell he had been. Who had hired him to track me and Rose down. It was probably a bad idea to still be in the cabin, but I didn’t know where else to go. At least here, I had a sense of my surroundings. I had to lay low and wait for news on Aton.
There was only one other person I could call.
When Danny picked up, he sounded groggy. “What the fuck is this?”
“Danny, it’s Wes.”
“Wes? Where are you right now?”
“How’s Aton?”
“What?”
“Aton. How is he?”
“You’re calling to check on Aton?”