Total pages in book: 152
Estimated words: 140629 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 703(@200wpm)___ 563(@250wpm)___ 469(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 140629 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 703(@200wpm)___ 563(@250wpm)___ 469(@300wpm)
The disappointment in Noah’s voice came back to him the moment he felt relatively safe from the kids.
Why do you pick on people?
Was he too impulsive? Or just mean to the bone? He’d always had a bit of a grudge against Caspian over things that had happened in high school, but that was some bullshit drama that should have been long left in the past. So was he jealous? Being born into a rich and loving family wasn’t an achievement, but it wasn’t a crime either. It wasn’t Caspian’s fault that Gunner’s life had been filled with anguish and violence.
“Hey sweetie,” he cooed when he spotted Fluffer’s big, inquisitive eyes reflecting lamplight. “It’s me.”
The cat opened its mouth and rose from its place on the step leading to the trailer. Did he recognize who Gunner truly was, even though the fancy cologne he’d used this morning smelled nothing like his former self?
Speeding up, Gunner was about to run up to his pet when someone grabbed his forearm and tossed him at the nearest wall.
“Who do we have here? Are you here to spy on Gunner?”
Ice weighed on Gunner’s stomach when three shadows closed in on him, like demons in some dumb paranormal TV show.
But this was real, and his heart thudded.
He wanted to speak up, to tell Todd to go fuck himself, yet his voice got stuck in his throat, because unlike at the gym, where there had been too many witnesses for Mike to inflict any serious damage, the dark alley between trailers was a place where anything could happen. A woman had been murdered on the other side of the grounds just two weeks ago, and her killer hadn’t been found.
“Hey, shrimp, he’s talking to you.” Bud slapped him, blowing out fumes of beer, and even though it didn’t hurt much, the humiliation of being prodded like this hit Gunner like a truck.
“I was just…” What would be the best lie in his position? If he were in Caspian’s shoes—fuck. He was in Caspian’s shoes. “To talk about his cat,” he blurted out. Reason had clearly left his body.
“What do you want with it? Maybe we should take your wallet? Provided there’s enough dough in there, the puss can be yours. Maybe,” Todd said with a mean chuckle.
Bud frowned. “Gun wouldn’t sell his—”
Ralph shoved at him without saying a word.
This might be his end. Those three vultures would rip him apart and consume all the juiciest bits, leaving only blood and bones. But then hope filled his lungs like fresh air. He dashed forward, slipping out of Bud’s clutches and hit the living room window with both hands before two pairs of arms roughly dragged him away from it.
“Gunner! Help!” he cried, but his voice broke when a hard kick to the back of his knee sent him into the dirt.
“Where do you think you’re going, huh? We were talking to you,” Todd hissed, shoving Gunner to his hands and knees.
Darkness had settled on the trailer park, and the music coming from a nearby home would obscure his screams. He knew this, because he’d been on the other side of that situation many times, and those were things one needed to consider to avoid getting caught.
He wouldn’t get his redemption, but what was about to unfold would be punishment he’d never forget.
“Let go of me!” he yelled, because any noise he could make would work in his favor. Bud tried to silence him with a kick to the stomach, but Gunner grabbed his leg and bit the fucker on the calf like a rabid dog. So he was small, but he wouldn’t go down without leaving his tormentors with battle scars.
Something collided with his ribs, and he might have rolled over twice before he landed on his back, with pain radiating all over his slender body, which didn’t have the protective layer of dense muscle he could tighten in order to lessen the blow.
The world around him trembled, and he tried to get up, but when his gaze passed over the window of his trailer, he saw an eye looking at him from behind the curtain, and realization stabbed his heart
Caspian was here.
Yet he stayed hidden and refused to help.
Chapter 14 - Caspian
Caspian went straight back to the trailer park. His blood buzzed with fury, and he’d almost driven a slow car off the road when it got in his way, but all he could think about was Gunner and the casual way he’d dismissed him, when they were in this hell together. If anyone else was to know of their situation, Caspian should have been a part of that conversation too. He’d known what the bastard was doing—trying to shift all the blame for what Noah had seen to Caspian. Just like when they’d met in the morning and Gunner had claimed Caspian’s body was ‘gay’. It was such a shitty thing to do. Especially after everything that happened since Gunner had hounded Caspian down at the motel.