Feel My Pain (Curse Bound 1)

“It doesn’t matter. He’s gone,” he said in a soft voice before peeking up at Roach, his blue eyes so frightful Roach wanted to make sure he’d never meet people like Green Shirt again. But Gale was an addict, very obviously gay, and he’d already learnt ways to earn enough money to satisfy his cravings.

They’d met not long after the fire, on the day Roach had checked into Karma Motel. Snooping around and knowing everyone’s business was Gale’s way of staying safe, so he’d come around to greet his new neighbor. Skinny and effeminate, he wasn’t Roach’s type, but when Roach stumbled home blind drunk a week later, Gale had come over. One thing led to another, and somehow Roach’s cock had gotten sucked.

A year later, he’d found out that Gale was seventeen back then, and to this day, it was one of the biggest shames of Roach’s life. Sure, he was scum, but he always liked to think of himself as that bit more decent. But by the time he’d found out Gale’s age, the guy was eighteen anyway, and no innocent either. They helped each other out, talked, and sometimes—once a month or every other month—Roach ended up paying Gale for a service. Only blowjobs. Gale was so skinny Roach felt like he’d break him if they fucked, but Gale would not accept money from Roach without earning it first, so they were stuck in their weird, dirty arrangement that made Roach’s life a hot mess.

“Come eat with us,” Roach requested, leaving no room for Gale to say no.

“Us?” Gale asked as they entered the diner.

Zane stared at them with a glass of iced water pressed to his forehead.

Dammit. Headbutt.

“Zane. You met him last night. He might be staying with me for a while.”

Gale gave a weak nod and sat on Roach’s side of the booth, pulling his jacket more tightly around his thin form.

Zane kept his gaze on Roach, and while it wasn’t outright murderous, the accusation was there.

“Are you okay?” he asked in the end and pushed Roach’s glass toward Gale.

The boy took a small sip and sank in on himself, nervously rubbing his left forearm. Were his veins bothering him under the long sleeves?

“Yes. Reed came just in time.”

“Have some food.” Roach pushed his plate toward him. Roach was no white knight, but Gale was so pitiful, and really had no one.

“We’ve all been there,” Zane said and offered Gale the remaining piece of apple pie.

Roach cocked his head. “What?”

Zane rolled his eyes and stared Roach down in a suggestion that he didn’t know anything about life. “You get a bit too drunk and you wake up to someone trying to push their dick into you. Or someone comes on too strong and gets angry when you’re not interested. But you’re right. It’s nothing you could know much about,” he said, and the acid in his voice was already burning holes in Roach’s confidence.

Roach groaned. “Yeah, I don’t exactly get approached by men a lot.”

Gale exhaled, looked up at him, and then a warm hand squeezed Roach’s thigh. “Thank you, Reed. You’re always there for me.”

“Sure,” he said with a sigh. “But… I don’t know. Maybe we need a system or something. What you’re doing is really not working for you.”

“Like what? You’re gonna be his pimp?” Zane asked, and his words created a bubble of silence around the table.

Gale picked at a bit of waffle.

“I’ve got a job, thank you very much,” Roach growled. “Stay out of this.”

Zane frowned. “No fucking way. I know how that would end!” he said and slapped his hand on the table.

“How would it end? And keep your voice down.” Roach shook his head. The last thing he needed was to attract even more attention than his bruised face was already getting.

“You’d end up fucking him, and we decided to be exclusive!” Zane said, shooting to his feet right there, in the diner.

Gale stared between them, his watery blue eyes wide.

“Zane, shut the fuck up!” Roach said and leaned over the table, yanking him back down by the arm.

“Sooo…” Gale licked his parched lips. “Your new boyfriend stabbed you yesterday, and I’m the one making bad life choices?”

But Zane wouldn’t be stopped and stared Gale down until the poor guy leaned back, as if anticipating a punch. “His new boyfriend found out what the two of you’ve been doing behind my back!”

Roach shook his head. Was this really his life now? He was attached to the hottest guy on the planet but said man was a total whack job.

“Shut up and sit down! I’m not out,” he growled the last bit, but in the corner of his eye, he caught Culver strutting their way in his favorite Hawaiian shirt, and he could sense the impending doom.

Gale crossed his frail arms on his chest. “Well, maybe his new boyfriend should have been around more.”