Wicked Lies Boys Tell

Infuriated to new levels, I tackle him hard. My hand hurts like hell, but I won’t relent. I hit him with my other hand instead. Over and over, with furious strength fueling my uncoordinated hits into something he’s no match against. Blood from his nose smears across my knuckles. He manages to grab my throbbing hand and twists it to the point I nearly black out with pain.

I recover with a roar and tackle him again.

Copeland

The bass is loud on the speakers and people are everywhere. I’m just headed to get a drink when Leah Collins nearly mows me down coming down the stairs. As soon as she realizes it’s me, she grabs hold of the front of my shirt.

“Help,” she cries out. “They’re fighting and destroying my room.”

I race after her up the steps. Not because I particularly want to break up a fight, but Leah and I go way back to elementary school. We may not hang out anymore, but I’ll be damned if I let two idiots ruin her stuff. I shove past her at the threshold to find Penn in a bloody fight with some guy who’s older than him. Holding his own too.

“Someone said they heard you—what the hell?” Luke, Leah’s brother, exclaims from behind me. “Max, what the hell is going on?”

He reaches for his friend, pulling him to his feet. Penn, rippling with rage, rises to his feet and charges. I snag the back of his shirt, yanking him from doing anything else stupid. He falls against my chest. I bear hug him from behind because he’s wild and swinging his limbs trying to get to Max.

Luke has trouble restraining Max and only barely manages to do so.

“Get him out of here,” I bark out to Luke and Leah. “I’ll deal with him.”

When they both just gape at me, I snarl. “I said go!”

As soon as they’re gone, Penn’s body relaxes slightly. For one quiet second, it feels like old times. When he’d lose his temper and go crazy fighting someone. I always had to pull him off and deal with him. Now, despite all we’ve been through, I’m right here doing this crap for him again.

“What happened?” I demand, refusing to let him go until he’s calm.

He jerks against my grip, but I don’t let him go. “I was making out with Leah and Max threw a fit over it. Tried to kick my ass.”

I stiffen at his words. “You and Leah?” I snort. “You expect me to believe that?”

“Screw off,” he growls. “That’s what happened.”

“I thought you were gay,” I mumble.

His body tenses. “I never said I was.”

Liar.

I push him away from me. He spins quickly to face off with me, but his drunk ass stumbles. I reach out to grab his hand before he crashes into more of Leah’s stuff. A strangled cry escapes him and he yanks his hand back, cradling it.

Narrowing my eyes, I inspect his hand. It’s already swelling and bruising. “Did you break it?”

His jaw clenches and he glowers at me. “Why do you care?”

“I don’t,” I snap. “But you’re wasted and hurt. I’m not about to leave you here to do anything else stupid. If your hand is busted, you’ll be out for the season.”

He slumps and runs his good fingers through his hair, his eyes frantic. “It’s fine. Bruised, is all.”

“Come on. We’re going to get some coffee to sober you up. If it’s better by the time we’re done, I’ll just take you home. If it’s not, then I’m taking you to the hospital for an X-ray.”

We have a silent standoff for several minutes until he lets out a huff of frustration. “Fine.”

He stumbles again. I grab his arm and slide it over my shoulder so I can assist his walking. There’s no way he’ll make it down the stairs without my help. He’ll break more bones if I leave him to his own devices.

It’s been two years since he did the unthinkable. Two years I’ve iced him out and ignored him. Two years where I’ve tried to push away that night and all the stupid emotions that were born from it. But even two years later, the familiarity of helping Penn is one that makes my chest ache. He was like a brother for so long, my heart thumps at the reminder.

As I guide him down the stairs, we get a couple of odd stares. No one knows what happened. Neither of us said a word. One day we were best friends, the next mortal enemies. The rumor mill was everything from my dad having an affair with his mom to the end of our friendship over a girl. Never once had someone uttered anything remotely true. Had Penn come out as gay, it’d been obvious. But, no, he continued along as though he always was. Mr. Popular. Football hero. A guy’s guy who watched girls walk by and gave off no vibe that he was in fact gay.