The guy jerked back sharply, shoving Gabe’s
hand away. “Hey, back off, faggot. I don’t go for that queer
shit.”
Suppressing a chuckle, Cole found the man’s
statement somewhat amusing considering where he was.
Gabe just smiled. “Well, maybe your friend
does.” He turned suddenly and ran his hand up the back of the
younger guy’s neck and leaned in, nuzzling his ear. “How about you,
baby? Wanna get up close and personal? I’ll even let you touch my
cock. Not club policy, but I’m willing to make an exception for a
hottie like you.”
The guy nearly fell off the stool trying to
get away from Gabe, his dirty blond, somewhat shaggy hair falling
in his eyes as he swept at it quickly. His face wasn’t as lean as
the older guy, but still had a certain attractiveness to his
features. And he was especially appealing right now as he stared at
Gabe in mild horror; there was nothing quite so hot as a terrified
straight boy when being hit on by a fag.
“Fuck you!” The guy trembled, clearly
intimidated by Gabe’s
prowess
. He didn’t appear to be much more than
twenty-two or twenty-three, and had a bit of a
redneck
look to him, with his
somewhat long, unruly hair and slightly less trimmed facial
scruff.
“Ah, that’ll cost you extra.” Gabe winked.
“But just for today–I’m on sale. Fifty percent off if you throw in
a blow job.” He smiled with heavy lust in his eyes. “You have such
a
pretty
mouth.”
Behind the bar, Carl had to turn away to keep
from busting up. Cole pressed his lips tight, struggling to
suppress his grin as Gabe slinked towards the guy, eyes roaming up
and down his body hungrily. “Come on, baby…you came in here, so you
must at least be
curious
. An hour with me and you’ll never want pussy
again. Girls are lovely, but only a man knows what another man
wants and needs–and how to give it to him.” He reached out and
brushed his fingertips down the guy’s face. “Baby, I’ll fuck you so
good, you’ll be begging for cock in your sleep.”
A strangled gasp ripped from the young man’s
throat and he stumbled around by the older guy who had called
himself Wade, practically hiding behind him. “Let’s get the
fuck
out of
here.”
Wade cast Gabe a dull look and stepped off
the stool without a word. He shot one more glance at the stage
where the dance lessons had ended and Ricky and Angel stood talking
to one another. Angel looked their way and seemed to tense when he
caught Wade’s brief stare before the two young men headed towards
the entrance.
Smirking, Gabe called after them, “Y’all come
back now, ya hear.” He looked at Cole and smiled smartly. “Told ya.
Totally fucking straight.”
Broken Wings
“You got some pretty hot moves.” Ricky’s
voice had no problem drifting into the next dressing room over
where Dane lingered, insisting to himself that he hadn’t been
hanging around waiting for Angel to get off stage. Yet, here he was
when he didn’t need to be, pretending not to eavesdrop on Ricky and
Angel’s conversation, yet analyzing every word.
“Thanks.” Just the sound of Angel’s soft
voice sent a flurry of butterflies through his gut. What the hell
was wrong with him? Hadn’t he learned his lesson with Caleb?
Don’t fall for a
club boy.
“You have to have danced before.” Ricky said,
a smile in his voice.
“A little.” Angel mumbled and there was clear
note of reluctance to his tone that stated he didn’t want to talk
about it. Apparently Ricky wasn’t as in tune as Dane was.
“Yeah? Where?”
A notable hesitation. “Just…around.” Angel
murmured. “Different places. But none of the big clubs, like this
one.”
Ricky seemed to catch on and stopped pushing
for details. “I apologize if I seem a little forward, but…do you
have a boyfriend?”
A burning shot of anger mixed with a glob of
jealousy encased Dane’s heart and mind.
The little fucker was asking him
out?
“Uh,” Angel gave a short, anxious laugh. “No,
I…” A brief hesitation. “I don’t, but…I’m not really looking…”
Ricky laughed lightly. “Easy, babe. I wasn’t
making propositions. I was just asking…for a friend, who might be
interested.”
An instant tension gripped Dane. A
friend
? Who
the hell was he talking about?
What do you care? You’re not
interested–remember?
“A…friend?” He wasn’t sure but he swore he
heard a
hopeful
note in Angel’s voice. “Uh…who?” he asked
casually. At least he reached for casual.
Dane leaned his back against the wall, his
whole body tense as he, too, waited for Ricky’s reply.
“I shouldn’t say. He’d probably kick my ass.”
Ricky chuckled. “But I guess it don’t really matter anyway…since
you’re not looking for a boyfriend.” The amusement in the guy’s
voice said he didn’t quite believe Angel.
“Uh, yeah.” Angel murmured. “I’m not.”
What the hell was with the sudden heaviness
in his chest? Who cared if the boy didn’t want a boyfriend?
“Ok then.” Ricky said lightly. “I’ll let him
know you’re not on the market.” There was an audible smirk to his
voice. Angel remained silent as Ricky left the dressing room. More
tension seeped through Dane when he knew the kid was on the other
side of the thin wall, alone. What was stopping him from stepping
over there and speaking to him?
Why would you do that? For what reason?
He pressed his head back against the wall and
closed his eyes, his heartbeat strong at the base of his throat,
nearly choking him.
You are one pathetic motherfucker, you know that? Getting
all worked up over some kid still wet behind the ears. Hiding out,
eavesdropping…what is with you?
Dane had no answers and didn’t really want to
delve too deeply into any probable ones either. He released a slow,
labored breath. “Just get a fucking grip.” He whispered.
“Hey.” Angel’s tentative voice in the doorway
caused Dane to flinch hard, cracking his head against the wall. His
eyes snapped open and heartbeat spiked so fast he almost fainted.
“Are you okay?”
“Huh?” Dane cleared his throat quick and
pushed off the wall but only took a single step. He dragged his
hand down his face. “Uh, yeah. I’m fine.”
“Okay.” The kid seemed doubtful. “Well,
uh…I’ll see you later. I was just here for the…lessons. I don’t
actually come on until this evening.”
Dane nodded silently, unsure why he was
telling him this.
Angel lingered in the doorway for a moment,
possibly waiting for Dane to say something. When he
didn’t–
couldn’t
–the boy licked his lips slowly and flicked
his hand in a half-hearted wave. “Well, see ya.” Then walked
away.
Swallowing hard, Dane walked to the doorway
on shaky legs and looked out, catching a glimpse of Angel as he
reached the entryway out into the main part of the club. The boy
cast a sudden look back, catching Dane’s stare unexpectedly. A shy
smile touched his lips and then he was gone, out of sight.
Oh, but not out of
mind.
Dane dropped back hard against the door
frame, heart pounding. This was insane. This boy should not be
having this effect on him. But the fact that he
was
–gave him all the more
reason to run the other way. It had hurt bad enough losing out with
Caleb, and he’d never even had a real chance with him. But
Angel…the way the boy looked at him at times…to get up close and
personal with that boy and then lose him…
It would annihilate you, and you damn well know
it.
***
“What the fuck were you doing up there?” The
slap caught Angel in the back of the head as soon as he came
through the front door of the apartment. His eyes instantly stung
from the force and he stumbled forward a couple paces before
catching himself.
He frowned hard, eyes burning, and grabbed
the back of his head where Wade smacked him. “What’re you talking
about?”
“You’re not there to fuck around with your
little faggot boyfriends.” Wade snapped.
Angel swallowed hard and pulled back the
tears. “I wasn’t.
Ricky
was giving me dance lessons. They won’t put me
on stage if I can’t dance.”
“Oooh, Ricky.” Axel mocked, coming out of the
tiny kitchen. A sickly sweet stench hung on the air, informing
Angel that his brothers had been getting high again. “Did he buy
you roses and dinner too?”
Angel ignored him. The guy was a moron. But
he never said that out loud. He was a moron, but a moron who
could–and would–beat the shit out of him.
“Where’s Maddy?” Angel mumbled. He didn’t
like it when Wade and Axel smoked dope around his little
brother–not that it was anything new to the kid, but more than once
he’d gotten a contact high and Angel didn’t want him around it any
more than necessary. Sometimes Axel would deliberately blow the
smoke in Maddy’s face because he found it amusing when the boy got
high.
“Sent him down to grab a carton of
cigarettes.” Wade said absently. His face was still hard with
irritation and he switched back to the previous subject. “Why the
fuck do you need
dance lessons?
You already know how to fucking
dance. You’ve been doing it for years.”
“That wasn’t dancing.” Angel whispered. “The
Phoenix is different from those places. It has real dancers…not
just guys up there shaking their asses. And…” He looked away. “They
don’t do
anything
else
on stage either.”
Wade smacked him in the back of the head
again. “Well you better fucking do
something
, you’ve been there two weeks and
haven’t brought in shit. If this is how it’s gonna be, you can go
back to the other clubs.”
Clubs
. Those places weren’t
Clubs
. They were brothels. And the
thought of going back into that made Angel’s gut twist with nausea
and anxiety. “I’ll start bringing in cash.” Angel assured him.
“They’re expecting to have a big crowd this weekend, I should be
able to do pretty well.”
“See that you do.” Axel smirked. “We need
some more weed and we’re running low on moolah.”
So get off your lazy ass and get a job a fucking
job.
Angel just looked at him, but didn’t dare voice his
thoughts. Axel was quick tempered and despised that Angel was a
flaming
queer
. He had yet to waste an opportunity to use his fists
on Angel to prove to him how weak and girly he was. Had the guy not
been so homophobic, he probably would have fucked him too–just to
try and put him in the place of a woman.
“I’ll get the money.” Angel said again,
quiet.
Submissive
. He’d fought back once, when all this had
started–and nearly paid for it with his life. There was no doubt in
his mind that neither Wade nor Axel would hesitate to beat him to
death if he rebelled, especially if they happened to be drunk or
high at the time. And he couldn’t take the risk. Not when he was
all that stood between Maddy and a life of hell.
The front door opened behind them and Maddy
entered wearing a dark hoodie sweatshirt with the hood pulled over
his head. He mumbled something too low for Angel to hear and handed
Wade a carton of Marlboros and excess change. Maddy didn’t look at
Angel and brushed past them, walking towards the bedroom.
“Maddy?” Angel called after him but the boy
ignored him and disappeared down the short hall. A moment later,
the bedroom door closed. Angel looked at Wade. “What’s wrong with
him? What did you guys do?”
“Nothing.” Wade said dryly and walked into
the kitchen.
Axel smirked but said nothing as he followed
his older brother.
His stomach pinching, Angel went to the
bedroom he shared with Maddy and stepped inside, closing the door
behind him. “Maddy? What’s wrong?”
The boy was lying face down on his bed, the
sweatshirt still on. “Nothing.” He said thickly.
“Don’t lie to me.” Angel said. “If Wade or
Axel did something, you have to tell me.”
The boy sat up slowly, dropping his legs over
the edge of the bed. He sat with his hands in his lap, hood still
pulled over his head, hiding most of his face. When Angel looked at
him, he didn’t see the fifteen year old boy he now was–but rather
the child of ten he had been when their life had transformed from a
bad dream…into this living nightmare.
He sat down beside him and peeled off his
hood, revealing a bruise high on his right cheek. Angel’s eyes
stung with tears. “What happened?” he whispered thickly. It was bad
enough having to do what he had to do–but being forced to leave
Maddy in the care of Wade and Axel while he was gone, that put a
knot of fear and anxiety in his gut that never went away. The boy
should’ve been in school, but Wade didn’t trust him to keep his
mouth shut and wasn’t willing to risk anyone snooping into their
lives.
“Wade hit me.” He said quietly, but didn’t
offer anything more.
Angel brushed dark strands off the boy’s
brow. “Why?” He asked tightly.
“Because I didn’t want to smoke a joint with
them.” He wiped the back of his hand across his nose and sniffed.
“Wade said I was probably just another sissy…faggot…like you, then
he hit me.”
Angel wrapped an arm around his shoulder and
pulled him against him. He pressed his lips to the boy’s hair and
closed his eyes, hot tears burning, squeezing out. “I’m sorry,
Maddy.”
“It isn’t your fault.” Maddy whispered, a
shudder to his voice.
Angel did everything in his power to protect
Maddy from Wade and Axel–and their violent, twisted minds–but there
was only so much protection he could offer. Angel was a victim too,
more so in many ways. He didn’t know how to keep Maddy safe.