“Not a chance. I’ll be going home.”
Nate grabbed him, yanked him forward, and mashed his lips to Adam. Ten seconds of stunned submission passed before Adam shoved Nate away.
It wasn’t anything like his kisses with Ru. Instead it seemed to shatter something inside of him Adam hadn’t known was fragile. A sense of safety, perhaps? He trembled at the rise of panic and fear, needing to get away. His heart hammered in his chest, and he no longer cared about pizza or the rest of the night. He needed to go home, to talk to Ru, to feel secure again.
But Nate wasn’t about to free him. He shoved Adam against the wall of the truck, holding him there. Nate ground Adam’s right wrist into the metal wall, hard enough to hurt. White hot pain spiked through Adam’s arm. He struggled but couldn’t get free.
“Enough, Corbin! You’re such a damn cock tease. I’ve waited almost two months for you. Played your little games. Time to let go of the innocent act. Let me show you a good time. You don’t need that singer,” Nate said as he leaned in to take another kiss. Adam turned his face to the side.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Adam couldn’t believe what he was hearing, couldn’t believe that Nate had just kissed him, was trying to kiss him again. “Have you been stalking me from the beginning for this? All the demands to run with you, and you couldn’t just have said, ‘Hey, Adam, I’m gay too, wanna go out?’”
Nate’s grip on Adam’s wrist tightened to keep him from running. Flashes of pain pulsed across Adam’s vision and he tried to swallow back his terror to keep from passing out.
“I’m not gay. Not like you or Bas or that guy you’re with. Besides, my life would be over. I’d never get into the U on a football scholarship. And I’m not stopping there. I will be recruited to the NFL. Just wait. A year, maybe two, but I’ll have a couple-million dollar salary. We can be together in private. Run after school when the team isn’t practicing. Have some private time in the locker room. It’s okay. It’s all in good fun,” Nate assured him.
“Get off of me.” Adam struggled to pull out of Nate’s grasp, only gaining an inch or two. But the footballer squeezed tighter, fighting with him until he slammed Adam’s arm back against the side of the truck. Adam felt something pop and a sharp pain shoot up his wrist, leaving his entire arm throbbing. “Let go!”
“We were a great team before he came. But then you stopped running with me. You didn’t want me anymore. Was it the money? I’ve got money. I can buy you nice things.” He dragged Adam away from the light and toward the shadowed edge cast by the truck.
“No!” Adam tugged on his wrist, trying to free himself, fear and desperation nearly drowning him in nausea. “We’re not doing this. We’re not even friends, Nate. I wouldn’t date you if you paid me.”
Nate shoved him against the truck again, hard enough to make a loud noise that disturbed the guys inside. “Hey!” they shouted, one of them leaning out the opening.
“Help,” Adam called, “Please help!”
The guy from the truck frowned. “What the hell, kid? Let him go!” He burst free of the end of the truck door, rounding the side in seconds and looking ready to fight. “I won’t say it again.”
Nate glared, held Adam there a minute longer before pulling away.
Adam wrist throbbed. “No more, Nate. In school, if you see me, you walk the other way. Don’t talk to me. Don’t text me. Just pretend I don’t exist.” He backed away slowly, afraid the guy would attack him again.
“You’re not listening to me,” Nate said.
“I think you need to go, kid,” the guy from the truck said putting himself between Adam and Nate.
“Adam?” Bas called. “Everything okay?” He appeared at Adam’s side, wrapping a gentle arm around Adam and pulling him away, like he knew something had gone down. He glanced at the guy from the pizza truck, and his partner who held a box out. Apparently their food was ready, but Adam had lost his appetite.
“I need to go home,” Adam whispered, clinging to Bas—not realizing before that moment that Bas was taller than him and feltsafe—and watching Nate with wide eyes. Hank and Jonah arrived a minute later, only to immediately begin sneering insults. “Please, please, Bas. Just take me home.”
“You okay, kid?” The pizza guy asked.
“Thank you,” Adam told him. What if the guy hadn’t been there? His heart still raced like it was going to explode.
“Thank you.” Bas told the pizza guy. “I’m going to take him home. We appreciate the help.” Bas grabbed the pizza and headed toward the parking lot, his arm protectively around Adam’s shoulders. Michelle caught up with them as they reached the car. “You can stay if you want, but I need to take Adam home. I’ll come back later to pick you up.”
“It’s okay, Bas. I’ll find a ride. Everything okay?” They both stared at Adam, but no one spoke until Michelle nodded. “Have a good night, Adam. Let me know if you need something.”
He needed Ru. Could anyone get Ru for him? He was half a country away, and Adam needed him. By the time they were on the road to Adam’s home, he’d begun to shake. The memory of being shoved against the truck, the pain in his arm, and being held down really scared him.
How many times had he been alone with Nate? How many opportunities had Nate had to assault him? And what if the truck hadn’t been there? Or had been empty? No one else had been around. He bowed over his knees, wheezing as it was hard to breathe.
Bas stroked his back and reminded him to take long deep breaths. “Like running, right? Breath in, and let out a long exhale. Don’t pass out.” He helped Adam into the car and got him strapped in, and only when they were finally moving, could Adam catch a bit of air. He focused on it, trying to recall the training that helped him run, but there was still too much panic.
“Did you know?” Adam asked Bas, squeezing his eyes shut and trying to breathe.
“That Nate is gay, or at least bi, and thinks he’s not? Yeah. That he wants you? Yeah. I warned you a couple times, if you remember. I saw the way he looked at you.”
Adam was finally able to draw in air but his heart still pounding. He gripped the fabric of his pants and squeezed his hands into fists, needing something grounding.
