Dimitri sucked his lips in to keep from laughing. The rest of the crowd wasn’t so kind. He could hear snickers from all sides of the small sitting room.
Whatever timidity Dimitri had scared into Mandy a moment ago disappeared. She cocked her hip, sneering. “I just didn’t see Dimitri settling for some skinny, meek little twink. That is the term for scrawny little gays, right? Twink?” she asked, enunciating the last word.
Dimitri pictured wrapping his hands around Mandy’s throat and squeezing until her eyes popped from their sockets. This had been a huge mistake. A bar fight in the worst part of town would have been less painful than this. He should have listened to Arlo.
Arlo stepped free from Dimitri’s arms. “Oh, are we giving vocabulary lessons? Because I have one for you as well. Mandy: sad little hag who chases after clearly gay men because she thinks her vagina is so fucking magical that she can fuck them straight. News flash: it’s not.”
Mandy’s mouth fell open, her face flushing. She started to retort, but Arlo held up a hand.
“Oh, or wait, maybe it’s the other meaning of Mandy. Girl who brags about acting in the B movie,Mean Girls 3, but fails to mention that she was so insignificant and stereotypical that she’s simply credited as basic bitch number 2.”
“Oh, shit,” somebody muttered from somewhere behind them.
Dimitri hadn’t known Arlo knew about that. He shouldn’t be surprised. Mandy’s minuscule part in a major motion picture was one of the biggest arrows in her quiver of superiority. He watched as her mouth opened and closed like a fish gasping for air.
Arlo tilted his head, his eyes narrowing, as he now lookedherup and down. “Anything else you want to say, Botox Barbie? Because I can do this all night.”
Tears formed in Mandy’s eyes, but before a single one could fall, she stuck her nose in the air.“Whatever. You’re not worth it.”
As she stormed off, Arlo wiggled his fingers in a mockery of a wave. “Bye now.”
Dimitri stepped forward to comfort Arlo but never got the chance. Jason enveloped Arlo in a bear hug, lifting him off his feet and shaking him as he shouted, “That. Was. Awesome.”
When he set him down, he pointed directly into Arlo’s startled face with one fat finger. “You’re cool. You’re invited to party with us any fucking time.” To Dimitri, he said, “I’m not gay, bro. But you’re right, thatwassexy as fuck.”
Then he left, leaving Arlo and Dimitri in a sea of strange faces, who quickly lost interest now that the battle of wits had ended. “Well, you made a good impress…” Dimitri’s words died as he saw Arlo’s wide, terrified eyes. “Hey, you good?”
He watched Arlo’s Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed hard. “I need air. I need to get out of here.”
Dimitri nodded. “Okay. Let’s go.”
Dimitri steered him out the front door to the now deserted porch. He didn’t stop until they were at the sidewalk. “What’s wrong? What happened? Was it what Mandy said?”
Arlo shook his head jerkily, shivering. Maybe from the cold, maybe from fear. “Jason.”
Dimitri’s eyes went wide. Jason shouting in Arlo’s face, grabbing him without permission. “Did he scare you?”
Arlo flinched at Dimitri’s words. “I’m not—s-scared. I know he wasn’t trying to hurt me, but my body isn’t getting the message. I think I’m having a panic attack. I feel like my insides are shaking. Can we please go home? I don’t even care if I go to prison. Just take me home.”
“My home or yours?” Dimitri asked, guiding him back to the car, mentally fist pumping when he saw the white rectangular ticket tucked under the windshield wiper. Alibi secured.
“Yours. I don’t want to go back to my depressing apartment.”
“Okay, we’ll go back tomydepressing apartment,” Dimitri joked, relieved when Arlo gave a watery smile.
Once he had Arlo tucked into the passenger seat and his seatbelt on, he ran around to the driver’s side, sliding in and turning over the engine so the heat kicked on. But he didn’t take off right away. “I’m sorry.”
Arlo’s gaze jerked towards him. “What?”
“I’m sorry.”
Arlo frowned. “Why?”
Dimitri stopped short. “I’m not sure. I know I should be sorry, right? I did something that got you hurt. I should feel bad about that.”
“But you don’t?” Arlo asked.
Dimitri shook his head, bewildered. “I don’t feel bad, exactly. I feel…angry. Like I wanted to hurt her. I wanted to squeeze the breath from her body and watch the life drain from her eyes.”
