I glanced at Hank. "Sure. What's up?"
Hank nodded his head toward the far corner of the room. My eyebrows lifted, but I followed him over. The room was emptying as everyone went back home or off to do other things. The conversation had fizzled after Jack had stormed out.
He was partially right. There was no sense in sitting around and rehashing everything we already knew. If we discovered something new, we could all gather again and figure out where to go from there.
"Is something wrong, Hank?" I asked when I saw the frown on the man's face.
"I want you to stop fucking with Jack," Hank said. "I need his head in the game right now."
I blinked at the man. "I'm sorry, what?"
Had Jack said something to Hank?
"Stop messing with him, just until this is over, okay? Once we've dealt with Atkins, you can go back to being a bitch, but for right now, I need Jack's head here and not on trying to get away from you."
I rubbed my hand over my sternum, feeling a slight pain there. Hank thought I was a bitch? "Okay, Hank."
"I appreciate it."
I stared after the man as he walked away. There wasn't anything to say because I didn't know what I'd say if I could. Yes, I was snarky. Yes, I was stubborn. Yes, I rebelled against authority or basically anyone trying to tell me what to do.
I just never realized that made me a bitch.
"What was that all about?"
I turned to look at Jack then took a deep breath before reply, "Hank asked me to stop fucking with you."
"What?" Jack's face flushed, and his eyes grew a little wild as they darted after Hank then back to me. "You told him? How could you do that?"
"Told him?" Where in the hell was this coming from? "Jack, wha—"
"I knew I never should have trusted you."
"Jack!" I felt a pain in my chest like my heart had just exploded.
"You had no right," Jack snarled. "I told you I wasn't gay."
"Considering you had your dick in my ass not an hour ago, I'm pretty sure you are."
"That was just fucking, and it's not like there are any women around here."
I sucked in a very painful breath. "Are you saying you fucked me because I was convenient?"
"I'm not gay!"
I had never been so angry before in my life, or so heartbroken. I didn't think in terms of everlasting love with Jack, but I thought we might have had something together, even if it was just for a little while. Apparently I was wrong.
Really, really wrong.
I leveled a stone-cold stare at Jack, hoping he didn't see how broken I felt inside. "I've never felt like a whore before now. Thank you for that. But now that I know how it feels, I think I'll skip it in the future. Besides, I wouldn't want to infect you with my gayness. You never know what it might lead to. You could actually grow a heart."
I was proud of myself that I was able to walk away without tripping or dropping to my knees and begging Jack to take back his words. I knew he wouldn't. He might enjoy fucking me, but he didn't like me as a person and he sure as shit didn't want to be associated with me. He certainly seemed to go out of his way to avoid me.
Fuck him.
I didn't need some bastard who refused to admit he liked fucking another man. Jack might be able to convince himself he was just experimenting or something, but I knew better. He had enjoyed what we did together way too much to be straight.
I stormed out of the house and started striding down the sidewalk at a fast pace, my anger and hurt spurring me on. I couldn't believe I had been taken in so much by the guy. It was clear that he was not only an idiot, but a man with no sense of honor.
