I grinned at him just as the door next to the front desk opened and a couple of cops walked out with Yukio and Alex. They were glaring at each other, but they appeared to keep their cool as the cops guided them over to the counter to do some paperwork.
I watched, nervous and anxious again. Yukio kept glancing over his shoulder at me, but he looked worse for wear with a bruise already forming on his right jaw and eye. He offered me a small smile, and I raised my hand to let him know I was here and not going anywhere. Alex, on the other hand, didn’t bother to pay attention to me at all, and my heart broke a little.
When they were done, Yukio came rushing straight over to me, his hands hovering above my arms. “Can I touch you?”
I nodded. As restless as I was, I wanted to feel him against me. He laid his hands on my arms and dragged me into a hug. Even though I was taller than him, I buried my face against his neck, curling my arms around him and tugging him tighter to me. I sighed, a wave of relief assaulting me until it got difficult to breathe.
Someone grunted, and I raised my eyes to Alex, whose mouth twisted as he gave us a dirty expression and stormed out of the station. I straightened and pushed out of Yukio’s hug, running after my son. I knocked open the door, and by the time I saw Alex, he was far away on the sidewalk. Racing after him, I rubbed my chest to try to soothe my throbbing heart.
“Alex! Alexander! Stop!”
He did, much to my surprise, and spun around on his heels to stare at me as I reached him. The betrayal in his gaze was obvious, and while I wasn’t great at alwaysseeingthings with him, I couldn’t miss that look. “What do you want?”
“I’m sorry. I know you’re mad at me for being gay—”
“What?” His mean sneer made me freeze. “I don’t care who you fuck.”
I inhaled and exhaled slowly, letting his words sink in. “But you were so angry at the bar.”
He let out a scream that had me jumping in surprise, and he slapped his hands on his face. “For fuck’s sake! Dad, he’susingyou.”
I swallowed, fear twisting my insides. Curling my fingers into my palms, I focused on him as best I could as the anxiety ramped up again. “What do you mean?”
He threw his head back and laughed. “Fuck. This is so fucked up.”
“What is?” My voice rose and I winced at how panicked I sounded.
He stared at me for a long moment, and I thought I was going to die because I held my breath, waiting. “Hinode is on my basketball team, Dad. He was the guy I got in a fight with last month. He likes to rile me up and make me mad. Can’t you see what this was? It was revenge.” He waved his hand, gesturing over my shoulder, but I couldn’t tear my gaze off him as my brain connected the dots. “He obviously saw you when Charbonneau called you to his office. You were cannon fodder in our war. He doesn’tloveyou, he didn’t even want to date you. Hinode was using you. Yourrelationshipwas fake, and he was waiting for the perfect time to rub it in my face.”
The world crashed around me in one big fiery heap. I wobbled and fell backward, flopping onto the sidewalk beneath me. Alex didn’t reach for me, but I didn’t expect him to, either. My weak knees were never going to hold me, and this wasn’t the first time I hadn’t taken bad news well. When Candy had left me, I’d done the same thing.
I placed a hand over my mouth, astonishment squeezing the air from my lungs. Pain joined the shock and my arm began to shake. I stared back at the single-story police station. The lights surrounding the brick building were too bright. A small noise close by startled me.
I blinked at Alex. “I was a game?”
Alex swallowed, and he stared up at a streetlight above him. The hurt on his face probably mimicked mine, and I wished I had the energy to rise and hug him to my chest. “Yeah. You were.”
“Micah?” Yukio’s voice filled the still air. Cars whooshed past us, and somewhere there was laughter, but everything else felt so far away from us now. In this world of agony, there was only me and Alex and now Yukio. “Are you all right? What did he do?”
Alex stepped forward, and I didn’t stop him. “What didIdo? Are you fucking kidding, Hinode? I told him the truth. How you used him to get revenge on me.”
“What?” Yukio came into the light, and he looked so good that it hurt.
Even with the bruises and swelling, he was handsome, and my heart ached now that I had the knowledge that it was all just a ruse.
A challenge.
Vengeance.
The thoughts made my stomach churn and tears burned in my eyes. I hadn’t known Yukio for long, but I’d thought we hadsomething. Instead, I was nothing to him. How stupid was I?
He shot me a pleading look and shifted toward me.
I shook my head, warning him off.
“That isn’t true, Micah.”
“It’s not?” I asked, my words wobbly. I clutched my hands to my chest and stared at the sidewalk I was sitting on. “You didn’t see me when I came to Professor Charbonneau’s office after you got into a fight with Alex?”
