“I don’t care.” I shoot angry eyes at him. “You coming or not?”
“Let’s go.”
I know where Liam’s parents live, having been there a few times while we were dating.
It’s not until I’m pounding on the door that I remember Liam has been staying with his parents, instead of getting a place with his friends like he originally said.
“Bennett?” His sleepy face looks surprised to see me here. “What are you doing here? Is everything okay?"
“Okay?” I snort out a laugh. “No. It's not okay. Where is your brother? I’d like to fucking talk to him.”
“Laden?” His brows crease. “Sleeping, I’d guess. Why?”
“Because I just brought my little brother home after your brother and his friends beat the shit out of him.”
“What?” His eyes widen. “No.” He shakes his head. “He wouldn’t do that.”
“Well, he did. And guess why? Because my brother is gay.” I look behind Liam to see a younger version of him standing a few feet behind him. “You think it’s fun to beat kids up because of who they’re attracted to?” I shout. “I should fucking have you arrested, because this is a hate crime.”
“Whoa, hold up. Let’s chill out for a moment.” Liam turns to look at Laden. “What is going on?”
I expect the guy to deny it, but he looks terrified. Guess he didn’t think he’d get in trouble for this.
“It was their idea,” Laden blurts. “I was just there.”
“Bullshit!” I snap. “Four guys against one, why? Because he was kissing a guy?”
“Parker said he came onto him!” Laden says.
I don’t want to out Parker. I never want to out someone. But I’m not letting his guy throw my brother under the bus.
“So, your friend couldn’t have told my brother no and walked away? Did you really need to gang up on him, call him nasty fucking names, and kick his ass?”
“Laden.” Liam looks hurt. “What the fuck?”
“I’m sorry.” Laden looks terrified.
I could be wrong, but if I had to guess, his friends aren’t good people, and in order not to be an outcast or be picked on himself, he went along with their homophobic bullshit.
“Leave my brother alone. You hear me? If I hear any more about you or your friends fucking with him, we will be pressing charges. Got it?”
Laden nods frantically.
“Get the fuck upstairs,” Liam barks, now furious, but I see the hurt in his eyes. I know he’s close with his brother. So to have him betray him like this, it’s gotta suck.
Maybe if this were another situation, I’d feel bad about it, but not now.
“I’m sorry about what happened. I’m gonna deal with Laden, okay?”
“Good.” I scrub a hand over my face. “If it wasn’t for my brother asking me not to make a bigger deal out of this, I’d have told my parents, and they would be pressing charges.”
“I know. And I thank you for not doing that.” Liam steps forward, his hand on my arm. “I’m so sorry, Bennett.”
I take a step back, frowning.
Liam sighs. “Don’t pull away from me. I didn’t do this to your brother.”
“I didn’t say you did.”
