“What?”
“Why don’t you just tell the truth?” Mano turned back, meeting his eyes again.
“To put them at risk?” Ody said, his voice tightening. “Look at yourself. If Kash or his friends find out people around me are getting involved, they’ll go after them too. Anna, my friends… anyone.” He ran a hand through his hair, shaking his head. “This is my fault.”
Mano’s jaw tightened. “It’s not your fault.”
“Then whose is it? If I hadn’t dragged you into this… if you hadn’t seen him throw coffee at me, none of this would’ve happened,” Ody said, guilt weighing heavily on him.
“Don’t do that,” Mano said.
“Do what?”
“They’re the ones who hit me. They’re the ones to blame.”
Ody lowered his head. After a moment, he looked at him again. “What are you going to do? Are you planning to keep going with this?”
“Even if I wanted to, I can’t right now,” Mano said, gesturing to himself.
“When you’re better... Are you going after them again?” Worry flickered across his face.
Fragments of the beating flashed through Mano’s mind. “If they mess with you again…” he said, anger rising.
“Don’t worry about me. Worry about yourself.”
Mano’s eyes met his, but this time Ody saw concern there. “They will. He told me so.”
Ody blinked, then sighed. “It doesn’t matter. I can take it. They’ve been doing this for a while now. It’s nothing. What they did to you, though, that’s…”
“I can’t just let them hurt you again.”
“Stop acting like a hero. Look at yourself! You’re not getting involved with me anymore,” Ody snapped.
Mano’s face tightened, but he said nothing.
Ody’s face fell. “No, wait. I didn’t mean it like that.” His voice softened. “I meant, don’t get involved if you see them messing with me.”
Mano clenched his fists, staring at Ody’s downturned face. He couldn’t leave him alone to deal with this. He’d promised to stand by him. But on the other hand...
Kash’s words echoed in his mind, the promise to hurt Ody if he ever interfered again.
Mano punched the couch cushion, making Ody flinch.
“What’s wrong?”
Mano turned his head away, exhaling as he tried to calm down.
“Turn around so I can put ointment on your back.” Ody lifted the towel of ice from his side. Mano tried to lie on his stomach, groaning in pain, and Ody helped him ease into position. He pushed the black compression shirt up past Mano’s waist. “Where exactly does it hurt?”
“Low.”
“Here?” Ody touched the area.
“And a little more to the right. They hit my whole side with that bat.”
Ody’s expression hardened. If only he could make them pay...
He opened the ointment and spread a thin layer across Mano’s lower back with careful fingers.
