Page 46 of Rock Bottom

The front door opened again and a feminine voice called out, “Señior Deluca?”

Church frowned. “Who the bloody hell…”

“We’ll deal with it,” Bowie said, patting Church’s shoulder, then he and Wattson left us alone.

I crossed my arms and refused to look at him, hoping he’d leave too, but he didn’t. He just stood there, looking at me like a giant, wounded animal.

Church sighed. “I know this is difficult for you, Dante, but—”

“I heard what you said about me.”

He frowned. “What?”

“When you were on the phone with your mom yesterday afternoon in the kitchen. I heard everything.”

He pressed his lips together and shook his head. “Dante, what the hell are you talking about?”

I dug my fingernails into my forearm. “You said I was disgusting. That you were ashamed to have ever associated with me. That if you ever had to see me again after this, it’d be too soon.”

His jaw fell open, and he shook his head. “Dante… I wasn’t talking about you!”

Something in my chest clenched, and I winced. “You weren’t?”

“No!” Church slid into the chair beside the bed and leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees. “My mother was trying to set me up with the tory twat who bullied me in secondary school. I let that prick bully me for years for being gay and now she wants me to kiss his arse and make nice so father can get a fat check for his campaign? That’s disgusting, Dante. It had nothing to do with you.”

“Oh.” I rubbed my face where it was suddenly warm, then shot him a curious look. “So you are gay?”

He sighed. “Why did you go with Oscar?”

I looked away again and shrugged one shoulder. “I was lonely, I guess. And bored. And pissed at you. And…”

I shuddered, thinking about the afternoon before when Oscar had kissed me. I should’ve known then something about him wasn’t right, but I’d been so focused on trying to make everyone else happy.

“He kissed me,” I said, hating how the words felt on my tongue.

Church’s fingers curled into tight fists. “Who?”

“Oscar. Yesterday. I…he…we…” I sighed and shook my head. “We’ve been spending time together in the afternoons after he gets off shift. Just playing music and talking about shit. I thought he was just being nice, and I needed a friend, you know? But then he kissed me and it felt weird and when I pushed him away, I thought he was going to cry so…” I wrapped my arms around myself. “This is my fault.”

“No, Dante.” Church sank onto the edge of the bed. “You didn’t deserve what he did to you.”

“Didn’t I? I mean, I went with him. I should’ve known… People are going to say I was asking for it, and maybe I was. I don’t know. I just…I can’t stand the idea of letting people down. I didn’t want him to be disappointed.”

“Dante…”

Before Church could finish, there was a knock at the door and Bowie poked his head in. “Hey, that Oscar kid…He said he was working for the cleaning company, right?”

Church’s brow creased. “Yeah, why?”

“Well, the cleaning lady is here.”

“She’s out of the hospital?” I asked.

Bowie nodded. “Yep, and you’re gonna love this. Guess what she was in the hospital for? It starts with arsenic and ends with—”

“Arsenic poisoning?” Church looked at me.

Bowie sighed. “Why do you always do that? You ruin everything.”

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