Page 15 of Wrecked

Rebel gnashed his teeth at him and that made Crow smile. Rebel, on the other hand, glared at him and then marched out of the bathroom. Crow followed.

Darting a glance at the hotel door, Rebel curled his lip in a sneer at the desk still blocking the exit.

“You know if there’s a fire, we’ll die in here.”

Crow pressed his lips together to keep from chuckling.

“Your burger is over there,” he said and walked over to where he’d left his uneaten food on the small table between the beds. He settled on the mattress and started in on his burger again.

Rebel looked at the bag on the shelf that held the coffee maker and water and turned his face away.

“Why am I here?” The young man’s hands waved about.

“Eat.”

“Fuck you,” Rebel said, whirling around. The dark wet curls on the man’s head shimmered in the light. “Tell me why I’m here.”

“Eat and I’ll tell you.”

With a sound of annoyance, Rebel marched over to grab the bag. Instead of sitting on the other bed, Rebel stood against the wall with the bag.

Crow had a feeling the man was starving. Rebel was too skinny and it wasn’t hard to see that the guy wasn’t getting enough to eat.

What the fuck had he been through since coming to California? Rebel must not have stayed at Dave’s place for long.

The bag crinkled in Rebel’s hands when he squeezed it, but then the smell won out and the man tore open the bag, reachedinside, and took out the burger. The bag with the fries fell to the floor.

Rebel ate like someone was going to steal his food. With huge wolfing bites, the teenager’s cheeks were puffed out as he stuffed as much as he could inside.

It took everything in Crow not to say something. Words like slow down or there’s more where that came from wouldn’t help in this situation.

No, with Rebel, he had to be cautious.

Because he suspected that the young man was almost at the end of his rope.

Rebel chewed and chewed. He’d put too much in his mouth, but damned if he was going to spit it out.

“Drink that.”

Crow’s words brought his head around to see the man pointing to a cup with a straw. Only out of necessity did he make his way over to the desk by the door and lift the cup. He swallowed down the burning soda and took a grateful breath.

The burger went down like a rock and he hiccuped before shoving the rest of the burger into his mouth. He took the cup and went back to where the bag was on the floor. Dropping down to sit on the grimy carpet, he started gobbling up the fries.

This could be the last meal he got for a while, so what if he ate the guy’s food? It didn’t make him obligated for anything else.

“I don’t have any money to pay you back.”

Crow frowned at him. “For what?”

Rebel held up the bag. It probably cost more than ten dollars for everything.

“Pay me later.”

Rebel snorted bitterly. “Yeah…okay.”

Covertly, Rebel watched Crow leave the bed and place his wrapper in the trash.

The guy was bigger than him, but Rebel was sure he could take him, especially if he used the element of surprise. He just had to plan and wait for the right time. Because as much as Crow wanted to keep him here, Rebel wanted to escape much, much more.

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