Page 95 of Rat

Rory stepped between them. “He’s only teaching me how to shoot.”

“Then why is he draping himself over you?”

“I wasn’t,” Jack said. “Look, it was Rory’s idea anyway. He came over to us.”

“Did you?”

“Yeah—”

Sebastian stalked away, and Rory hurried after him. “Wait.”

“Were you trying to make me jealous?”

“I wasn’t. I swear.”

“So what, you want him all over you?”

“There was nothing in it. I went over there for Ollie.”

“What?”

“I’m making sure he’s got other friends apart from me.”

Rory stepped away from Sebastian and looked back. Ollie was laughing with Jack and Green, cue in his hand, just like Rory had wanted.

Sebastian sighed. He ran a hand through his silver hair. “I’m sorry I reacted like that.”

“You’ve not been in a good place these past days.”

“No, I haven’t.”

“Wanna talk about it?”

Sebastian shook his head. “Not really.”

“What do you want to do?”

“I might go outside and watch the guys play football…”

“Can I come too?” Rory waited for Sebastian to turn him down, but Sebastian looked at him for a long moment, then mumbled, “If you want.”

“Yeah, I want.”

The benches were taken, and Sebastian led Rory away from the bins. He leaned against the wall, then pulled Rory back to his chest. The guilt-happiness combo assaulted Rory again, and he tried to push it away, squash it, but it was impossible. Sebastian’s arms came around him. Rory stiffened at the intimate touch but soon softened and let Sebastian hold him tight. Sebastian rested his chin on top of Rory’s head.

The embrace made Rory’s heart flutter, but his stomach soured and his head hurt.

They stayed in the same position in complete silence. Rory wasn’t really watching the inmates play football, and he doubted Sebastian was either. The sun started to go down and lit up the yard in an orange glow.

“When I get out,” Sebastian started, “one of the first places I’m going to go is the beach.”

“The beach?”

“Rashford Pier. Ever been?”

Rory shook his head.

“My grandparents had a caravan nearby, and I used to go stay there for a few weeks in the summer. The pier had this arcade, and I spent my time cheating other kids out of their pennies.”

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