Page 369 of Sticks and Stones
“I don’t want anyone to know what was done to me. It’s too horrific. What they did to me, Will, is something that I’ll never overcome. They humiliated and broke me for their amusement. They won,” he whispered.
Will stopped him.
“They didn’t win. You survived. Going to court doesn’t mean you’re a better survivor. If this is how you need to heal, Corbin, then you did the right thing. You advocated for yourself.”
He told him.
“I let Ethan swab me for some DNA. He’ll have the only results, and they will never see the light of day. I let him see me, Will. I had to trust someone.”
He reassured him.
“That you trusted them with this tells me that they are good men, Corbin. That they helped you through it is all that matters. I don’t care that they saw you naked or that you leaned on them when you needed someone. I’m going to lean on them when I need them too. They are our family.”
That they were.
“Those results are secret, and I’m good with that. I suspect Gene was big mad.”
He nodded.
“He was.”
Corbin explained.
“I just wanted you to know that Ethan helped me wash away the DNA. He helped me, and I don’t want you to be upset with him.”
Will wasn’t upset.
He knew from being around the men that Ethan was madly in love with Gene, and that they only saw Corbin as a brother.
He wasn’t jealous.
He was grateful.
“Well, then, I owe him for taking care of you until I could take over,” he admitted. “They are letting me move in with you. We’re going to all be living here until you’re ready to leave.”
Corbin was kind of grateful he was here. Already, he felt better. He didn’t want pity, and Will was treating him like he would anyone else.
That helped.
“Okay, I’m ready,” he whispered. “You can see the rest of my body.”
That was all Will had to hear.
When he pulled his pants down, he was careful to leave his boxers. He helped him step out of the borrowed sweats. Then, he gently pulled his boxers down, and he saw his boyfriend’s body.
They’d been terrible to him.
His dick was bruised and so were his balls. They clearly beat on his groin to damage him. He had lacerations all over his thighs and groin where they’d whipped him with what looked like a belt buckle to destroy him.
Then, he saw the burn.
“Jesus,” Will whispered. “Did they burn you?”
He nodded.
“Yes. They branded me to sell me into the sex trade, but they damaged me too much. I was garbage to them at that point.”
Will was kneeling in front of Corbin, helping him step out of his boxers. With tenderness, he gave the burn a gentle kiss.
