Page 90 of Ours
“Shut the fuck up, you prick, or I’ll knock your teeth in.” Nic was across the locker room as soon as Steve finished his sentence.
“Get the fuck out of my face, Herrera.” Steve fixed his gaze against Nic’s. “Only saying what I saw with my own two eyes.”
“You didn’t see shit.” Nic was beyond trying to deny anything at this point, but he genuinely didn’t believe that Steve actually saw anything.
“So thatwasn’tyou walking out of the garage with your boyfriend after he got done sucking your dick?” Steve added details that Nic knew he couldn’t make up.
“You. Didn’t. See. Shit,” Nic growled through gritted teeth.
“I saw plenty. Not like it was hard to get other people to believe me. Or to get inside your head either,” Steven taunted. “I really gotta thank that guy.”
“What guy?” Taylor chimed in, partially to let Nic know he was still here in case he needed backup.
“I dunno. Some dude from the basketball team. Jake or something?”
“Jackson,” Nic corrected him, though he hoped he was wrong.
“That’s it. He found me at the party and let me know exactly where I could find you. Said I’d learn someveryinteresting info. He wasn’t wrong.”
“Why the fuck would he do that?” Nic was thrown. What did this Jackson guy have against him exactly?
“How the fuck should I know? I didn’t ask questions.” Steve scoffed. “Maybe because he hates your guts just as much as I do. Maybe because he knows you’re just a stuck-up piece of shit. Maybe like me he got sick and fucking tired of seeing you run around with that fuckingfaggot—”
Nic’s fist collided with Steve’s face before he had even realized what happened. Steve’s body was pushed back, his head slamming into the row of lockers before his body crumpled to the floor.
“Holy shit!” Taylor jumped over the bench and past Nic to Steve’s prone body, checking his neck for a pulse. “Damn. He’s out cold, dude.”
For his part, Nic was standing wide-eyed, his hand still a fist. “I don’t… I didn’t… As soon as he started talking about Cory…” Nic stumbled over his words. “Fuck. I gotta go talk to Derek.” This information about Jackson… Nic knew this wasn’t just a coincidence.
“Go.” Taylor waved him off as he propped Steve up against the lockers. “I’ll stay here and make sure this asshole wakes up okay. Jesus, dude, you knocked him the fuckout.” Taylor shook his head, half in shock, half in awe.
“Thanks, bro.” Nic grabbed his bag and headed for the exit. “I owe you one!”
“You owe me like three or four for this one,” Taylor said to the empty locker room and Steve’s unconscious body.
“Hold on! Hold on! I’m coming,” Derek called to whoever was pounding on his door. He peered out the peephole and was surprised to see it was Nic.
“Hey, what’s up?” Derek opened the door and greeted his friend before moving aside to let him in.
“Hey, D.” Nic walked into Derek’s living room. “Sorry. It was kind of an emergency so I ran right over.”
“Why didn’t you text or call first?” Derek gave him a strange look.
“I … don’t know actually.” Nic thought about what he was just doing. “I think it’s because that’s what you always see people do in movies.”
“So what’s up?” Derek chuckled.
“It’s about Cory.”
“Ah. So you wanna talk about that now?” Derek didn’t bother hiding the annoyance in his voice.
“Yes, I wanna talk about that now.” Nic rolled his eyes in response and sat down on the couch.
“So…?” Derek took a seat on the other couch.
“It’s about that guy Cory’s hanging around with,” Nic continued. “Jackson.”
“What about him?”
