Page 7 of Twisted Minds

I nod. “They were dropped.” My anxiety starts to rise up in my throat and get the best of me. I feel shaky. I can’t breathe “You don’t know her, sir, but she isn’t easily shaken. I believe her, I know she’s telling—” He holds his hand up.

“You don’t need to do that. I believe you.” He believes me. I feel my lungs unclench. It’s only now I realize I’d been amping myself up for an argument, but I don’t have the space to really think about that or why I just default to defending her.

“She has a restraining order against him, you can verify that, but there wasn’t enough evidence and with—”

“With who his father is, there’s fuck all a restraining order will do,” he says candidly.

“I fully believe if we put Benson in his place, I can have him up to speed before the first game. I’m confident.”

“Hunter, I don’t give a shit if you get a newbie who’s never touched a pair of skates in his life. I won’t be letting Derrick play on my team.”

“His father will push back.”

“His father can deal with me. I’m not having a predator of any kind on this team.” Being openly queer, he’s taken a lot of shit from a lot of different places, and some rich asshole isn’t going to faze him. I knew there was a good chance he’d stand by me. I know it’s only a small victory—not much else will really happento Derrick and it’s so fucking unfair—but still, this feels like a win.

“Thank you, Coach.”

“Just get your head in the game this season. Practice starts Monday and I expect all my players to be at their best.” I stand, thanking him before reaching out my hand to shake. “Anything else I need to know, don’t hesitate to tell me.”

“Thank you.”

three

Mark

My heart thumps erratically while I sit on the edge of the fountain in the middle of the quad. Between Noah, Hunter, and now the bullshit with Derrick, I don’t think I can take much more.

Out of all the things that have happened in the last twenty-four hours, my night with Hunter is still the most vivid in my mind. I feel like shit about Noah and hate the way I came across. I know I acted like a dick, but it was seeing the judgment on Hunter’s handsome face that really did it for me.

I’d spent so much time trying to get space from Noah, I didn’t realize until he came into my room this morning how much I’d fucked up. I just panicked last night. I don’t know why. I don’t know why the thought of being in a relationship with him made me freak out. I just like being around him as a friend.

Our hooking up has to stop, though not having to worry about condoms has been nice. No, I’m so dumb, that doesn’t matter. What matters is fixing my friendship with Noah. That’s what matters. He matters. Hearing footsteps, I see Noah walkingtoward me with a scowl on his pretty face. He always looks delicate and expensive. It’s the only way I can describe him, which is hilarious because he’s anything but delicate. Wearing my hoodie, he walks up to me. “What do you want, dickbag?”

Great. Here goes nothing. “I want to apologize for last night. I acted like a dick.”

“Oh, I don’t think that was an act.”

Aren’t we in a forgiving mood.Awesome. “I’m sorry. I just think things got out of hand. You’ve been spending more and more time with me, and I think we need to take a break from it. Just for a bit. I don’t want a relationship and—”

Noah barks out a laugh. “Stop thinking so highly of yourself. I assure you, I do not.”

I know he’s hurt, but that doesn’t explain all the texts, the constantly wanting to hang out. Trying to stay over. “You’re always trying to be around me Noah, don’t act like you’re not. Trying to sleep in my bed, trying to cuddle and shit, it’s . . . it’s . . .”

Noah’s green eyes blow wide. “I always try to hang out with you? Are you fucking kidding me? I try to stay,asshole,because I hate walking back that late at night. You never come to my dorm, which is fine, I have a roommate. Still, you never even offer to walk me back. I am not a hole for you to just use. I have fucking feelings. And as for as always trying to sleep in bed with you, I’m exhausted after we fuck. Do you know how tiring it is to always put in most of the effort!” Uh. . . “And I love to cuddle. I am a great cuddler!” he screams.

I feel like all eyes in the quad are on us now. Okay, I need to defuse. “Maybe I misunderstood. It’s just, you text me all day. It’s all the time. It never used to be like that. Ever since the summer we—”

“You mean when you came home with me? Mark . . .” I see real tears now in his eyes. “You saw what that was like for me.I shared that part of my life with you. I just . . . I just thought we were closer.” Something washes over his features as they harden. “I text you because I thought we were fucking friends. Or did you forget that part of our arrangement. I want to hang out with you while we aren’t fucking but you never want to! That’s what friends do, Mark. I thought we were friends.” I take note of the little break in his voice.

Okay, wow. I feel like shit. Why didn’t I see this? “I thought you just wanted to hook up.”

Adjusting his backpack he shakes his head, looking away. “You must think real highly of your dick. If I wanted to just fuck, I could get any guy I want. I hang out with you, though, because I thought we were friends. Guess not. We’re done. You’re unbelievable. Have a nice life. Choke on a dick.” He storms off before turning around to face me. “And I’m keeping the sweater!”

Shit. “Noah—” Ignoring me, he marches down the path toward the art building. That’s not how I thought this was going to go. I feel like shit. Why would Noah want to hang out with me though? He could hang out with literally anyone else. None of this made sense. Noah is popular and fun, and I’m . . . I’m—

“What made the twink run away?”

I nearly jump at the voice. “Don’t call him that.” Jesus. I do not need this right now. “What do you want?”

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