Page 75 of Manhattan Secret

He instantly freezes then relaxes as if by sheer force of will, making me think he does. “Nah, too busy with school.”

We played tag. Little shit beat me.

We ate more food, played video games in the arcades.

I hand him two twenties to grab more tokens while I take a piss. On my way back, I can’t find Sage at first, he isn’t at the shootout game he likes best.

Prowling through the crowded arcade, I find him talking to a guy in my grade. Finn…someone. Fuck if I remember him all that well, but what I do know is, he’s a douche. I’m not sure if he’d been on the football team last year with Theo. He’s one of those sullen assholes with a crew behind him to do his bidding.

And right now he’s snarling in Sage’s face.

“Lie to yourself all you want, Finn.” I hear my brother say.

“You know nothing about me. Iwarnedyou.” Agitated, he hisses, taking a step towards Sage. His dark head anchoring down the few inches he has on my brother; his whole body bristling from head to toe like he’s ready to violently strike.

Not fucking likely, dude. I rush forward, even as Sage doesn’t back up, in fact he pushes his chest into Finn’s who just stands there, breathing heavily, teeth bared in a threatening mode.

Both sets of eyes turn to me. “Back the hell up.” I hiss, shoving a hand on his chest, I push him back from Sage, glaring at the dead man walking who dares threaten my brother.

“It’s alright, Lachie. Finn was just leaving.”

I didn’t even know Sage knew this guy.

Not like they mix in the same circles.

In fact, they couldn’t be more different if they tried.

Huffing his palpable anger, Finn going on glaring at Sage with a derisive smirk on his face. “Need saving by your big bro, damsel, yeah, I figured.”

I nearly go postal. The hell did he just say? Sage yanks on my arm. “Lachie, no. He’s leaving. Get lost, Finn, before I let him go berserk on you.”

“Stay the fuck away from him,” I warn, staring at the fuckface.

“Gladly,” he sneers, roaming his eyes over Sage’s face as if he still has a lot of shit to say, before he turns tail and stalks off to blend into the busy crowd.

“You wanna tell me what that was about?”

“Nothing.”

“Don’t give me that bullshit. How do you know him?”

“From school. I got the tokens, you ready to play?”

That is Sage’s way to say shit is done being talked about. He can never be pushed if he doesn’t want to share something.

“Swear to god, that emo fool either needs Jesus or to get some good pussy to even out his mood.”

“Yeah,” my baby brother says, with a weird look on his face.

I hook an arm around his neck and ruffle his ragged blond hair. “You let me know if he gives you hassle, okay?”

He snorts and straightens his hair. “What you gonna do, fly home from Boston?”

“Damn right I will.” I pull him to a halt, making sure my baby brother knows I’m serious. “Hey, you ever need anything, Sage, you call me. Doesn’t matter where I am.”

“Fine, fine. Can we stop sniffing our hankies and go shoot some shit now?”

Laughing, I punch his shoulder, my mind on that dipshit who dared glare at Sage.

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