Page 37 of Manhattan Tormentor

Bates turns red in the face.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

I wanted to say a lot more, but my sister is waiting.

“What did he want?”

“Nothing a bottle of bleach won’t fix.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to be a mad scientist instead of an engineer? Because you have a serial killer’s mind.”

For queer haters I do.

I can’t stand being in the same place as him. After ten minutes of watching Raene pick apart another pastry without eating it, I tell her it’s time to go.

I don’t hide my gaze once we near the door. Finn is slouched in the chair. Watching me as Paris whispers in his ear.

His eyes flip down to my black t-shirt with “What exactly is heterosexuality and what causes it?” written on the front.

“Leaving so soon, queen?” Bates simpers as he slips into his seat and I have to put my hand on Bunny’s arm before she turns feral.

“Yeah, babycakes.” I answer, “I thought I’d warm the bed for you.”

“Fuck you,” he growls and I grin at him while I avoid looking at Finn, who’s the most quiet he’s ever been. I wonder if he’s afraid I’ll out him.

“You wish.”

“Quit flirting with my brother, you A-hole.” Raene pipes in from the side of me. “We’re sick of you calling the house, begging for dates.” I nearly choke at her ingenious fast thinking. “He’s already told you he doesn’t like twinky boys with no dress sense.”

As burns go, my sister is the best. And I push her out of the door before she can go on. She’s giggling like an idiot. “He’s so full of himself. So glad they won’t be at school next semester.”

The sickest part of me already misses Finn. And when I cast a look back over my shoulder, I find his gray eyes staring back at me.

That weekend we fly out to the Carolinas where we watch Theo’s game and then we meet his new girlfriend, Bexley. I love my family, I do, but I’m relieved to get to my hotel room that night to decompress from their noise.

I sack out on the bed in my boxer briefs. The TV is on something shitty, but I’m already scribbling in a notebook, wishing I were home in my workshop.

60% of my inventions are usually piles of shit at first. But I learn from each mistake and make it better. If I didn’t mess up, how can I ever improve? I don’t get pissed off …much… when something doesn’t come easy to me. I work that much harder to figure it out. I’m not only mom’s fixer for when appliances break. I want to contribute to something great one day. Make healthcare easier for our caretakers. Improve protection for our military. Something as simple as the calculator changed lives forever.

I want to do that.

My ambition has no ceiling, so I push myself to the point of exhaustion sometimes. And it’s while lying on the hotel bed, chewing on the end of a pen while I brainstorm a solution for my microchip, I yawn and ignore the ping of my phone.

Chelsea has bugged me all day.

Oh, she’s sweet and all that.

But she knows I’m a low maintenance guy and her high maintenance needs clash with me. Sometimes I can indulge her, but not today.

I ignore the pings a while longer until they piss me off. Grabbing my phone with the intent on turning it off, the name Maverick on screen shoots blood straight down to my groin. I nearly fall off the bed in my haste to sit on the edge.

Maverick:What causes gayness?

Maverick:Your gay shirt was funny.

Maverick:You ignoring me?

Maverick:What-the-fuck-ever, ignore me, couldn’t give a shit.

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