Page 69 of Manhattan Tormentor

That has me cracking my head up. “What are we doing if you’re not gay? Why are you on my body so much if you don’t have an ounce of queer in you, Finn?” He can reject me countless times, but he’s out of his superior mind if he wants me to pretend it hasn’t knocked the wind out of me. I don’t play. I don’t pretend. I’ve always been who I am, and that is, a guy attracted to this brutal monster.

I still can’t answer why it’s him.

“Don’t act like what? Like I’m hurt? Confused? Fucking exhausted that even weeks later you’re too chickenshit to admit that you like me. It’s such a small thing to give me. Rejection is never fun, Maverick, you should be in my shoes.” My voice escalates in volume before I rein myself in with a long exhale.

He stands taller, watching me in that way of his I can’t really read. He clenches his jaw tight enough I see the muscle ticking furiously. “You have no idea what it’s like.”

“I bet.” Digging into my pocket, I feel for my car keys because the last thing I want is to have to come back here for them. I head for the door.

“You’re leaving?” He asks and I laugh cynically. He’s surprised? Does he think he can walk all over me? Yeah, he does and I’ve let him.

“Call me when you know what you want, Finn. Enjoy all the pussy you fall into, maybe it can convince you you’renormal.”

Because that’s who I am now. The guy who puts my pride in the fucking gutter for attraction and good dick.

Not sure who I hate more in this second, me or Finn fucking Maverick.

C H A P T E R 19

Finn

He’s the one making me feel this way.

He’s the one pushing my buttons.

He’s the one making me question who I am.

He’s the one challenging me all the time, and I’mtired of it.

If he continues to push me, then I have to push back.

Then why am I stalking after him in the hallway? Grabbing his arm, I make Sage stop in his tracks, crowding up against him close enough to feel his breath on my face.

One call from my father reminding me of my obligations to the family. I’m unhinged, ready to fire at will. Stray fucking emotional bullets I’ve put into Sage’s chest and I want to roar my frustration.

He has no idea what I have to deal with. How would I explain it?

My father is an oppressive sonuvabitch and I’mtrapped.

Several times I’ve been on a video chat with him from ‘Alabama’ and he’s oblivious that I’m right here in New York. He doesn’t care about the details of his son’s life, only that I fall in line. He’s too caught up in his own life, screwing anything that walks. If it’s not a profitable business deal, then Jeremy Maverick isn’t interested.

I’m a commodity like my mother.

“What the fuck do you want from me?” I husk in his face. I have nothing left to give, yet tempted beyond measure with those lips in grabbing distance.

Sage is a complication I didn’t see coming until it was too late.

I need to shake him off.

There are bigger things to think about.

I give him nothing and expect everything.

“Absolutely nothing. Now move back so I can leave.” He says dry without feeling. It’s as though he’s turned back into the robot I used to watch, unaffected by humanity.

There’s something about him that pulls me in, makes me say and do things I never would with anyone else.

He’s wrong about falling into other bodies to forget him. No one else exists.

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