Page 76 of Manhattan Tormentor

I don’t fucking know.I say silently, shaking my head for him to drop it. He doesn’t get the message. “Think he’s gonna die?”

“No.” I growl.

Bile rushes up into my throat and I turn vicious eyes on my oldest friend. I could flatten him into dust for those words.

He depresses the mechanical locks and I climb into the passenger side; he rounds his car and climbs in. “Seriously, man, what was that about? You were acting like… I don’t know, like you were worried about the Damsel.”

Worried? He has no idea the turbulence I’m swallowing right now, so I don’t explode. I’ve never been through anything like that before.

Not with someone I… someone I…

“Drop me off at the hospital.” I croak, eyes forward, my hands clasped tight in my lap. My phone vibrates in my pocket and I ignore it.

I can feel Bates boring a hole in the side of my head.

He’s trying to figure me out.

Trying to work out what I’m doing and with Sage, of all people.

Why do I care? He’s probably wondering. And I sit, holding my concern and worry.

“Oh, fuck, man, did you push the kid under the car?” He cackles under his breath like it’s the funniest thing ever, and I can’t blame him. I would have laughed too had it been anyone else.

We’re those kinds of guys.

Heartless.

Fucking cruel.

Unfeeling.

Bastards.

We’re lower than low.

I think without me around, Bates would be a decent guy. I’m the one who makes himfoul. I’m the instigator and Bates my disciple. He’s stuck by me through everything. We always have each other’s backs without question. It is what best friends do. But not if they make each other become ruthless monsters.

He knows I’ve tormented Sage for months, didn’t ask why, he hopped right on board because he’s my best buddy and it’s what we do.

I bring the worst out in him.

Sage brought the best out in me. I wasn’t so much of a dick when I was around him.

Now Bates thinks I’ve pushed him under a car.

I let him think it.

Because I am the original monster. The villain. The bad guy in this scenario.

What else can I say; that the guy I’ve been fucking might die on the way to a hospital, and I have to get there to make sure he’s okay.

I can’t say that.

It’s too truthful. Too…everything.

C H A P T E R 22

Noah Fierro

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