Page 210 of Sticks and Stones
There was no way he could saddle him with this mess. The bottom line was he didn’t think he’d be able to be intimate with another person ever again.
What he’d lived through as those five men hurt him was something that you didn’t forget.
Ever.
As for Will, he deserved a chance at happiness, and the cards that were dealt…
Corbin would carry that forever on his heart.
What he knew was Will had been the one. Corbin’s only regret was that this was going to hurt Will. Hopefully, he’d find someone who made him happy, and he’d forget about him.
Will would get married.
He’d start a family.
He’d love again.
As for Corbin, he’d never have any of that, but he accepted it.
At least he was alive.
Right?
“I appreciate your offer to stay here. I’m going to take it since I don’t want to deal with any of this right now. I don’t think I can deal with it.”
Gene didn’t mind.
Corbin needed a babysitter, and Gene didn’t mind watching out for him. Someone got into trouble when left alone, and Gene had three years to break him of that habit before they left to go home.
IFthey left, at this point.
“Well, we’re going to work for a bit. You can hang out in here, so you don’t have to deal with this. I’ll bring you some food.”
Corbin stopped him.
“I need to be near people right now, so I’m not scared. Can I sit where you guys are so I’m not alone? When I’m alone, I think about the bar and what happened.”
He absolutely could.
Since he brought up the bar, Gene was curious. If they had to go there, they needed to know what they were walking into.
“Can we talk about it a little bit?” Gene asked, trying to navigate this gently.
“What they did to me?”
He shook his head.
“No, I won’t ask you about that. If you want to talk about it, then we can talk. I need to know what your cover story was. Did you bring up Ethan and myself at all? I need to know before we face the possibility that Gabe sends us back in there.”
His eyes went huge.
“NO! You can’t go there!”
The man’s heart was racing, and Gene could tell. The artery in his neck and temple just jumped and he looked ready to climb onto him to hold him down.
“Okay, shhhhh. It’s okay,” he said, as Corbin was shaking.
“Please don’t go there!” he said, standing up. He said it so loudly, and he sounded so erratic, it brought Ethan to the room.
