Page 14 of Wanted
“Look, man, we only saw lots of light before your Mad Max-loving friend started chasing us. I have no idea what this is about,” Liv lied with such conviction even Knox would have believed him.
Shane picked up their backpacks from the floor and blew smoke out through his nose. “You should be glad I’m not the only one deciding what to do with you two lovebirds,” he said in a tone that brought back the memories of dead men and barrels. And acid.
Knox stared at him without understanding until it finally hit him.
Boyfriend.
Liv had called him his boyfriend.
What the actual fuck?
Yet Knox wouldn’t confront him until this goon left.
“Yeah, we just wanted to find a place to hide from the rain,” Knox mumbled as he watched his medicine-stuffed backpack dangle in Shane’s hand, out of reach. He glanced around and not only were he and Liv in a cage, but there was another one on the other side of the room. Those people were fucking psychos, and the two of them would never leave this place!
Shane gave them a crooked smile and winked. “Well, you found one. You’ll be dry here. Get comfy, ‘cause it might be a while,” he said and walked off.
He stepped out of the narrow interior, and it was only when he slid the double doors shut that Knox realized they were inside a huge metal box. Or a shipping container, which locked from the outside with a loudclang.
At least the fucker had left the sad little lightbulb by the entrance on instead of burying them in the dark.
Next to Knox, Liv gave a low exhale reminiscent of an echo straight from the pit of death and rested his back against the wall of thick steel. “At least they didn’t kill us yet,” he whispered.
“Fuck!” Knox screamed out, jumping to his feet despite feeling dizzy. “You should have ran when I told you! I could have held off that creepy spear fucker.”
Liv stared at him from the floor, looking exhausted but whole. “I would have never left you behind. It was always going to be you and me, right? Us against the world. Now sit down, your meds are still kicking in.”
Knox hit his fist against his aching chest several times, to resolve some of the discomfort he was feeling, and took deep breaths. He kicked the bars too, but they wouldn’t budge. “I’m not sitting down in this death trap. Oh, yeah, and now I’m your fuckingboyfriend? What the fuck was that about? Something you wanna tell me, Liv?” He scowled, pacing the cage and already finding it far too small.
Liv’s eyes, brown as the whiskey Knox badly needed to drown himself in, followed his every move. “Didn’t you hear what they said earlier? This Frank guy has a soft spot for gay guys. It’s our only fucking chance! Simmer down, will you?”
Knox shoved his fingers into his hair. He must have lost his hairband, because the dirty blond strands were now all over the place in greasy streaks. “Whatare you saying is our chance?Sucking dick to get out of here? Or am I supposed to bend over as well?” Fury made his cheeks heat, and the shame of fainting at such a pivotal moment was yet more fuel for his rage.
Liv spread his long arms, hissing when his left hand smacked the bars. “If it saves us from melting in acid, I’d blow all of them. Don’t want to, but you do what you gotta do. By all means, sit back and enjoy the show!”
Knox rolled his eyes. Unbelievable. They were in some fucked up murder container, and Liv was still making jokes. “Oh, yeah. Watching you suck dick. Sight of my dreams. Don’t forget to lick their balls while you’re at it.”
Liv jumped to his feet, annoyingly tall and broad-shouldered in this small space that smelled of fear and misery. “Maybe I will? Will that make up for me fucking Amanda in your bed?”
Knox’s blood pressure skyrocketed, and he threw his fist without thinking. Liv leaned back, but Knox acted on pure instinct, and used his other hand to punch him so hard his teeth knocked together.
“You did not!” he roared. So maybe they’d never see Amanda again. Maybe it didn’t matter. But there were rules everyone lived by, and Liv just announced he’d broken another one.
“Fuck… you,” Liv muttered, grabbing his jaw and shoving Knox back hard with the other. Damn, he was so strong even when not putting all of his muscle into it. “Get the fuck over her. She’s the past. It’s you and me now, and I’m gonna do whatever it takes to save us, whether you like it or not!”
Knox huffed, squinting at Liv. The declaration made his heart get that bit warmer, and he couldn't help it. “Until you betray me again?” he threw at Liv, but it was a half-assed dig. He believed Liv would fight for both of them, just like when he’d put his own body between Knox and the gun without thinking twice. Like when he’d accidentally killed Vlad while trying to keep Knox out of harm's way.
Liv's shoulders went slack as he watched Knox. “She had a great pussy, and maybe I enjoyed trying to get you away from her too much, but I really did it for your own good.”
Knox grabbed the bars and leaned his forehead against them, resigned to his fate. “I don’t think she really liked me all that much.”
Liv’s sigh felt rough, and while a part of Knox burned with the shame of it all and the need for proving himself, he didn’t have the strength to throw any more punches. Liv was his single ally in this fucked up situation.
Something purred, echoing in the container, and it took Knox a full ten seconds to realize it must have been Liv’s stomach.
Knox glanced at him and smirked. “You think they’ll give us the courtesy of a last meal?”
Liv offered him a crooked smile and stuck his hand under his gravel-blackened T-shirt to massage his stomach. “Guess we’ll find out,” he said grimly as the lock on the container’s door clicked.
