Page 25 of Bend Him, Break Him

Isaac anxiously awaited Colton’s arrival, chain-smoking while his mind whirled around everything that’d happened over the last few days.

There was so much he wanted to say, to share, to get off his chest. When Colton had explained his outing ordeal, it didn’t sit well with Isaac, so he approached William for clarification on his concerns.

Isaac hadn’t expected to punch William. He hadn’t expected to break his nose, to dislocate two of his fingers, to threaten him from an inch of his life.

But he also hadn’t expected William to do something so malicious for no other reason than a chance at his own entertainment. It was the laugh he’d given when Isaac confronted him.

“You hate the guy. I mean, you hate everyone, but seriously, what’s it fucking matter?” William playfully slapped Isaac on the back—his biggest mistake during their encounter. “He’s better out of the closet, anyway.”

Isaac knew William had a history of outing folks, unintentionally and well-timed coincidences, according to their mutual friend Carlos.

Although the other GSA member didn’t consider William much of a friend.

Carlos often gave people the benefit of the doubt, so when he aired on the side of caution around William, Isaac knew to keep a careful distance.

The only problem was that Isaac never considered William a personal threat or issue since he wasn’t in the closet and didn’t have any closeted friends.

He still didn’t. Colton wasn’t a friend.

Still, the knowledge of William’s actions didn’t sit well with Isaac.

“He’s happy.” William had tightened his grip on Isaac’s shoulder, nearly setting him off right then.

“The world hasn’t turned upside down on itself, and we have a queer athlete to act as a beacon or icon or role model.

Or just a model. Seriously, dude is fine as hell, and when I tell you he’s got a nice package, Izzy, you’ve got no idea. ”

It was then that Isaac had to set the tone of their conversation. He twisted those fingers still touching him, tempted to break them, but he still had more questions, more things to account for.

When William had satisfied Isaac’s curiosity, he contemplated giving his theater friend a chance to discreetly and quietly fade away from the GSA before Isaac made it his mission to destroy him.

But if Will walked away unscathed, not only would he learn nothing from his errors, but others would never suspect him of foul play in the future.

The rumor mill Carlos clung to would continue to grow, but that’d be all.

The worst part of this whole nightmare was the gnawing guilt that clawed its way inside Isaac and hollowed him out.

Not for William. In a matter of days, he’d forget Will ever existed, releasing that friendship to the ether as gently as he had his love for his family.

Severing ties never came hard for Isaac.

He preferred to be alone; it left less risk of being hurt.

No, the pain and guilt gutting him again and again had to do with Colton.

Not the outing itself, an old wound for sure, but still there were events Isaac had orchestrated to put Colton in his place.

Now, his reasons began to blur as Isaac considered the lengths William had gone to for his own agenda. What was Isaac’s agenda? Justification?

A sudden knock at his door roused Isaac from his spot. Tossing the cigarette, Isaac shook loose his nerves and went to let Colton inside.

Colton stood there, too dressed up for a conversation. “You look extra frumpy.”

“Thanks?” Isaac hissed, closing the door behind them.

“Just saying, you put in like zero effort when you could actually rock some good looks.”

Isaac didn’t respond.

“Okay, small talk is dead.” Colton clapped his hands. “Care to tell me what the hell happened with William?”

Isaac was certain the other members of GSA were climbing the walls awaiting answers—answers Jazz was currently finding the right words for.

Isaac didn’t do the right words; he didn’t do the right anything.

It was his leftie claim to fame. He merely acted when the impulse struck.

While waiting for Jazz’s thoughtful reflection would probably be best for Colton in the long run, Isaac believed he deserved the truth now, unfiltered, especially since it connected so deeply to the jock.

“I spoke with Will about my suspicions surrounding your outing.”

“Suspicions?” Colton quirked a brow.

“William isn’t the discreet type. And this isn’t the first time I’ve suspected him of having a hand in someone’s coming out story.” Isaac explained his theory. “I got him to admit he was the reason you were recorded, outed.”

Shock filled Colton’s face, his stance turned shaky, and he nearly stumbled backward.

Isaac swept in faster than he realized, faster than he should have, but it was too late.

One hand was already wrapped around Colton’s waist and pressed to the small of his back while the other gripped his shoulder.

“It’s a lot, I know,” Isaac said, keeping his grip firm until Colton’s breathing eased. “I had this sinking feeling when you shared your story with me.”

“You just came up and asked about me?” There was a tremble in Colton’s voice.

“No.” Isaac gritted his teeth, ashamed of how he’d prioritized keeping his arrangement with Colton a secret, which clearly meant he was no better than William or anyone else Isaac despised for a lack of morals.

“I addressed my concerns about a few rumors, rumors which tied in well when adding yours to the list. Like I said, this isn’t the first time Will has been suspected of having a hand in someone’s coming out story. ”

“Was it all a con from the start?”

“No,” Isaac lied because he hadn’t asked William for that clarity, but he knew his friend was more opportunistic than calculating. “I think because your hookups were recurring, he just saw a way to have fun and exploit someone else in the process.”

“Fuck.” Colton ran his hands through his hair, a gesture Isaac noticed him do when nervous and trying to think more clearly. “You know, I always assumed this was my fault. My bad luck and reckless behavior catching up to me, leading to my big scandal.”

“You don’t have to worry about William anymore.

” Isaac grimaced as if William were the worst of Colton’s problems. William’s actions were reprehensible, but his grievances were old news, no longer a wound that pained Colton.

“He’s gonna step away from GSA for a while.

He wants to focus on his theater credits. ”

“He just chose to step away?”

“Carlos might’ve noted a few other instances where he also heard rumors.

” Isaac let Colton absorb that comment. He didn’t need to further elaborate how Colton wasn’t the first, merely the biggest fish in William’s sordid history.

“Jazz is a very accepting person, very open-minded and forgiving, but she won’t allow someone on the GSA committee who had a hand in outing people, in taking away that choice from them. ”

“Like a morality clause.” Colton nodded. “I have one of those in my contract.”

“Not exactly.” Isaac shrugged. “There’s official ways to remove someone from their role as a club officer, but between Jazz laying down the formalities of officially bringing up sanctions to Mina threatening to break his nose a second time and Carlos reminding folks that he’d picked IT cybersecurity for a reason—so whatever dirty secrets William still had, might not remain so secret. ”

“Yikes.” Colton made a playful face of fright, which quickly dissolved into genuine concern. “So, everyone’s gonna know he outed me?”

“Maybe. Folks will likely just speculate. Like I said, Carlos mentioned others. Quite a few, apparently.” Isaac shrugged. “Members will know William had a hand in outing guys on campus or outing members to their families accidentally before they were ready.”

Colton’s eyes went wide at that. It wasn’t like his family didn’t already know his sexuality, but Isaac imagined it was still a difficult topic to broach.

“I can’t believe you exposed him, connected those dots.”

“Studying people is what I do,” Isaac said, thinking about how his paranoid mind always tried to imagine the worst-case scenario in every possible situation so he could prepare for the inevitable painful outcome and brace himself.

It’d served him well and helped him avoid awful fates since his incident junior year.

“Part of me considered keeping it quiet, threatening to expose him, in exchange for the tapes, but he claimed not to have access to them.”

And Isaac knew that was the truth, considering the private and brutal beating he unleashed, threatening with all sincerity to do so much worse to William unless he convinced Isaac he wasn’t lying.

“You do blackmail like no one else.” Colton chuckled, more amazed than frightened.

That gutted Isaac. He couldn’t stop seeing himself as any different from this reporter, hungry for a story, or William, who enjoyed the rush of puppeteering people’s lives. But he buried that feeling like he buried every feeling that struck when nearby Colton.

“Since William was a dead end on your outing, I looked up the name of the reporter who did your first story.” Isaac scoffed. “You realize, you have like a thousand coming out articles.”

“Only a thousand? That’s a bit disappointing.” Colton shot Isaac a weak smile. “You should check out how many reaction posts there were.”

“Just know, I’ll get back the tapes and ensure—”

“Don’t. There’s no need.” Colton was too calm about the situation, likely still not fully registering exactly how manipulated by the situation he’d been. “He never planned on releasing the tapes. Just wanted the exposé on my coming out story.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I do. Once he had my story, he gave me the copies, and I burned them.”

“You’re sure he doesn’t have others?”