Page 47 of Bend Him, Break Him

Isaac reluctantly made his way toward the party, practically backstepping until Carlos shoulder-bumped him. The gesture encouraged Isaac to move forward, but Isaac proved stubborn.

“Just go inside; you know you wanna see Colton.”

Isaac groaned. He did. Desperately. More than he’d let on over the last few weeks among his friends, but apparently, his glum mood had been quite easy for Carlos, Mina, and Jazz to read.

“You sure there’s nothing else we can do about the program you made?” Isaac wanted to see Colton, but he wanted to see him with a win in his hands.

While Colton processed the scandal, retreating into solitude and taking space to handle the fallout of their sex plastered all across the internet, Isaac went to work uncovering evidence on who had uploaded the video.

Well, Isaac mostly leaned on Carlos to uncover evidence since he was the tech genius.

Isaac nudged Carlos, reiterating his query. “Well?”

“It’s damn near impossible to track the original uploader since the video’s been reuploaded about a thousand-ish times. I’ve got my phishing software out there, ready and baited, but they have to take the bait.”

“He,” Isaac corrected because he knew it was Leon, even if everyone else insisted they needed concrete evidence. “Can’t you just hack his computer?”

“I could try if I wanted to break several laws and quite possibly turn up with nothing.” Carlos shrugged. “It’s not like the movies. I’m not sure if we’ll find anything.”

Isaac once again contemplated beating the ever-living fuck out of Leon.

It’d be a win-win since he could release all this pent-up frustration and get a confession.

But Jazz’s warnings raddled in his head, how it’d be considered coercion, something about morals or ethics or other legalese bullshit that Mina sprinkled into the conversation to strengthen Jazz’s argument.

Add to that Jazz’s mention of how the act would likely lead to Isaac’s expulsion, whether or not he forced the truth out of Leon.

No, if he wanted to hit Leon, he’d need him to swing first, which was unlikely since he was a cowardly snake.

“Did he say where to meet up?” Carlos asked as he led them inside. “Mina and Jazz said they’d be circling the bar scene until we got here.”

“Just say kitchen.” Isaac scoffed. “It’s not suddenly a bar just because they drop all their booze in there.”

He kept close to Carlos, letting him lead the way while he checked his phone for any follow-ups from Colton.

Nothing. Which was surprising since Colton typically text-bombed Isaac with a flurry of messages.

Though, he’d gone silent the last few weeks.

Maybe it’d changed his attitude on messaging. Or on Isaac.

Scouring the party scene, Isaac couldn’t help the twinge of guilt that pinched at him.

If he hadn’t been involved with Colton, so public with Colton, so hypersexual with Colton, then that video might never have happened.

If he had been more vigilant of his surroundings, he might have noticed someone set a phone or spyware or a fucking giant ass video camera in the room to record them.

Unable to spot Colton, Isaac found himself growing anxious.

When his gaze locked onto the last person he wanted to see, that anxiety twisted into irritation.

William Cox. Isaac still despised Will, especially given his cocky bravado the last time they crossed paths.

And that cockiness remained as he strutted through the crowd.

William walked around the party with a swagger Isaac hadn’t seen in months.

Yes, he’d been brazen when he bumped into Isaac, showcasing phony arrogance meant to taunt, but Isaac knew, for the most part, that William sulked with his new standing.

Why? Because Isaac had carefully observed William after the GSA kicked him out.

Isaac had silently studied him from a distance over the semester to ensure he didn’t inflict his brand of outing horrors onto any unsuspecting fools desperate enough to roll into William’s bed.

The glint in William’s eyes, the pride in his slick smirk.

It sent a chill through Isaac. It told him something foul was afoot.

William wasn’t putting on a show; he was delighted by something wicked he’d done.

Isaac chased that feeling as he chased William down from the other side of the party.

After years of ignoring his instincts and finding himself endangered in one way or another, Isaac learned to lean into his gut feelings, read rooms, read people, read situations, and vigilantly search for answers.

When William’s attention flitted in Isaac’s direction, his eyes went wide and he blanched in horror. Without missing a beat, William beelined in the opposite direction.

That was suspicious. And there was only one way for Isaac to handle things that he found suspicious. Hit them and hurt them until they made sense.

“I told you the next time I saw you, I’d beat the ever-living fuck outta you.” Isaac stalked toward William, cornering him against the wall.

“You don’t own the campus; I can go wherever I want.”

“Sure. As long as I’m not there or anyone I care about.”

“You don’t care about anyone, you asshole.” William shoved Isaac, lightly pressing against his chest and testing the resistance. “You really gonna cause a scene here?”

Isaac glared, fueling the fear in William and savoring the shaky hands as they retreated.

“You think anyone here cares?” Isaac cocked his head, turning to the crowd. “Hey, y’all! I’m about to beat the fuck out of this annoying ass queer kid! Gay on gay crimes! Watch me shove my fist down his throat! No gag reflex if I remember correctly.”

No one paid Isaac’s shouting any mind except for Carlos, who tried to gently pry Isaac back.

“If you wanna try some screaming, maybe that’ll work.” Isaac leaned in close, his flaring nostrils nearly pressed to William’s nose.

“Just leave me alone.”

“First, tell me why you’re here.” Isaac shook off Carlos and folded his arms. “This isn’t your scene.”

“And it’s yours?” William sneered.

“I was invited.”

Truthfully, Isaac avoided parties of any kind—anything involving crowds typically wasn’t his scene.

William, on the other hand, always preferred clubs, somewhere where he knew his oh-so-charming personality would pay off.

Not that there weren’t curious straight guys at this party, but Isaac often found William wanted to attend these frat bashes during the wee hours when the crowd thinned and horny bodies were easily swayed.

“Invited?” William tsked. “Yeah, by your desperate boyfriend.”

That piqued Isaac’s attention.

“You’ve been talking to Colton?”

“No.”

“Funny because I can’t get ahold of him.”

“I don’t know anything.”

“Liar, liar.” Isaac dug into his pocket and retrieved his lighter, quickly sparking it.

He held the open flame against William’s hip. When the boy shouted and wriggled to move away, Isaac smacked him in the face with his free hand. Even as the heat of the lighter sizzled Isaac’s thumb, he kept it pressed against the jean fabric of William’s pants.

“What are you up to, Willy?” Isaac gently guided the hot flame. “Don’t make me set your willy on fire next.”

“Okay, okay, okay…” William recoiled, pinned in place but desperately trying to avoid the flame Isaac now waved close to his former friend’s face. “What do you want?”

“I want to know everything that’s got you smiling,” Isaac said with a gruff darkness in his voice. “And if I feel like you’re not being absolutely honest with me, I’m gonna have to burn away that smile and everything else about you I don’t like.”

Isaac tilted his head, holding the flame so close it created a glint in his sparkling blue eyes. They were icy and filled with malice, which only made his bright grin from ear to ear all the more menacing.

Horror swept through Isaac as he listened to William’s confession. Each word further enraging Isaac.