Page 168 of Pride High 3: Yellow

Anthony pinched the bridge of his nose and tried to calm himself. “Listen, this isn’t about you and me anymore. You should be thinking of Ricky.”

“What about him?”

“The police know he was involved.”

“What?” Diego’s eyes widened. “How?”

Anthony didn’t reply, wanting to protect his best friend.

Diego reached his own conclusion. “Omar fucked up, didn’t he?”

“That doesn’t matter. Ricky is going to take the fall. Just like you did with the garage. And you’re right, it wasn’t fair back then, and what will happen to Ricky isn’t fair either. But we both know how the world works. Someone always gets the blame.”

“That’syourworld andyourrules,” Diego shot back. “I make my own.”

“By hiding in a cave? From the cops? That might be your world, but it’s not Ricky’s. I’m sorry that you were dealt such a bad hand. I really am. But you’re going to drag him down with you.”

Diego scowled. “So I should just curl up and die somewhere, huh? Leave the precious middle class to their perfect little lives.”

“It’s not about money,” Anthony said. “You know my family never had much either. I guess…” He shook his head and sighed. “I guess I hoped he could save you.”

“From what?”

“Everything that happened,” Anthony said, his anger abandoning him. “I didn’t know how to back then. I still don’t. But you can save Ricky. Turn yourself in. If you really care about him—if youlovehim—that’s what you’ll do.”

He watched Diego clench and unclench his fists, like he couldn’t decide if he wanted to punch Anthony or not. Which was relatable. At times Anthony thought he hated Diego. At others, thinking about the tragedies his former friend had suffered through made him want to cry. And yeah, he was to blame for some of that. And by extension had played a part in what was happening now. “I’m sorry—” Anthony began to say.

“Don’t!” Diego walked toward him menacingly. “I don’t want your fucking pity! Understand?”

“It’s not pity,” Anthony croaked.

“Then what is it?”

Love? Regret? Sorrow? The emotion was too complex to put into words, so he merely swallowed and shook his head.

“Don’t worry about Ricky,” Diego said as he turned around. “I’ll take care of him.”

“I’m sure you will,” Anthony murmured while watching him walk away. “But who’s going to take care of you?”

CHAPTER 27

May 22nd, 1993

Diego was used to people hating him. That was easy to deal with. What he wasn’t used to anymore was love and how complicated it made everything. Anthony’s words had cut to the bone, like they so often did. When he returned to the cave, he saw Ricky in a different light. He looked small. And innocent. Especially in the way he walked around touching the lanterns that Diego had bought, since they would need more than candles. There were plenty of those too, not yet lit, mostly because he knew that Ricky would expect them.

He wondered if it was true—if his bad luck was enough to ruin his boyfriend’s life too. If he walked away from it all right now, if Diego made Ricky go home to his parents and refused to ever see him again, would he live a happier life? He couldn’t stand the thought. Diego should already be on his way to Texas, but he’d needed this weekend just as much, because he feltaddictedto Ricky. He didn’t know how else to describe it. And besides, the world was a cruel place. Bad things happened to good people all the time. His father had run his own business, had a wife who loved him, and son who practically worshiped him. He’d had no shortage of friends. And yet, he had still blown his own brains out. Diego didn’t know why and it drove him nuts. But there was no denying what he did know: Sometimes a good life wasn’t enough. Sometimes, no matter how happy you were and how closely you stuck to the rules, what other people did around you could still ruin it all. Was that his role now? Was he about to fuck up someone else’s life?

“This is nice,” Ricky said, still smiling like Diego had done it all for him. Which he supposed he had. If he’d been on his own and needed to avoid the cops, he would have slept in his car rather than go to all this effort. Hell, he’d be halfway to El Paso by now.

“I got some canned stuff to heat up for dinner,” Diego told him. “And there’s milk in the cooler so we can have cereal tomorrow. I don’t think it’ll last much longer than that.”

“The bed is especially nice,” Ricky said demurely. “Where’d you find such a big sleeping bag?”

“It’s two zipped together. With some extra blankets beneath it for padding. I don’t know about you, but I woke up sore last time.”

“You spoil me,” Ricky said before his happy expression faltered. “A detective stopped by my house today.”

“A real detective?” Diego asked in surprise. “Not just cops in uniform?”