Page 251 of Shadowman

This is theirs. I know it.

They’re fucking gone…

My best friends in the entire world. The only real friends I’ve ever had.

The friends I calledselfishandtoxic. The friends I abandoned for a strikingstrangerwith purple eyes…

“No!” I roar and sob and choke. “Fuck… why??”

My heart has split into fragments of its own wreckage. And all I can do is remember…

“So yea… That’s the story of me and Ren,” Luthor said, frowning at the cafeteria table with sadness in his light green eyes.

“That sounds… like a nightmare,” I rumbled.

I was out of my league listening to his relationship drama. But still, it felt good just listening. Having someone confide in me.

“You can say that again.” He chuckled.

I could tell he was upset, and alone. And something in me just wanted to help. To beneeded.

So I said, “Hey, feel free to vent to me anytime.”

Luthor’s face sprung, his eyes meeting mine. “Really?”

“Yea. I mean, I just got here. It’s not like I have friends or anything…”

“You do now.” Luthor smiled kindly. Instantly and blindly accepting.

It wrapped me up like a warm blanket of comfort I needed so badly, after everything I’d been through; the secrets that landed me here.

“Cool,” I mumbled, downplaying it. “And don’t worry. I’ll be on your side, no matter what. Loyalty is everything, after all.”

Luthor chuckled, shaking his head knowingly. “You say that now…”

My brow furrowed. “What does that mean?”

“Just wait until you meet Ren.” He bit his lip, fiddling with his fingers. “He’s dazzling enough that you’ll probably forget all about any allegiance to me…”

I squinted at him. “I think I’ll be alright…”

Shuddering through the pain, I gasp for air. Seeing it all, flashing through my mind like a broken slideshow, crackling and burning away the memories. Three years…Three fucking years.Of laughter and camaraderie.

Blue eyes and black hair and plush lips…

Three years of passing the time together.

“Don’t fight me…”

“Shut up.”

“Tell me it doesn’t feel good, though, Byron…” Ren’s deep voice purred, playing those games so well.

Burdened with a lustful need that would radiate from him like a pheromone, too alluring to resist…

Giving up and in, my hands traveled his frame. “You’re… sure? That Luthor doesn’t care…?”

“I’m doing this for him,” he whispered, opening for me. “To have him.”