Page 14 of The Trust (As Above)
Jordan
“I know that was him .”
Craig says him as if it’s a curse off his lips and my fists flex.
Is this motherfucker really about to do this?
My teeth grind as he spins around, looking at different patrons as if he’ll find familiarity somewhere inside my gym.
Problem with that?
Most of the people that come here know of Mac.
They’ve seen him around. He does this shit where he sneaks through, past everyone, as if he’s not fucking famous.
I think it’s just to see me for that last split second before he darts off to his next thing, but I also never had the heart to ask him not to.
Because while I asked Lemon to keep his trap shut, I also like seeing Mac before he leaves just as much as he likes running through here.
He belongs here.
And everyone here knows not to mess with Mac, that he’s close to me.
“I can’t believe it.”
Okay, maybe we’re just starstruck —
“You let that faggot in here?”
Red-hot and instant rage claims me, and I vault over the counter.
Fist Craig’s too-small and sweat slicked shirt in my grip.
Bring his face real, real close to mine.
“Say it again.”
His eyes narrow on me.
“Say what?”
“ I dare you .”
“Jordan, c’mon. Don’t,” Lemon says somewhere behind me, but I can’t see him through the tunnel my vision has entered.
All I see is the fear and disgust warring in Craig’s eyes. The sneer curling his lip. The apprehension bringing his shoulders up to protect his neck.
“Oh, I’m gonna,” I snarl out and stare right down my nose at Craig, so he knows I’m talking to him.
“Seriously, I know he’s heard worse,” Lemon placates, except it’s having the opposite effect. He tugs at my arm, the one wrapping up the neck of Craig’s shirt, but I shake him off.
The look on Craig’s face morphs into pure hatred then and my boiling blood rolls over.
“Listen to your buttbuddy, bro, and get the fuck off me.”
Head meet nose .
Blood sprays from his face and he stumbles back a step.
My grip on his shirt brings him right back into my face.
“ Say it again .”
“Fuck you!”
I growl right in his tomato face when he pushes at my arm.
“What, you can’t say it to my face with a broken nose?”
Craig forces out a scoff that pushes more crimson from his nostrils and stains his sneer. “If I’d known you were a fucking fag lover—” he spits red on my mats, and I can’t stop my fist from flying.
Something in his jaw crunches and I let go in time for him to fall to the floor.
“ Get the fuck out of my house .”
“You’re a thief!” he crows and scrambles away from me on his hands and knees. “A-a fucking queer .”
I follow.
“I’ll refund your fucking money. I don’t want it anyway.”
“You know,” he starts, climbing to his feet, the door at his back like a shield. “You just ruined your own career. I’m gonna own this fucking place when I’m done with you.”
My lips tip up.
“Sure you want it, Craig? Sure you want all the queerness rubbing off on you? I heard there was some gay sex happening in the apartment upstairs just this morning. There might still be some lube on my cock.” His eyes go wide, mouth dropping open.
“Maybe it’d come with your own queer-awakening like it did mine. ”
And with a smirk, I shove him out the door.
He stumbles back onto the cement in shock and Lemon takes the opportunity to throw his duffle in his face.
Craig groans at the impact, then snags his bag from the ground before he’s swallowed up by the pedestrians and disappears from view.
I’m shaking when I turn around, still pissed when I find every set of eyes in the room on me.
“If anyone else has a fucking problem with me being a part of the alphabet mafia, you can get the fuck out, too.”
I stalk across to my desk, rip the little flag from the penholder and snag a Scotch tape dispenser. Walking both back to the front door, I tape the flag to the pane with a single long piece of adhesive.
It’s then that I realize the flag was replaced with the actual rainbow instead of the ally version.
And it feels even more profound.
“Everyone is welcome here,” I say to the window, though I know my members can all hear me.
There’s maybe seven people here, but I feel each of their eyes on my back.
“And I mean everyone .”