Sweet Like Candy (MANxMAN)

05 - Wrap It Up

Chapter Five

Tobias's POV

An eery pricking sensation bit at my neck like a fly that just won't leave you alone. Lacking any form of subtlety, the kid drilled a hole into my head as I drove, eyes locked on me like I was a feral dog just let out of its cage. One of his hands danced across his bandaged thigh, picking at loose threads on his tattered shorts and rolling the material of a spare shirt I'd found back at Knight's between his fingers. He reeked of fear, the stench filling the car like thick, spoiled syrup, clogging my throat.

"What?" I growled, finally looking at him.

Quick as anything, he snapped his head to the window. Through the darkness of the car I watched a red stain bloom across his neck and grow up to his cheeks. Worn out tennis shoes tapped against the seat as he pressed his nose to the glass. Still, he pretended he did not look at me, and had no intention of doing so.

After Knight had stormed out, it had left Antoine and I in a brutally quiet silence. I'd quickly escaped to go find him some clothes. Shi had caught me in the hallway and demanded she take a look at me. It wasn't forgiveness for being an asshole, but it was a start. I'd given Antoine a few hours to recover before we'd left, this time he took the passenger seat. He'd been dead silent since.

"You're gonna act like I didn't see you?" I turned toward him completely now, watching the heat pouring from the vents ruffle the wild hair on his head. "Really?"

A light snort grazed the air, turning into a hacking cough as he tried to cover it up. God, it was like I was dealing with some of the pack's kids, all swift hands and shifty eyes. They learned to keep their mouth shut young, which would've been great if they didn't use it for lying about who broke some old geezers window in the neighborhood.

"Glad I'm just a big ol' joke then." Rolling my eyes, I stared back at the road. Since daylight had fallen, towering street lights poured artificial light onto the road, illuminating my driveway hidden behind the buildings. Skirting around a mound of ice, I turned the Mercedes down the drive and parked.

Without waiting for the kid I got out, twirling the car keys through my fingers. The slam of a door echoed mine, and he stumbled out, rushing from the car with arms wrapped tight around his thinly covered torso. His skin was somehow even paler, showcasing a stark ribcage and a hell of a bruise on his hip. While I was lean rather than heavily muscled, my shirts would fall over him like bedsheets. Memories of my own body that skinny bit at my mind, when I was young and sick and addicted.

Pausing, I turned toward the kid, watching him come to a sliding halt inches from me. "You got a name?" I knew his name from Warren, but he didn't know mine. I figured this would take away some of the obscene awkwardness.

Big blue eyes widened, looking almost inhumanely big and delicate under the streetlights. His mouth opened and my gaze dropped automatically--and fuck I really shouldn't have done that. Flashes of his lips filtered through my head, of pushing him against the house and taking them, of him on his knees taking me.

Shit, I really needed to be laid.

"Well?" I coughed out, listening to my own voice come scratchy and low from my throat. Damnit.

A small hand emerged from his side and he stuck it in my direction. It trembled in the open air and a faint dusting of dried blood clung to his skin and nails. "Antoine."

I returned the gesture, locking my hand around his own and feeling the ice cold flesh under mine. "Tobias."

He flinched at the first bit of contact, even though he was the one who initiated it. For a second I thought I was gripping too hard, but then I focused on his expression and realized it wasn't me. I'd seen the look before, had felt it; it was like I was the first person who didn't use my touch to hurt him. Who had no intention of using it to hurt him.