Four Letter Word (Love Logic #2) - K.M. Neuhold Page 0,75
to fucking think of someone else for once in your selfish goddamn life.”
“Leo, what the fuck?” Bishop gasps from behind me. I cringe, and before I can even try to explain, he pushes past me, taking Hudson’s face in his hands. “Are you okay? Shit, you’re bleeding. Come on, I have napkins in my car so we can clean you up.”
I stand rooted in the spot while Bishop leads Hudson away without so much as a backward glance in my direction.
“Fuck,” I groan quietly. It took me all these years to work up the courage to make something happen with Bishop, and it took me about five seconds to make him hate me.
“That probably wasn’t the best move,” Riot says, agreeing with my unspoken thoughts. “I think he’ll forgive you once Hudson stops bleeding though.”
“I didn’t mean to do that, but fuck, he just makes me so goddamn mad.”
“I gathered that,” Riot chuckles, and something about the jovial sound eases some of the tension still wound tight in my chest.
“Fuck,” I mutter again.
“Do you at least feel better now that you’ve punched him?” he asks.
Do I? I flex my hand, feeling the ache in my knuckles. “Not really. I kind of feel like an asshole.”
Riot pats me on the shoulder. “You want to come stay at my place tonight and let Bishop baby Hudson a little? Probably best to give him a night to cool off anyway.”
I hesitate, looking in the direction of the parking lot where Bishop and Hudson disappeared. As much as I want to go over there and beg Bishop to forgive me, it’s probably best to let him cool off for the night.
“Yeah,” I agree.
Hudson
Bishop crouches in front of me, carefully dabbing at the blood still dripping from my nose with a wadded up napkin.
“I’m going to fucking kill him,” he mutters. “I think your nose might be broken.”
“It’s not broken,” I argue, taking the napkin from his hand and holding it in place myself. “And I deserved the punch.”
“Let me take you home, and we’ll get some ice on it at least,” he says.
“My car is here.”
“I’ll drive you back to get it tomorrow. Worry about your bloody nose and I’ll worry about driving.”
He stands up, and Riot approaches, putting an arm on the roof of the car and leaning against it. I glance in the rearview mirror and see Leo standing next to Riot’s car a few feet away. It reminds me of the time I got into a fist fight with a kid at soccer practice and our parents stood next to the car discussing our behavior.
“You okay?” Riot asks, stooping enough to look at me.
“I’m fine.” I wave my free hand dismissively.
“I’m so pissed at Leo right now,” Bishop says.
“I know. He’s going to come crash at my place tonight. I figured that would be for the best.”
“That’s fine. I’m going to Hudson’s anyway.”
Riot leans in closer to Bishop and drops his voice so I have to strain to hear what he says. “I know it’s hard because you love them both, but this issue is between them, and you need to let them work it out like adults.”
“I would if they were acting remotely like adults,” Bishop grumbles, and Riot chuckles and then presses a kiss to his forehead.
“Have a good night. Let’s talk in the morning.”
“Yeah,” Bishop agrees, giving him a quick kiss on the lips before coming around the car and getting into the driver's seat.
The drive to my place is quiet. Bishop doesn’t even turn on any music, which leaves me to stew in my guilt. I knew I fucked up when I let Leo down, but I didn’t realize how much of a long-term impact my fuck up had. I never worried about student loans, never even thought about how much it might cost to have to pay them back. He’s right: I’m a spoiled, rich brat who doesn’t know shit about what his life is like. I wasn’t kidding though. I would pay off his student loans in a heartbeat if it would set things right between us.
“I deserved the punch. I ruined Leo’s life,” I blurt.
“I’m sure you didn’t ruin his life.”
“He was waiting on his official transcripts so he could mail in his scholarship application. It was the deadline to get them in the mail, and he had to go to football practice, so he asked me to mail them for him. He trusted me with it because it was important, and I got