12 • The Hermit

"Why would I be jealous, you ignorant piece of shit?" he exclaims, lunging at my body ready to attack in some way, until Cain stops him, "Fuck you. Fuck youuu."

"Pinky, calm down. It was an innocent comment," Cain defends me, "Now he'll go kiss Satan and prove he's not homophobic so we can get over this bump and pretend this never happened? Right?"

"Right," I nod, smiling toward Pinky's angry face. Not that I find him attractive, but I have to admit that making him angry triggers something inside me. Something I don't want to explore, "Come on."

I head toward the strange hermit in the corner, who is now just scrolling on his cell phone. His cold face would make me turn away from him if he were anyone else, but he's not just anyone. He will be my friend, too.

He'll be friends with all of us, in fact. Maybe.

"Hello, Dylan," I greet him, causing him to put his dark, small eyes on me. His eyebrow rises as if I'm the most annoying man in the world for coming to greet him, "We met at the meeting..."

"I know who you are, Beau," he says. His voice deep and cutting, then his eyes lift to the three people behind me who do nothing to pretend they're not looking at us, "What are you doing here? What is Junior doing here?"

"I'm not here for fun, believe me," Cain mutters, grimacing. His answer makes Dylan peel himself off the wall and take a threatening step toward us.

"I just wanted to..." I start to speak, drawing his attention to me again, "Uh, we're playing and I have a dare to fulfill: to kiss you. If you don't mind, of course."

{ Pinky }

"Uh, we're playing and I have to fulfill a challenge: kiss you. If you don't mind, of course," Beau says, sounding so casual and almost amused that it makes me clench my hands into fists. Dylan frowns and looks at him like he's crazy before turning to face all of us again.

I've known Dylan for many years. We met around nine years ago when he entered our school and jumped to everyone's attention because his parents were ordinary workers and not owners of some company or something like that.

They picked on him, as you might imagine, but we were never part of that. And now, years later, Dylan is on the boards of Lambert, Galliano and Flamingoes, three of the biggest companies in Chicago. He became the youngest man to have so much power in this small community that we have, but even with his connections, power and money, he's a miserable, bitter man who won't let go of what happened in high school.

He has always said and made it clear that he doesn't like us and doesn't want to be part of our group, but for some reason he despises Cain and me specifically with immense fervor.

That's why I thought he would be ideal for Beau, one jerk to another jerk.

But Dylan is extremely attractive even with his shitty character. And Beau is incredibly handsome even if it pains me to admit it. Something inside me clenches when Dylan snorts, rolls his eyes and nods.

I don't want them to kiss.

I don't want to see Beau prove to us that he's not homophobic and actually finds me repulsive for some other reason. I don't want to see him enjoying kissing Dylan when inside me I was hoping he would choose me. Just to prove the point even better, but no.

He never thought about choosing me. And that makes me think he's not grossed out by men in general, it's just me.

"What are the rules?"

"There are no 'rules,' man," Cain replies, sounding annoyed. Dylan has a peculiar power over my friend, to turn him into an immature child, "It's just a fucking kiss. You're so frigid."

"Ignore Cain, he's drunk," Beau defends him when Dylan acquires a look of murder in his eyes. He puts his hands on Dylan's tense shoulders and gives him an easy smile, "I'll even let you do it. Come get me."

'Come get me,' he says, all calm and collected, even with a slight smile as if this is a fun game. Sam gives me a look that makes me roll my eyes in annoyance.

"Okay," Dylan replies, sounding almost normal. Without that edge he always has around us.

Beau has something about him that makes everyone feel good around him. Except for me, of course. I have no idea what it is, but he's only been here three days and he's already won over the one person who's never been won over by anyone else.

Isn't that a little suspicious?

Dylan is a little taller than Beau, so he looks down at him for a second before putting a hand on his neck almost gently and moving in for the kiss.

Beau just accepts the kiss, not closing his eyes or pulling back in disgust. He lets Dylan move his lips against his for five seconds and even responds to the kiss just before Dylan pulls away.

"Ready, now you owe me a favor," Dylan announces towards Beau as he takes a step back. Beau's face falls in surprise, "See you around."

He leaves, without turning to us again, before Beau can answer.