“I’ll be back in a bit, Justin. Joey said it’s really important, ok? Just wait here, I
promise I’ll be back.”
Justin pouted and reached for Josh, kissing his knuckles. “I
love you.”
Josh smiled and kissed Justin. “I love you too,” he said. “I’ll be right
back.”
Justin lay back on the bed and wondered what could be so important.
“Joey, you here, man?” Josh called as he walked in the house.
“In here, Josh.”
He found Joey on the couch, frowning and ringing his hands. He looked up at Josh
with angry eyes that gave Josh a bad feeling.
“Joe? What’s wrong?”
“They set you up.”
Four words, four simple words that suddenly made things a lot more complicated.
Josh fell to the couch, his heart in his throat. “What?”
“Lance and Chris. It was a setup. They
had it all planned out…so you would walk in on Chris and Justin…and it would
look like Justin was cheating on you.”
“But…how do you—?”
“I heard them talking. Lance was here earlier. He handed Chris a wad of bills…and
said thanks. Chris said if he ever needed him to do it again, it wouldn’t be a
problem.”
Josh clenched his fists in anger, gritting his teeth. “That fucker. I should
fucking press charges against him! Jesus christ, Joe, god only knows what
could have happened, giving him those pills with all the alcohol he’d had to
drink.”
“I know Josh…I know…I just…I thought you should know. I’m
not going to tell them that I know…it’s up to you what you want to do with
it.”
Josh sighed and ran his fingers his hair. “I have to tell Justin.”
Josh sat frozen on the bed, the only sign of emotion the burning rage in his
eyes.
He’d been like that for the past ten minutes, ever since he got back from
talking to Joe. Not moving. Barely
breathing. Just letting his body throb with anger.
Justin reached out hesitantly, rubbing the small of Josh’s back and scooting
closer. He felt Josh relax under
his touch, and he took that as a sign that he had permission to wrap his arms
around Josh’s waist, propping his chin on Josh’s shoulder.
“What happened,” Justin whispered, holding Josh tightly.
Josh didn’t answer, just linked his hands with Justin’s and pulled him
closer. Justin frowned, confused. “Josh? Baby what’s wrong?”
“It was a setup.”
“What was a setup?”
“Lance set us up.”
“Josh, you’re not making sense here.”
Josh sighed and turned to face Justin, his eyes still red with anger. “Lance
paid Chris to do what he did. To
give you those pills, to strip you…to make it look like something was going
on.”
Justin’s eyes widened. “What?”
Josh nodded, running a hand through Justin’s messy curls.
”How…but…how do you know?”
“You were with Lance this morning…”
Justin looked down, avoiding Josh’s eyes. “I was upset…” he whispered.
“I know baby, and I know you didn’t do anything…but after Lance dropped
you off…he went to the frat, looking for Chris. Joey
heard Chris telling Lance that if he ever needed help with this again, that
he’d be willing to do it. Joey
heard everything.”
“That little fucking prick,” Justin said softly, anger bubbling in his gut. “I’m
going to fucking kill him.”
“I have a better idea,” Josh said, grinning wickedly. “A
much better idea.”