The Outcasts Book 2

STEVE THE PUNK

“Oi oi!” I grin as I look up and see Sam pushing his brother, Christian, who gives me a toothy grin back. “Good to see ya, Chrissy boy! Been too fucking long.” I walk round to them, crouching down to give him a hug.

“Yeah, well, you can blame Sammy for that.”

“I blame him for everything, one more thing won’t hurt.” I wink at him, and he rolls his eyes with a smile.

“Get us some fucking drinks, dickhead.”

They make their way over to their usual table, and I fill up a pitcher, grabbing three glasses before I join them. “So, how long are you visiting?”

They do the weird twin telepathy thing they sometimes do—conversing without having to speak a word. Christian clears his throat, glancing at me. “We’ll see. But a little while.”

“Ah! The three musketeers back together again!” I can read enough into the unspoken to know they don’t want to tell me exactly what’s going on just yet, so I leave it alone and raise my glass instead.

We sit and catch up for a couple of hours, sinking more than a few pints. Christian has now been swallowed up by a table of giggling girls who were falling for his “Woe is me, I’m disabled!” act, leaving me and a brooding Sam nursing our drinks.

My phone buzzes again, and I open another funny meme from Anna. For the last few days, she has been sporadically sending me the funniest things. Sam frowns at me when I chuckle.

“What’s with you?”

“It’s Anna. She’s been sending me stupid punk-bashing memes.”

He rolls his eyes, finishing his drink and setting the glass back down. “Don’t dick around with my roommate’s cousin. Please.”

“Psh! I’m not dicking her around. I really like her. She’s more interesting than the wenches round here.”

“Even Kelly?” He lifts his eyebrow at me.

Oh, Kelly! My comfort blanket lesbian best friend. Hanging around with her meant I didn’t need to open myself up to the possibility of finding a girl I would actually want to date seriously.

“We all know that was just fantasy. Anna could be a reality.”

“I need to do something to make Beth a reality.” He slides down in his chair, resting the base of his skull on the back, suddenly morose again.

“You guys still not figured your shit out?” I can’t help but laugh at the dumb fuck. “Mate, you need to make that right, like, yesterday.”

“Chris said I need to show her how much I care by doing some grand gesture.” He gives me sheepish side-eye. “I think I have an idea, but I’m going to need some help.”

“Whatever you need, mate. You know I’ve got you.”

***

If I never see a fucking Christmas decoration again it will still be too soon.

Sam’s grand plan to show Lizzy how much he digs her was to make it look like Santa and Mrs. Claus had had a party and murdered a whole heap of elves in his living room.

My fingers hurt from the amount of tinsel they had strung up.

“Okay, Sam. I think everything is all ready.” Christian rolls himself round in a circle, looking at our hard work.

“Are you sure you don’t mind staying at Steve’s tonight?”

I know Sam is worried about Christian staying at mine. He’d gone over the medications with me four times, and I’d had to demonstrate my technique for getting him safely out of his chair.

I have to tell the truth though, I’m a little weirded out by having to help another dude use the lav, but I’m sure I’ll get over myself.

“Nah, it’ll be fine. Don’t worry about me. Just concentrate on wooing Elizabeth.” Christian grins up at his brother, nudging him playfully with his wheelchair.

We leave him to finish getting himself ready, and as I push Christian down the path, he starts to chuckle.

“I’m so tempted to ask Elizabeth to take a photo of Sam in that costume. I can’t believe he was such a spoilsport and refused to show us the full final effect.”

“I doubt she’ll even notice he’s dressed up; it’s just his natural personality.”

We crack up, me practically bent double over the handles of his wheelchair.

I look up and notice Lizzy walking toward us. I flash her a big grin. “Oh, hey, princess! Had a nice day with our Kells?”

“Yes, it’s been good. But long. All I want to do now is go to sleep!” She giggles a little.

“Well, um…Sam actually is waiting to talk to you, so your nap might have to wait a little while.” Christian can barely contain his own giggles, and she frowns at his amusement. “Anyway, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“You’re not coming home tonight?” She looks a little upset. I would have thought she would have jumped at the chance of having an empty house with Sam.

“Nah. Having boys’ night tonight.” I chuckle, stretching my hand down over Christian’s shoulder for him to fist bump me.

“Oh…okay. Well, have fun.”

“Is it just me, or did she look upset at the prospect of being alone with my brother?” Christian looks back at her.

“Well…his heart is two sizes too small. Maybe the same thing applies to his dick.”

Christian snorts at my dumb joke.

***

Boys’ night consists of us watching all of the Jurassic Park films, drinking many beers, and eating far too much pizza.

“I really wish this was real,” Christian sighs before stuffing another slice of greasy pizza into his mouth. “I would go there in a fucking second if it was real.”

I laugh at his muffled voice. “But you hate zoos, mate?!”

“Yeah…but that’s different. Somehow.” He laughs through his mouthful of food. “I’ll figure out how later when I’m not so drunk.”

My phone buzzes on the coffee table. Sliding it open, I find another message from Anna.

I laugh, sending her back several laughing face emojis.

“New girl?”

“I wish she was.” I take a few gulps of my beer. “She’s fucking amazing, mate. A fiery ball of sexy punk sensibilities. But she’s keeping me on my feet. I’m never sure if she’s being flirty or not.”

“What do you mean?”

“She sends me random stuff through the day, occasionally things which could be taken as sexy in nature, but she never, like, full on flirts, y’know?”

“Maybe she’s just not sure you’re interested. Maybe you should try flirting with her, see which way she takes it.”

“Hmmm, maybe.” I scroll through the messages she has sent, knowing I’ve got a goofy smile on my face. “What about you, mate? Any of those girls the other night catch ya fancy?”

“Nah.” He smirks. “There’s this girl that I kinda have my eye on. She’s sarcastic and witty, and she doesn’t make a big deal about this.” He gestures to his wheelchair. “It’s nice, y’know, to feel normal for a bit.”

“Yeah. I get it.”

I know having wild hair and tattoos is nowhere near the same thing as being disabled, don’t misconstrue what I’m saying, but I know how shitty it is to be treated differently.

I’ve had people hurl abuse at me because of my green mohawk, and people literally cross the street when they see the tattoos and piercings in my face.

Not to mention the way I’ve been treated in business meetings.

Later, after I successfully help my friend to use the bathroom and get into bed, I find I just can’t switch off.

Sighing, I pick my phone up from where I’d dropped it onto the bed beside me. I click on the little square multicolored icon and scroll through until I get to Anna’s profile.

None of her photos are particularly revealing, but nevertheless, I feel myself getting hard. Something about the sparkle in her eye and the wideness of her smile just turns me the fuck on.

I guess a little five-knuckle shuffle won’t hurt before bed.