Behind the Lens (Behind the Lives) (16 page)

“I’m
just tired.” Sledge took another swig of beer, his eyes landing on a group of
chicks, the one with blonde hair and pink highlights looking familiar. His eyes
widened, recognising Ash’s ex-girlfriend from high school: Jenna Hamilton. The
chick was amped, her physique all muscle, but not like Sledge’s. Instead, she
was much sleeker, although the definition was still there, the halter top and
spray-on jeans kissing her drool-worthy body.

Tama’s
gaze followed Sledge’s. His mouth dropped open, his tongue practically touching
the ground, with saliva dripping off it like some dirty dog, which Tama was. “
F-u-c-k
m-e
,” Tama said, drawing his words out, “She’s the hottest piece of arse
I’ve EVER seen.”

Sledge
grabbed Tama’s arm before his mate could go to Jenna. “I wouldn’t touch her
with a bargepole; she’s one of Ash’s exes.”

Tama
sniggered. “That only makes me wanna pork her more.”

“No,
man, she’s a bunny burner. If I wuz you I’d stay well clear.”

“Nah,
I like the crazy ones, they’re great in bed, and it’s not like I’d tell her
where I’m staying.” Tama glanced at Sledge. “And by the way, I
am
staying
with you.”

Sledge
frowned. “You sure you wanna stay at my place? You know my sis lives there. She
might dob you in after what you did to her.”

“Nah,
Juliet will forgive me, and it wuz only names I called her, and anyway, all I
needa do is smile at your sis and she gets wet. I’ll say sorry, might even give
her a kiss on the cheek to seal the deal.” He shuddered. “Only if I’m desperate
though.”

But
Corey won’t be cool about it and we won’t be able to fuck if you’re there.
“We’ll see.”

“Nope,
I’m staying, so shut the fuck up and let’s get some pusss-
eee
.” Tama
grabbed Sledge’s arm and tried to yank him towards the women. Scowling, Tama
gave him a harder yank when Sledge didn’t move. “If you’re thinking ’bout
cock-blocking me, I’ll rip yours off and stuff it up the fat one’s cunt.”

“O-fuckin’-kay,
but don’t tell me I didn’t warn ya after that nutter goes psycho on you.”

“I
bet you’re exaggerating, cos you can’t get a piece of her.”

Sledge
sneered at Tama. “Psycho’s not my type, nor is my bro’s sloppy seconds.”

“Well,
fuckable’s my type, and she fits the bill, or any second she’ll be fitting
right over here,” Tama said, pushing his crotch out.

“Then
it’s your death, that’s
if
she doesn’t turn your pimply arse down.”

“I
don’t have a pimply arse, and I bet ya ten bucks she’ll swallow my cum,” Tama
said, holding out a hand.

Sledge
shook it. “Easy money.”

“Ha!
No way. So let’s get me some crazy pusss-
eee.
”

They
headed for the women, Sledge aching to see Jenna turn Tama down. The females
all turned to look at them. Tama flipped his hoodie off, revealing his tattooed
head, only the bandage at the back covering a portion. Sledge refrained from
telling Tama that he was a fucking idiot for uncovering it. Although he knew
why Tama had done it—to impress Jenna, the curving Māori design really
cool—but it was too recognisable, his mug-shot having been plastered across the
news after his escape.

But
no recognition crossed the women’s eyes, instead, Jenna smiled, her expression
showing she liked what she saw, while the other two chicks focused on Sledge,
making him feel like he was being stripped. He ran a hand over his head and
looked at Jenna, the only one who wasn’t paying him attention.

“Hi,
Jenna,” he said.

“How’d
ja know my name?” she asked, her gaze moving to his body. He definitely wasn’t
pretty, but he knew females liked his physique, which was covered in leathers
and a black T-shirt. Since he’d started working out, packing on the muscle,
he’d been getting hit on a lot more, nope, not just a lot more, a helluva lot
more. If he’d known that when he was younger, and aching for pussy, he would’ve
hit the weights sooner, but now he had Corey there was no point. Though, he
wasn’t about to stop working out, because he liked feeling strong, so that
people would think twice about punching him.

“You
used to go out with my brother.” Sledge paused, upset at the last word. “Ash.”

Jenna
frowned, like she didn’t believe him. “Sledge?”

“Yeah.”

“God!
I wouldn’t have recognised you in a million years, you look totally different.
Well, of course you do, you’re a man now, but still, you look
really
good. The last time I saw you, you were small and chubby, a right ugly li’l
bugger, but now you’re a complete hottie.”

Sledge
felt his cheeks burn, thinking it was weird that his brother’s ex was calling
him a hottie, plus she was seven years older than him.

She
smiled. “How have you been?”

He
shrugged, not wanting to tell her about all the bad shit that had gone down for
his family over the past week. “Okay, I guess.”

“How’s
your sister, is she looking as good as you?”

Tama
sniggered next to him. “No, she’s fugly.”

Sledge
elbowed him. “Shut up ’bout Juliet, you cunt.”

Jenna’s
eyes sparkled, like she was amused with Tama’s comment. “And Ash and Dante, how
are they?”

“Okay,”
he lied.

She
exhaled, the look in her eyes sad. He wondered whether she was still in love
with Ash, her attempts at getting him back now urban legend.

Tama
lifted his beer. “My name’s Tama,” he said, his face dropping, probably
realising he’d slipped up giving out his real name.

Jenna
refocused on him, her blonde brows knitting together. “You look familiar. Have
we met?”

“Nah,
but I’d like to get to know you.”

She
laughed. “You’re a bit young for me.”

“No,
I’m not, I’ve been with chicks way older than you, and if I wuz too young, you
wouldn’t have been checking me out.”

“You’re
a cheeky one, aren’t cha?”

“I
can be whatever you want me to be.”

Her
eyes wandered down him, then back to his face. “You’re really cute.”

Tama
pulled a face. “Def never been called that before, it’s usually cunt, prick or
bastard.”

She
laughed. “You’re funny too.”

He
moved closer to her, so close that Sledge thought Tama was going to kiss Jenna,
and he wouldn’t put it past his mate either, Tama always taking liberties with
chicks. Jenna stood her ground, her expression still amused. From memory, Ash
had told him Jenna had become a MMA fighter. A slow grin spread across Sledge’s
face, thinking she was perfect for Tama, because if his mate tried anything on,
he’d love to see who ended up on top—ten bucks definitely worth the price.

“You
wanna get to know me better?” Tama said, doing the side to side shuffle, which
meant he was aching to jump her. Sledge had only seen Tama do that to two other
chicks before, both of those birds having caused Tama no end of trouble, the
last one getting him sent to jail.

Jenna
smiled, flashing her pearly whites. “Yeah, I like guys who are sure of
themselves.”

Tama
put a hand on her hip. “Then, I’m
real
sure we’re gonna get on great.
So, let’s find a quiet place so I can warm you up, cos you look cold.”

Sledge
sniggered, the line so bad that Tama was
definitely
going to be shot
down now, and hopefully he might see just how good Jenna punched. But instead,
Jenna nodded and took Tama’s hand, pulling him towards the house like she
couldn’t wait to ride him. Sledge’s mouth dropped open, thinking he must be
hallucinating.

“Sledge.”

“Yeah?”
he said, turning back to the two chicks left behind. The taller of the two gave
him a toothy grin. She was about two inches shorter than him, which meant she
was the tallest chick he’d ever met, because he was six-foot-three.

“My
name’s Rhoda. You wanna find a quiet place too?”

“Um…”
Sledge glanced at the other bird, who was so round he could roll her. Maybe she
was pregnant, because her belly was poking out of her top, while her arse was
trying to counterbalance it. She smiled at him, making him feel like she wanted
to eat him whole and lick his bones clean. He shuddered, not understanding why
someone as gorgeous as Jenna would hang out with fuglies, but he supposed that
was a bit rough on the tall one, because she wasn’t really ugly, sort of
semi-pretty, the type of chick he might have done in the past after several
beers and a dry season of no pussy.

“Are
you a bodybuilder?” the taller one asked.

“No.”

“You
look it.” She ran a hand down his T-shirt. “Do you have a six-pack under
there?”

He
lifted his bottle. “No, I only have one beer,” he said, trying to get the topic
off his body. Actually, why the hell was he still standing out here? “I needa
get back inside to a mate,” he said.

The
tall one grabbed his arm, Rhoda from memory. “No, stay with us.”

He
freed himself. “Nah, sorry, I needa go.”

She
grabbed him again, the chick obviously desperate, because he’d never been hit
on this strong before, well, apart from Corey and Stella, but those two were
the exceptions to the rule. Maybe it was because he was taller than this Rhoda
chick, which she probably wouldn’t find that often, unless she was a basketball
groupie.

“Get
your hands offa him!” a yell came from the house.

Sledge
glanced over his shoulder at an angry looking Corey, who was hobbling on his
crutches towards them.

The
chick held on tight to Sledge’s arm. “Why should I?”

“Cos
he’s taken.”

“By
who, shorty?”

“Me!”

“You’re
gay?” the tall chick said loudly to Sledge, her eyes wide with surprise.

Sledge’s
gaze darted around the lawn, horrified that people were looking at him. A few
young guys with punk hairdos started sniggering and making rude gestures—the
cock-sucking one. Sledge wanted to punch them for it, but instead he stood
rooted to the spot, wishing he could shrivel up and disappear. “I’m not a fag,”
he finally said, the last word adding to his shame. He didn’t like using it any
more—probably because he was one.

Corey
stopped in front of the tall chick. “Back off!”

Rhoda
held up her hands and took a step back, her face now amused. “Okay, shorty, but
if you ever want a fag hag, I’d love to watch muscles here ride your cute li’l
butt.” The fat chick next to Rhoda sniggered.

Corey
glared at Rhoda. “No one’s watching us fucking, so take your giraffe arse back to
Madagascar along with your hippo mate.”

Sledge
opened his mouth then closed it, absolutely shocked that he’d just been outed.
“I’m not gay,” he hissed at Corey. “So, shut your gob!”

Corey
went still, his face finally registering at what he’d let slip. “Oh shit, I
didn’t mean to, I’m sorry, I really am. Don’t get pissed with me, it just came
out cos she wuz touching you, and you shouldn’t be talking to her, you should
be with me, and—”

“Go
back inside!”

Sledge
felt someone touch his arm.

“Back
off from him!” Corey yelled at Rhoda.

Rhoda
smiled, like she’d purposely done it to get a reaction. “But if he’s not gay,
then he won’t want you, shorty.”

“He
is
gay.”

“Will
you shut up!” Sledge hollered. “You promised you’d...” He leaned closer, “keep
your trap shut, but no, you hafta humiliate me in front of everyone.”

Corey
flinched, then raised his chin. “You might as well admit it now instead of
pretending.”

Sledge
pointed a finger at Corey. “I’m warning you one last time.”

“Or
what? You’ll hit me? Or will you cheat on me? Yeah, it’s the second one,
otherwise you would be with me instead of speaking to the cast of Madagascar,
and you can’t use Tama as an excuse, cos he’s nowhere in sight, which means
you’re a bloody cheat like Dante.”

“I’m
not a cheat! And Dante isn’t either.”

“You
were letting that bitch touch you, and if I didn’t come out, you would pro’bly
be rooting her right now.”

“Which
means I wouldn’t be gay.” Sledge looked back at Rhoda. “Wouldn’t it?”

“Yeah.”
She smiled at him like she thought she was going to get lucky, and right now
Sledge felt like fucking her just to spite Corey.

Corey
swung a crutch out as she moved towards Sledge. “Back off, bitch.” He turned
his glare on Sledge. “And you
are
a cheat.”

“I’m
not a cheat! And you’re a jealous bitch like your sister.”

“I’m
not a chick!”

“Then
stop acting like one!”

Corey
sneered at him. “Maybe I’m acting like a chick cos you keep treating me like
one.”

“I
do not.”

“Well,
you fuck my arsehole like it’s a pussy.”