Round and Round by Andrew Grey Page B

call someone who can teach you some manners.” He pulled on his jeans and had just fastened them when Angus touched his shoulder.
    “Sometimes I don’t know when to keep quiet.”
    “Bullshit. I was treading into territory you didn’t want to go, and instead of saying you didn’t want to talk about it, you lashed out hurtfully, and I won’t stand for that crap. But I have news for you. My mom left when I was a kid, and she never got to know me. But that’s her loss, not mine. I’m an amazing person, and she’s the one who lost out on knowing me. I can deal with that—in fact I did a long time ago. So whatever it is that’s bothering you, figure out how to deal with it or whatever it is will dog you for the rest of your life.” Kevin turned away and grabbed his shirt, pulling it over his head before yanking on his socks and stepping into his shoes. Then he marched to the bedroom door, refusing to turn around. “I’ll see you around. And don’t bother giving me a ride home. I’ll call a friend.” He pulled open the bedroom door and hurried out into the hall, closing the door behind him with more force than was necessary. Then he hurried down the stairs and out of the house. He pulled out his phone and pressed a number.
    “Zach, can you please pick me up?”
    “Where are you?” Zach asked right away.
    “Shipoke.” He kept his voice as steady as he could even though he was quickly alternating between anger and hurt.
    “I take it your date didn’t go well.”
    “Prince Charming turned out to be a frog with huge warts,” he answered. He turned around when he heard the door open behind him. Angus strode toward him, and Kevin stared daggers at him. “He’s coming this way.”
    “Do you want me to call the police? I can have them there in a few minutes.”
    “No,” he said when Angus stopped a few feet away. “I’ll call you back.”
    “Fine, but if I don’t hear from you in five minutes, I’m going to call in the cavalry and everyone is going to descend on him.”
    Kevin agreed and then hung up. “You have exactly five minutes,” he said as he glared at Angus, slipping his phone into his pocket.
    “Five minutes for what?”
    “To properly apologize and stop acting like a complete fucking pain in the ass.” He put his hands on his hips. “I’m waiting.”
    Angus broke eye contact. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. It’s just that the subject is closer to an open wound than I want to admit.” He raised his gaze from the sidewalk. “I’d like to think I’m over what happened, but every time anyone gets close to it, I lash out.”
    “You know that isn’t an excuse for hurting me… or trying to hurt me. See, in order to truly get to me, you have to be someone I’m willing to care about, and as of this moment, the jury is out on that. Right now I can take or leave you. Sure, you’re hot and all, but if you can’t treat me right, you can hit the road.” Kevin’s phone rang, and he pulled it out of his pocket. “Hi, Zach.”
    “Are you okay?”
    “Yes, I’m fine. I’m here with Angus and we’re talking for a moment.”
    “Do you need a ride home? I can be there in a few minutes, we can kick his ass, and you can come here. We’ll have ice cream and watch old crappy movies, and you can roast this Angus guy on a spit.”
    Kevin tried not to smile, but he couldn’t help it. He knew his friends would be there for him. They always were.
    “My friend Zach wants to know if I need a ride home,” Kevin told Angus. “He’s offering ice cream and a chance for the two of us to discuss all your character flaws.” He was starting to have fun with this, especially as Angus got more and more nervous.
    “I have ice cream, and we can talk about all my character flaws all you want. I’m sure I have more than a few.”
    “Did you hear that?” Kevin asked Zach. He heard him laughing on the other end of the phone.
    “Yeah. And if you ask me, I think you better keep him. I’ve been trying to