Free Wild Summer by Suki Fleet Page A

Summer spoke briefly to him, and he let them pass, fixing his pale blue eyes on Christopher as if memorizing his face.
    After being outside in the sunshine, it took a moment for Christopher’s eyes to adjust to the dim lighting of the club. The carpet was dark beneath their feet, and equally dark flock wallpaper lined the stairs—Christopher let his fingers trace the shape of it as they descended, fear bunching up in his stomach. He didn’t like this place. And what Summer had said about them not treating him nicely here made him want to take Summer’s hand and suggest they forget the whole thing. He’d rather live without his meager belongings than risk Summer being hurt by anyone. But it felt too late now. They were in the club. It was too late to run.
    At the bottom of the stairs, Summer pushed open a door into the heart of the club. The room was large, with a stage at one end, tables and chairs forming an arc around it, and a bar at the side. Two men in their thirties were at the bar, but the rest of the room was empty.
    Summer turned his head and spoke so quickly Christopher almost missed the words. “The guy with red hair is Ren. I’ll get your stuff. Wait here.”
    But how could Christopher wait there when Summer looked so tense and terrified?
    He followed right behind, watching the way Ren turned as they approached, looking Summer up and down. As soon as they were close enough, Ren’s arm snaked out and grasped Summer roughly around the waist, dragging him close and claiming his mouth.
    Feeling sick, Christopher looked away. Part of it was jealousy—and he hated that he felt that way—but part of it was also that he couldn’t bear to see Summer pushed around as if he didn’t have a choice.
    “Who is this?” Ren asked, abruptly ending the kiss.
    He gestured at Christopher dismissively, hard eyes glaring, one hand possessively rubbing the crease of Summer’s backside through his jeans. With his long red hair tied in a ponytail and his narrowed blue eyes, he was striking and as cold as ice.
    “Christopher,” Christopher replied.
    “I didn’t ask you!” Ren’s eyes flashed, and his hand came out so quickly Christopher was unable to avoid the blow.
    He cupped his mouth in shock, tasting blood. It didn’t even occur to him to retaliate. He was already tall and strong, and he should have been able to put up a pretty good fight. But he just stood there.
    Pushing Ren’s arm away, Summer looked utterly distraught as his eyes darted between them. Christopher could see he was pleading with Ren, but he could only catch the odd word or phrase, like “please… don’t… just wants his stuff… he’s just a baby… I promise….”
    “You been fucking him?” Ren now directed his anger at Summer.
    Vigorously, Summer shook his head. But perhaps whatever was between them was as obvious to everyone else as it was to Christopher.
    “Want to see a little show, Christopher? Want to see how easy this little slut is?”
    Summer shook his head, and Ren slapped him. Some protective urge Christopher had never felt before flared in his chest, but his legs refused to move him forward to shove Ren away like he wanted to. The man who’d been talking to Ren moved to grab Christopher from behind. Christopher tried to struggle out of his tight grasp, but he could barely hold himself up, and he was forced to watch as Ren turned Summer around to face Christopher and pulled his T-shirt off over his head, exposing Summer’s bare chest. With one hand he stroked the front of Summer’s trousers, and with the other he pulled one of Summer’s nipple rings so hard the flesh around it pulled taut, and Summer arched away from him.
    Christopher bowed his head, squeezing his eyes shut and trying to disappear. It was the worst moment of his short life. Someone he cared for deeply was being hurt, and he couldn’t do anything.
    The man holding Christopher jerked his head up, slapping him until he opened his eyes. He caught Summer’s