Chapter 33: Garber's POV

Garber’s POV

I was depressed.

I didn’t know what exactly it was that I was hoping for. All I knew was that thanks to the presence of Mia, my now official girlfriend, I wouldn’t be getting it.

I had looked forward to today and imagined a thousand times over how I would manage to get Luis to talk to me.

If he’d let me hit, if he’d explain why he blocked me. Why he wasn’t begging to be with me. Why he didn’t want me anymore. I wanted an explanation, and more than that, I wanted his body under mine. But it all got ruined, and now there were rumors.

That bastard Rolland!

All I wanted to do was punch all of my hatred into his face. This time, at most, I would get my knuckle flesh broken, but it would be well deserved.

The moment the car was driven into the garage, I slammed the door while it was still in motion—just in time to hear the horn of his own car.

“How perfect!”

I let him get out of the car and into the house before following after, all of my rage screaming to be let out.

“Is Mom home?” I asked the driver.

“No. She’s at the nail salon,” he said. I nodded before storming after Rolly.

“Hey, gigolo,” I closed the door behind me and shouted, satisfied with the surprised expression on his face.

“I’m your teacher from now on. Watch your tongue.” He was trying to put up the air of someone older, but I would never get over seeing him satisfy my mom’s lust for money.

“You’re just a male prostitute, and even if I give you any respect at school, this is my home!” I stated clearly.

“Fair point.” He folded his arms across his chest and nodded, but it only pissed me off even more. Him acting like he had any dignity to be displayed disgusted me so bad I gagged.

“If you know that, then why did you go after Luis? He’s innocent and naive, but that doesn’t give you any right at all to take advantage of him,” I continued, but instead of the apprehension I expected to find in his eyes, his lips curved slightly, and his eyes shined with the hint of a smile.

“What do you mean by that? I am your homeroom teacher, but before that, I was Luis’s friend.”

“Friend, my ass.” Luis had no one besides Chen, and given their relationship, Luis was a loner.

“That’s for you to believe. I’m curious though—” he squinted, and I leaned in, “what gives you the right to talk to me about Luis? He said earlier that you meant nothing to him. Don’t tell me you have a relationship with him.”

I didn’t expect him to come at me from that angle. But that didn’t mean I would let him have the final say.

“You’re just a sex worker and are not qualified for your job. Plus, it’s none of your business what relationship I have with Luis.”

“Oh?” Rolly looked at me, amused, and sat as he crossed his legs. “In that case, you’re just a coward who derives joy from hurting others just to boost his own ego.”

I lost control the moment he called me a coward, and before I realized it, I had already sent my fist flying toward his face.

“You know nothing! Absolutely nothing about my struggles and what I had to go through to get here!” I never thought a few words from this guy, who I considered beneath me, would hurt me, but they did.

He had no right to call me a coward when he didn’t know how many battles I’ve had to fight all on my own.

Rolly smirked as he wiped the blood off his busted lips. He let out a low, painful chuckle as he pushed out his cheek with his tongue.

“You also know nothing about me,” he said, the annoying smile still displayed on his face. “No one was born to become a prostitute. Did it not occur to you that I had my own share of battles as well? Battles I’d fought and lost? Battles that had me so desperate that I had to sell my body to feed.”

I could resonate with his words, but my hate remained.

He hugged Luis when I didn’t get the chance!

“So if you don’t know anything about battles, it’s better to keep your emotions in check and stop acting like the world revolves around you,” he said and got up to his feet.

My fist was clenched and shaking, ready to hit something again, but it would just be a tantrum if I did it in front of him. So for the first time, I took the advice of the person I hated the most and let the anger subside, taking in full deep breaths to remain calm.

“If you really cared about him, then you wouldn’t hurt him over and over again and expect him to crawl back to you. Luis is human, and he deserves to be respected if you’re going to make anything work.”

“You don’t know anything.”

“I think it’s you who doesn’t realize that thinking with your dick and hurting people is not a way of life. Rejecting them and expecting them to run to you is nothing admirable. And looking down on people just because their lives are worse than yours doesn’t make you a better person. Man up and face the consequences, or you’ll just end up hurting those you love—and yourself.”

“Fuck you.” I raised my hand, about to bring a rain of fists down on his face when the door was suddenly pushed open from behind, and I turned around to see my mom rush in.

In. Out. In. Out. Out. In.

I tried to gauge my breathing as she approached us.

“What’s going on here?” My mom asked as I quickly hid my hand behind my back.

“Nothing, Mom,” I said, forgetting that the evidence from our altercation was obvious on his face.

Despite that, I expected her to run to me and ask about my day. I was her only son and the only one out of her kids who was by her side.

Imagine my shock when she ran up to her gigolo, kissing his face.

“Oh, Rolly, what happened to your face?” she asked as she patted his cheek and didn’t cast a glance my way until she saw my hand.

“You unfilial son,” she cried out and sent her palm flying to my face. Then my shoulder. Then my back again. I remained in the same position, filled with shock, nothing less.

My mom actually hit me for some stranger.

Was sex more important than her own son?

“Don’t hit him. He didn’t actually do it intentionally.”

Not until Rolland came in between us did she stop. But even that did nothing to reduce the pain. If anything, it intensified it.

From being her precious son to this.

The day had already started on a bad note, and it only got progressively worse from then on.

*Guys what so you think of this trio?*