Behind the Tears (Behind the Lives) Read Online Free Page B

eyebrows pulled together. “You alright, Sledge?”
    “I will be once you stop slagging off me and my brother.”
    Corey shrugged. “You walked right into it, and I have no probs with Dante, I’m just sick of Beth whinging ’bout him and Ash.” He put on a breathy female voice, “ Ash ignores me; he’s always goin’ off and brooding, while Dante brings home horrible women, and does God only knows what to them in his bedroom. ” Corey changed back to his own voice. “He fucks them, Beth. F.U.C.K.” His voice reverted back to Beth’s. “Don’t say that! That’s a horrible word.”
    Sledge shook his head. “Put on a wig and skirt and people will think you’re Beth.”
    “Her butt’s way bigger.” Corey punched Sledge’s arm, then swiped the keys off him.
    Sledge’s eyes lowered to Corey’s butt as his mate walked up the steps, thinking Corey was definitely right. Over the past few months, Corey had lost a considerable amount of weight, the chemo reducing him to a whisper of his former self.
    Corey’s baggy jeans and boxers slipped down as he went to unlock the door, his mate giving Sledge an eyeful.
    Sledge laughed. “ Dude, you’re mooning me. Pull up your pants before my sis jumps your skinny arse.”
    Corey grabbed his pants and turned around, his grin resurfacing. “Too late, I did her last night. See, I told ja I had no probs with sex. Booyah!”
    Sledge’s face screwed up in disgust. “Dammit, Corey! I told ja not to touch her.”
    Corey’s voice went high as he started moving his crotch back and forth, “Oh, Corey, you’re so damned good, fuck me harder—”
    “Quit it!”
    Corey started laughing, then stopped as the front door flung open from the inside. His smile disappeared at the sight of Sledge’s twin sister glaring out at him. She looked like a vicious pit bull ready to rip him apart.
    “I told ja not to tell him!” Juliet hollered.
    Corey pulled a face, then his grin was back in full force, although Sledge knew this one was fake, the tension in his mate’s neck a dead giveaway. “Yeah, sorry ’bout that, but in my defence, I kept my mouth shut for...” Corey glanced at his watch. “...thirteen hours. That’s gotta be a record.” His smile dropped as Juliet continued to glare at him. “Don’t hit me, hit Sledge, he made me talk.”
    Juliet’s gaze shifted to Sledge. She was dressed in black pants and a T, the uniform for her new job at the art gallery where Beth managed. But unlike Corey’s sister, the uniform did Juliet no favours, her body too solid. “I did nuthin’ wrong,” she said. “He came onto me.”
    Sledge knew why she was worried. He’d given her a slap around for getting his other mate into deep shit with Ash after Tama had turned her down.
    “It’s true,” Corey said.
    Sledge took the steps two at a time, and pushed past them to get inside. Fuck, he was pissed with Corey for touching Juliet. He’d told both of the Connor brothers that his sis was off-limits. Plus, Juliet didn’t deserve Corey; his mate was far too good for the munter.
    Sledge entered his bedroom and shut the door on Corey’s face. The door reopened and Corey stepped inside. Sledge ignored him, and closed the blinds. His room was small and sparsely furnished with a single bed and a dresser. Posters of Bruce Lee and half-naked women brightened up the walls, while a single light-bulb hung from the ceiling, missing his head by only a few inches.
    “Sledge, mate , gimme a break,” Corey said, moving in front of Sledge. “I couldn’t help it, she’s pretty.”
    “Pretty?” Sledge stared at Corey in disbelief. “The only way Juliet could be called pretty is if you put ugly after it.”
    “God, you’re a shithead.”
    “Watch your mouth.”
    “Or what, you’ll punch it? Go on then.” Corey moved closer, angling his face up to Sledge’s. Being vertically challenged and with a face that made grandmas coo, Corey looked as intimidating as a stoned chipmunk.
    “Piss off.”