Karl sat by his side as the smell of cooked meat rose into the evening air.
"Don't go sucking dick behind my back, or we'll have a problem, Cesco," Karl hissed in his ear.
"Not everyone's obsessed with sex like you. And get it through your thick skull already, Karl. I'm fucking straight."
Karl laughed, low and dangerous. "How many women did you fuck?"
"None of your fucking business. Do you want to jerk off to stories of my girlfriends or something?"
Karl threw him a weird look. Maybe he wasn't that much off the mark with that. Francesco shrugged and sank his teeth into the meat roasted over the fire. It was hard and stringy, but it the best meal he had ever had.
He ignored Karl's hard stare as he ate. From time to time, he looked over at Mouse who was across from him. Their eyes met, and his heart beat faster.
***
He was sleeping soundly when someone began shaking his shoulder.
"Hey, Cesco, wake up."
He blinked a few times. "Karl?"
"Come with me a little."
He didn't want to do that. All the warnings from Mouse came back to him, but refusing Karl made him a pussy, and he could do without that. After all, what could Karl do? Unless he pulled out that knife on him, he could handle Karl.
"Okay," he said and rubbed his eyes.
He followed as they walked a bit away from the camp, and stopped when he stopped.
"Well, not bad for a first day, huh?" Karl began.
"I suppose." Francesco was on guard. Who knew what the asshole wanted?
"Am I a good leader or what?"
Francesco snorted. "Are you looking for my approval or something?"
"Yeah. I want to know what you think."
"Why?"
Karl came closer, filling him with apprehension. "Because I care about that."
Francesco fought against his gut instinct telling him to flee. Karl was so close now that he could feel his breath. "Oh, right. Where does that fit between you spouting all that bullshit about wanting to fuck my ass and this?"
"I want to fuck your ass," Karl said matter-of-factly.
"Seriously, dude. You've never have a girlfriend? Like never?"
Karl tsked. "And you have? You still didn't tell me how many."
"More than your accusation counts." Francesco crossed his arms, trying to look unintimidated.
Their eyes were getting accustomed to the dark and the faint light of the moon. Still, it was a scent of something dangerous coming from Karl putting him on the edge, and not what he could see.
"Tell me about that. Tell me about those pussies," Karl said heatedly.
"I don't kiss and tell, idiot."
Karl laughed. "Ah, so you're full of crap."
Francesco could feel the advantage slipping through his fingers. "I'm not. Maybe you've never had a girlfriend because you're an asshole with girls."