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Chapter Twenty-Seven

LAIKEN

July

Every Thursday, from July through September, there are fireworks. You can see them from most places on Kala as long as you’re on the correct side of Mount Pepper. Sometimes Mount Pepper wants in on the action and sputters its own fiery fireworks, though they’re nothing to be too concerned about.

Probably.

Today is the first Thursday in July, and I have plans for us. But first, I need to practice patience since he needs to wait until Miranda leaves the house.

It’s an extra precaution. Probably unnecessary, since it’s really not all that uncommon for Lie and me to hang out. This is something I try to keep reminding myself of. The only thing that will make it suspicious is if we act suspicious.

Hiding a secret like this isn’t as easy as it appears to be. We’re literally hiding what we’re doing in plain sight. It’s as exhausting as it is thrilling. I love our stolen moments. But, honestly, I’m also looking forward to the day when we no longer have to hide and have stolen moments.

I hear the kitchen slider open and smile. I’m no longer concerned about Lie finding out about LIHW, since he already knows. I’ve been careful for so damn long with my notebooks and laptop that I have to think on some level I wanted him to figure it out.

Lie smiles as soon as he sees me and pounces into my lap, his mouth immediately on mine. “I can’t wait to fuck in this position,” he says into my mouth. “Why haven’t we done this yet?”

“You like to become a limp noodle as soon as my cock is inside you,” I answer.

He grins, sloppily kissing me. “You fry my nerves as soon as that beast is fully sheathed. I swear, you can control me like a marionette, with your dick inside me, Laiken.”

“Ridiculous,” I murmur, kissing him all over his face. Part of me would love to stay right here and mess around all day. Cuddle. Talk nonsense like this. Fuck. Laugh.

That’s not an option, though. The locks on my doors won’t stop Nason or Miranda. Just slow them down since they have keys. However, we can totally do that if we rent a room or a private bungalow on one of the islands. It’s not off the table.

But for today, we have plans.

“Ready?” I ask.

He sighs. “I suppose, though, there’s nothing wrong with just doing this today. And let me ride you right here.”

“I think you need to work up to riding,” I say, pushing Lie to his feet by his narrow hips. “We just discussed your limp noodle syndrome.”

“Exactly. Practice on your tree trunk will get me there. That means we need more practice.”

“Yes, but not today. Let’s go.”

“My birthday was days ago,” he pouts. “Stop giving me gifts.”

“I wasn’t able to make this happen on your birthday for reasons which will become clearer when we get there, so this is a belated gift.”

“You’ve already given me three!”

“Two,” I correct.

“Your ass counts as a gift,” he argues. Entirely seriously.

I shake my head. To be young and obsessively horny again. Sweet, sweet Lie. Then again, being with Lie has definitely made my libido far more active than it had been months ago.

We head down the road toward the docks. I’d love to hold his hand right now, but there are eyes everywhere, and on an island where everyone knows everyone, that shit spreads like a virus.

Soon, I tell myself. Secrecy isn’t forever.

Speaking of secrecy… “Did you subtly drop your alibi for tonight?” I ask.

Lie nods. “I’m meeting Cash and we’re double dating on Anapos.”

“Does Cash have a secret boyfriend, too?”

By the way Lie smirks and shrugs, I think that there’s definitely something more to that than I’m hearing. Good for Cash. With the nastiness that is his brother, he needs something good in his life. Especially since I’m taking up so much of Lie’s time.

“You?” Lie asks.

“Working. I might have mentioned needing to check on a few different establishments, so if Nason happens to pop into Hinky Dinky, it won’t be suspicious if I’m not there.”

“The life of a manager. Is that going well?”

“There are far more meetings than I anticipated,” I say. “Which I know sounds dumb because every manager complains about the number of meetings they have. I’m not sure why I thought it’d be different for me. I miss just being behind the bar.”

“Isn’t a manager’s job to delegate? Maybe you can hire a secretary stand-in to attend your meetings.”

I laugh. “That would be awesome, but I don’t think that’s how it works.”

“At least Taylor isn’t there every day, right?”

“Small victories.”

Our conversation continues circling around work while we’re surrounded by other residents of Kala on the ferry. We stay on until we’re dropped off at Anapos. Lie doesn’t stop his chatter until he realizes I’m leading us along the docks instead of somewhere inland.

“What’re we doing?”

“You’ll see when we get there.”

“Or you can tell me, and I’ll still act surprised.”

“Or you can be patient.”

“It’s like you don’t know me at all,” Lie laments.

I chuckle. “Fortunately for you, we don’t have far to go. Let’s go, pouty.”

We turn down a dock toward one of the single couple tour boats. Cash is waiting for us with a big smile. Lie beams. He leaves my side and runs to Cash, wrapping him in a hug as if they haven’t seen each other in months.

“Ready?” Cash asks.

Lie looks between the two of us suspiciously. “What did you plan?”

“I asked Cash if he’d be willing to give us a private tour of the island,” Laiken says.

Lie looks at Cash, eyebrows knit together. “I didn’t think you knew how to drive the boat yet.”

He doesn’t. He said as much when I approached him with my plan and promised that he’d find someone trustworthy. I was not expecting Onyx to come out of the small cabin below deck.

Lie stares at him, about as surprised as I am.

Cash huffs. “Onyx is a nosy bitch,” he complains, “but I was talking to one of the guys at work on my phone, and he overheard. He offered to drive.”

“You drive boats?” I ask Onyx.

Onyx nods. “My parents have a private boat moored on Makara. I’ve been driving it since I was seven.”

“He promises he won’t see a thing and won’t repeat a thing,” Cash says. “I didn’t tell him who we were taking on a tour. Just so you know.”

“I don’t know either of you,” Onyx says. “I’m just here.”

Cash frowns at him and gives Lie a wary look. Lie looks between the two of them for several minutes. He meets my eyes. A minute passes while we’re all standing there without direction.

“Well. Let’s go,” I say.

Cash smiles and gestures for us to get on board. Onyx is there with a hand proffered to assist us. Lie gives him a hard look before accepting it and climbing on that boat. Onyx inclines his head toward me as I join Lie.

He watches like a predator as Onyx then helps Cash on board before untying the boat from the dock.

Lie and I take a seat. Cash leans against the steering column with Onyx behind it as Onyx maneuvers us away from the docks.

“So, I’ve devised a new tour that I’d like to try on you. If that’s okay,” Cash says.

I nod. Lie does as well, a smile across his face.

“Onyx is going to bring us toward where we’d ideally leave from.”

“Sounds good,” I say. My attention drifts toward Onyx as he smoothly drives the boat. I’m sure he feels me watching him. He smiles, though he doesn’t look at me.

“You’re friends with Deryke,” Onyx says, and I raise a brow. His eyes meet mine again.

“He doesn’t come around to listen to us play anymore, but he’d once been a fan of Whiskey Horizons.”

“Let me guess,” Lie says. “Ben turned him off the band.”

Onyx rolls his eyes. “Yes. But we became friends, nonetheless.”

Lie shakes his head. “I wish you’d get your head out of your ass,” he mutters.

Cash coughs, covering his mouth and his laughter.

Onyx doesn’t answer, though his small smile doesn’t fade, either.

“Okay, so we’ll start here. I’m going to kind of pick and choose random things to cover because I haven’t quite worked out all the interesting facts I’d like to share and which I can skip because maybe they’re just interesting to me,” Cash says.

“Sounds good.” I lean back and wrap my arm around Lie’s shoulders. “We’re happy for the ride.”

Lie cuddles into my side. His gaze flickers to Onyx briefly, but Onyx is only paying attention to the water. And maybe to Cash, though that could be for context clues on where he’s supposed to drive us.

I have to hand it to Cash. He knows the best spots and tons of stories I didn’t know. He’s also interactive, making us look over the side to admire the shipwrecks and the sea turtles. I’m equally impressed when he pulls out lunch and feeds us, all the while maintaining his tour.

He’s fun and engaging. Easy to understand.

Cash makes the boring parts fun and I’m definitely impressed.

By the time we head back to shore a few hours later, Cash not stopping his hosting duties until we’re tied in, I know a lot more about the islands than I had and I’ve been living here for almost twenty years.

“Did you learn all that at your job?” I ask him.

Cash shakes his head and shrugs. “Some of it, yeah. But the library has a whole section dedicated to Kala’s history.

Not just from the time when the Calloways had acquired it, but prior to that.

I’ve asked my bosses why they didn’t go to some of the places we visited today, and they said it was ‘ too hard ’ or ‘ off the well-traveled path. ’ My favorite is, ‘ no one will care about that. ’ What they’re really saying is that they’re all too lazy to try something new. ”

Onyx nods. “I can tell you that none of the drive was hard.”

Cash gestures at him as if saying, see!

“Thank you,” I tell Cash. “I appreciate being your guinea pig. I’ve already paid the boat and fuel bill and transferred you some cash.”

“Thanks,” Cash says with a smile.

“I think you should consider being your own boss and opening your own tour company.”

Cash beams at me. He looks at Lie with excitement. “Thanks. That’s what I’d like to do. I think I can do better than the ones we have, but it’s so much money.”

“You’ll get there. I’m happy to vouch for your business or offer whatever support I can.”

Cash remains smiling as Lie and I head back to the island. We have a while before the sun sets for the fireworks, so we wander around the beach and shops and see what else there is to do. I’ve visited all the islands somewhat regularly for work over the years, covering shifts and whatever.

But that’s different from simply exploring. We sample food and talk to guests. We play a disastrous game of volleyball on the beach, in which I think I bruised a hip.

Then we remain on the beach as the sun goes down, and the guests gather on the sand to watch the show that’s about to light up the sky. It’s just minutes now before we’ll be watching the first show of the year.

There are bodies everywhere. Pressing in and jostling. I hold Lie’s hand tightly in mine so he’s not caught up in the crowd and pulled away.

The fireworks begin as soon as the sun is fully down, and the sky is inky blue. The first and last shows are always the best. Always.

I let go of Lie’s hand and wrap my arm around his shoulders, tugging him to my side. I’m thankful that we can be surrounded by strangers, and for this moment, we’re an anonymous couple. Just two guys on the beach, sharing a romantic evening under the fireworks.

“This is beautiful,” Lie says, laying his head on my shoulder. “The green ones that fizzle are the best. It looks like fiery green rain falling.”

“They’re definitely a cool addition to the show,” I agree.

Lie looks up at me with a smile. The fireworks reflect in his shining eyes. “Thank you for today. It’s been amazing.”

I cup the side of his face and pull his lips to mine. The fireworks lighting up the sky feel reflective of what’s going off in my chest. Boom. Boom. Boom. I kiss Lie deeper, trying to tie my soul to his. Fuse it in the heat of the fireworks.

I’m disoriented when we’re yanked apart. I’m about to lose my shit when Nason turns on me with fury in his eyes. “What the fuck? Did you seriously lie to me so you can kiss my son?”

“Dad!” Lie says. “It’s not?—”

Nason doesn’t look at him. His anger is solely for me. Which is how I prefer it. “I’m sorry. Yes, I lied to you, but it’s not what you think.”

“What do I think, then? Please fucking tell me.”

I look at Lie, and I know there’s no getting around this tonight. “We’ve been seeing each other for a few months,” I admit.

“Are you fucking kidding me right now? How dare you touch my child! I trusted you with the most important person in my life and this is what you fucking do—seduce my son?! It ends now.” He turns and grabs Lie’s arm to haul him off.

Lie looks at me with panic before he pulls his arm away from Nason. “No, Dad. You need to listen.”

“I’ve heard enough. I’m sorry he seduced you. I thought he was my best friend.”

I wince.

“He is your best friend, and it’s kind of shitty what you’re saying about him,” Lie says.

“We’re going home.”

Lie backs away until his back hits my chest. He shakes his head. “No,” he says, voice quiet. I’m sure it didn’t reach Nason over the chaos of fireworks.

I know that the anger I see in Nason is hiding a lot of other things. Betrayal. Hurt. Confusion. But it’s his anger that he hangs onto and fuels. We watch him turn and stomp away down the beach.

It’s only as he’s moving away from us that I see Miranda there, too. Great.

“Dad!” Lie calls.

For the first time in my life, I watch Nason ignore his son. No matter how many times Lie calls after him, Nason walks away.

This isn’t how it’s supposed to happen. Nason should be mad at me. He should not be taking it out on Lie. I close my eyes and wrap my arms around Lie. What have I done?