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Chapter Thirty-One

LIE

One of the weirdest things this week is that the meeting had been postponed for three days. It’s all anyone can talk about. Three days isn’t a lot of time, and there hasn’t been any recent upset with Taylor, so what can be happening in just three days?

It’s been enough to take most of the attention off me and Laiken. Not all the attention, though. That’s a lot to ask for, especially when my dad is still acting like a shithead. His behavior means no one has forgotten about our scandal, and they’re likely not going to for a while.

In those three days, I worked yesterday and today at the post office. I hate everything about it. I hate the sounds and moving heavy boxes. The monotony of sorting. The system to send mail is unnecessarily complicated and obnoxious.

I’m not even going to get into how uncomfortable the uniform is. I’m forced to wear a belt, which makes the shorts bunch around my waist. This big shirt makes me look frumpy. What’s wrong with wearing clothes that fit you? Why is that not a thing with places that require uniforms?

At least I’ve been relegated to sorting packages instead of dealing with people needing to ship.

I could absolutely learn the system but it’s a stupid computer program and the computers are like eighty years old, so they’re slow as fuck.

I don’t have the patience for it without getting incredibly frustrated.

Since the post office is in the middle of Bane Island, directly in the center of the residential area, it’s one of the few places on the island chain where I’m allowed to keep my phone on me.

Which means I have my earbuds in and listen to filthy audiobooks.

It makes the monotony of sorting mail a little more bearable.

I also appreciate that the post office closes in plenty of time to make it to the town meeting. I’m already stripping out of my horrendous uniform on my way out the door. My heart skips when I see Laiken leaning against the post drop box, waiting for me.

He’s wearing a shirt today, but it’s an open button-down and the sleeves stretch tightly around his biceps. Honestly, how are there not more people lined up drooling around him? Laiken is one of the hottest men on Kala. Hands down.

I stop in front of him, and he immediately wraps his arms around me. I press my face into his neck and take a deep breath. I will never get tired of this.

“You have a good day?” he asks, kissing my head, his hands gently massaging my back.

“It’s boring. I hate it,” I admit.

“You’re not tied to this job, Lie. There are plenty more out there.”

“Yeah? How long before word spreads that no one should be hiring me because I won’t stay more than three days?”

Laiken chuckles. “Perhaps, but they get three days of work from you when otherwise the position would remain open. We’re lacking the population to fill all the open positions.”

“I want to be offended that I’m hired because a body in the position is better than none, but I wouldn’t hire me, so I get it.”

He kisses my head again. “Come on. Let’s pick up some food on the way and find some seats.”

We stop at the deli around the corner and eat our sandwiches as we walk. Laiken tells me about his three meetings today. Three. In a single day. He didn’t even step foot in a single bar, which he hates.

In turn, he gets to learn about mail. “First, it’s sorted by island.

If it’s Bane or Keone Reef, it’s further sorted by street and then by house number.

If it’s one of the other islands, it’s sorted by quadrant, by building, then by department if necessary.

If you want to go above and beyond, you can sort by last name, too.

I asked if we get gold stars by doing so.

Debbie looked at me with confusion. She has zero sense of humor or ability to read sarcasm,” I complain.

“Wow.”

“At least I finished my audiobook. I got to listen to how wide this man’s hole was stretched to accommodate a dragon dick, all while sorting mail! Don’t be jealous of my life.”

Laiken chuckles. His arm drapes around my waist, pulling me close. “Again, if you’re not happy, stop working there. Life is far too short to spend six hours every single day miserable at work.”

Especially when I’m fighting being miserable outside of work. Nope. Right now, I’m not thinking about my father. In fact, I’m going to be childish and pretend he and my mother don’t exist at all while at the town meeting tonight. That’s the only way I’m going to manage not to have tears in my eyes.

Cash is waiting outside for us, both our seat cushions under his arm. He grins as we approach. Laiken lets go of my hand to throw out our trash, and I touch the hickey on Cash’s neck with my finger.

“You have secrets, don’t you?”

He’s not able to wipe that smile off his face. It’s so big and brilliant, I can’t look directly at it. Cash leans forward and whispers, “Why didn’t you tell me sex was so good?”

I snort. Linking my arm through his, I turn him around and we head for the building. “Is it?”

“Oh my god, Lie,” he says, voice all dreamy. “I ache in such delicious ways.” He looks around before leaning in and whispering, “I get to be in his ass tonight. I’m going to lose my load right away. I can already tell.”

“Pro tip. Get off beforehand. It’ll help you last longer when it feels too good.”

Cash sighs. “I never knew I could be happy like this,” he says as he drops our cushions into chairs. “I just feel like I’m floating.”

“Not that I want to bring you down to my miserable state, but does he know yet?”

Cash shakes his head, though his smile doesn’t fade. “To be honest, I don’t care when he does find out. It’s not like we have any kind of relationship that’s going to break.” He gives me an apologetic look. “How much worse can it get?”

“For you, probably not much. But remember that you’re not the only one involved. And they’re best friends.”

That does it. Cash’s smile fades, and his eyebrows knit together.

A wave of shame covers me as I realize I needed to bring him down, too.

I grip his arm tightly. “I’m sorry. I really don’t want you to be upset.

You already said that you think it’s loyalty keeping O there, right? Not actual friendship at this point.”

He sighs. “He’s getting more… reckless? Like he doesn’t care if Ben finds out. Maybe he doesn’t care about Ben’s reaction at all.”

I glance around the room from where our heads are bent together. I find Onyx right away. I’m always surprised when Ben comes to meetings. He doesn’t want to be on Kala, so why does he waste his time here?

Onyx meets my eyes, giving me a half smile. Then his attention is on Cash and doesn’t waver.

“I think he’s totally into you. Out of the Ellis brothers, choosing you is choosing sanity.”

Cash laughs quietly. “For real. He’s out of control, Lie. Two days ago, he practically broke my window because I was listening to them practice in the garage. Like I have a damn choice. Dad made him pay for the damage he did to the frame, and somehow, that’s my fault.”

“When are your parents going to kick him out?”

“I mean, he’s their son too, right? Besides, where would he go? There’s like three houses available on Bane and Keone Reef combined, and I’m positive Benson can’t afford any of them.”

Laiken sits beside me, his hand resting on my leg right away. I love the possessive touch. I rest my hand over his and curl my fingers under his palm.

Despite the way people are stealing glances our way, knowing that my parents are probably here somewhere, I keep my attention firmly in my own lane. I’m happy Laiken is here with me. I’m glad he’ll touch me in front of everyone, making sure the entire island knows that I’m his. We’re together.

The room hushes as the six island representatives come in. They greet those in the front or those lingering by their chairs for quick discussions. This is always how the meetings begin.

Taylor is next, signaling that the reps should take their seats. Usually, that’s the note that the meeting is about to begin. But this afternoon with Taylor is Mr. Calloway. His presence has everyone whispering.

“I didn’t think he was coming again,” Cash says. “Didn’t we vote that Taylor was getting a second chance not to be a royal pain in the ass?”

“We did,” I agree.

Laiken points to the easel at the front with something covered. “Whatever that is might be why Mr. Calloway is here.”

“How did we miss that?” I muse.

“We were too busy looking at Onyx,” Cash murmurs, making me smile.

I make the mistake of looking for him again because I see my mother up front with her biddies from work. My stomach flips, and I turn my attention to Taylor at the podium. I wonder where my dad is. Who is he sitting with?

“Good afternoon,” Taylor greets. “I hope you’ve had a great month.”

There are murmurs around the room in response.

“I want to thank you again for allowing me another opportunity to serve you.” He hesitates as he looks at the podium, where I’m guessing an agenda is.

“I think it’s important that everyone recognizes their own weaknesses, and I think one of mine is not understanding which of the things I feel is important is something that maybe you don’t want to discuss.

So I have a list of things that I feel might be important to you, and I want you to be honest if this is something you don’t care about. ”

A hand immediately goes up and Taylor nods.

“It’s not that we don’t care about some of the things you bring up, Taylor. We just don’t need a twenty-minute conversation about how tall a sign should be at the docks. It’s the nuances of the conversation that matter. Not their importance.”

Taylor’s head tilts to the side. “Oh. Okay. Well… I would like to take the first few minutes to go over a short list because it will be a helpful learning experience for me to take note of these kinds of things. If everyone is okay with this?”