Page 9

Chapter Eight

LAIKEN

I met Nason when we were in second grade.

I moved into the house across the street from him that summer and we were instantly inseparable.

We obsessed over baseball and trading cards, rode our bikes for hours, discovered goblin caves in the woods behind my house, watched movies all night, camped in our backyards, and had the best summer.

The summers got better as we got older. Sneaking dirty magazines into the house, talking to girls, breaking our wrists at the same time, dreaming about what we wanted to do when we got older.

I introduced him to Miranda when we were sixteen.

She was in my class, and I knew as soon as I met her that they were soulmates.

Nason was the first and practically the only person I told that I was pansexual.

He didn’t get grossed out when I wanted to talk about my experiences with guys.

He was always open and honest and asked questions.

It made me understand that there are good people in the world.

People who won’t judge you based on something out of your control.

Miranda and Nason got married right after high school. We went to college together, getting a place for the three of us to room. I was there when Miranda found out she was pregnant. I was the first one they let into the room to meet their newborn. They named me the godfather on the spot.

Nason set me up with Denise, and it was a whirlwind romance. We were married within six months. Our relationship was explosive in both good and bad ways. Nason was there for everything.

It was Nason who suggested we move to the Isle of Kala when he found a job there. I think he knew Denise and I weren’t going to work out, and I also think his suggestion of moving to Kala was for me. To give me the opportunity to explore myself without the pressure of nasty people in the world.

Nason was there when Denise and I divorced two years after moving to Kala. He stood beside me as we watched the plane leave Anapos with her on it, knowing that we’d never see or hear from her again.

Nason encouraged me to stick with bartending, if that’s what I enjoyed, even if that didn’t mean following the career path set out for me by my degree. He gave me the confidence to define success by my own words and not what someone else tells me it means, and whether I’ve reached it.

He was there for my first and only boyfriend. A relationship that lasted almost four years, which was longer than my relationship with Denise had lasted.

He was there for the heartache, too, when it ended.

I helped him raise his son. I would babysit Elijah while they went on dates. I taught him how to swim and told him stories of his father from when we were kids. There were days when Elijah was away at college that he’d call me on video to help him with his chemistry homework.

Nason and I were side by side for everything in each other’s lives since the day we met. There hasn’t been a day since then that we haven’t spoken.

But I haven’t seen him in the last two days. I haven’t spoken to him, though I have responded to texts.

I left my house early this morning to head to the flower shop on the west side of Bane. There are half a dozen greenhouses out back and a large shop in the front. It’s one of the very few businesses not owned by the same family that owns the entire island chain and everything on them.

I sometimes forget that the six islands of Kala weren’t all purchased at the same time.

Four of the six were. Bane was the first one purchased after the resort had been up and running for a while.

Last came Ceto and the completion of uniting all the islands under one owner and as part of the resort.

It’s interesting to see the progress pictures on how the islands have grown and expanded over the last twenty years. The last drone that the owners sent up for updated aerial views to advertise with showed just how crowded Bane and Keone Reef are.

The owner of It’s Always Flower Day is a big bear of a man named Kellan.

He’s probably one of the sweetest, kindest, most hardworking men I’ve ever met.

When I need a break from the world for whatever reason, I volunteer to water the flowers or cart deliveries from one place to another. Whatever he needs.

My escape today is because Nason has the day off and I feel far too guilty to face him. I keep feeling like he’s going to see through me. He’s going to know that I’ve been kissing his son. He’s going to know that my thoughts about Lie are entirely inappropriate.

I know what I should do. If for no other reason than respect for my best friend.

But the thought of someone else touching Lie makes me irrationally irate.

I’m not a particularly violent person, but I’ve discovered a very loud possessive side of myself when it comes to Lie.

It gets louder and more aggressive every time we work together and everyone and their fucking brother are hitting on him.

Not that I blame them. Lie is stunning with his Latino complexion, stunning dark eyes, shiny dark hair, and slim frame. Even if you’re not into the twink scene, when Lie smiles, everyone notices.

Which is becoming a problem. The urge to break someone in half is far too frequent these days.

Nason won’t forgive me. There are sacred lines in a friendship that shouldn’t be crossed. I feel like this is on the same level of sleeping with your best friend’s spouse. You just don’t treat your friends that way. Family is off limits unless expressly told otherwise.

The best I can hope for right now is getting over Lie before we’re caught. Kiss him. Squeeze that hypnotic ass until I’ve had my fill and my infatuation is satisfied, and then we go our separate ways, and no one ever has to know. It’ll be our dirty little secret.

The flower shop and greenhouses don’t have locks on them.

There’s not even a fence to keep people out.

There is no crime on Kala. We’re not that kind of community.

I’m not even sure we have a jail or courthouse or anything.

Technically speaking, this island chain is privately owned.

While we actually purchase houses, we’re only purchasing the house.

The land it’s on is leased, which means at any time, the owner of the house can be evicted, leaving them with the option of taking their house with them or sell it.

From what I’ve learned, it’s happened once. The man was kicked off the island chain entirely and has not been allowed to return. The event itself is pretty well known. A lesson that if you disrupt the peace or cause problems, you can and will be removed.

Interestingly, I’m not sure what actually caused the situation to get to that point. You’d think the crime that led to his banishment would be the lesson.

I poke my head into greenhouses as I make my way through the flower shop backyard.

I’ve been to greenhouses and nurseries back in America and I always thought it was amusing and didn’t really lend confidence in their product to walk around nurseries with muddy grounds and no grass. A lack of trees or ambience.

You’re there for plants and they have so little landscaping of their own. It would be like buying a cake from someone who detested dessert and hoping it would be delicious.

It’s Always Flower Day isn’t your typical nursery though. There are wide paved paths surrounded by flower beds, trees, and other beautiful foliage. You’re not walking into the back of a warehouse. You’re walking into a breathtaking garden that happens to have greenhouses.

I find Kellan in the third greenhouse. He’s adjusting the long limbs of an ivy plant. He glances up when he notices he’s not alone and offers me a huge smile. “Hi, Laiken. What brings you here?”

“I’m looking for something to do. Whatcha got?”

He glances around, and I imagine he’s trying to think of a single task on a long list. “How do you feel about replanting?” he asks.

“Lead the way and give me any special instructions.”

Kellan wipes his hands on his pants and smiles. “Sure. Thanks.”

“Absolutely. Glad I can lend a hand occasionally.”

Like everywhere in the world, the businesses on Kala tend to be understaffed.

In this case, it isn’t because people don’t want to do the work.

It’s because we don’t have enough housing for the number of employees we need.

I think the essential roles are probably filled as a priority and then everyone trickles down from there.

I don’t think Kellan is actually short staffed. I never see that he’s looking for help. But he also never turns down help when they show up to volunteer their time.

“No special instructions. The usual. Give them a good soaking when you’re finished, and of course, you’re welcome to whatever you’d like as a thank you,” Kellan tells me when we stop in the first greenhouse I passed to find him.

“Thanks.” I look around. This will take a while. Perfect job. “Seems to me like you had your day cut out for you.”

He laughs. “I think we bring in as many as we manage to get through each day. We never catch up, which isn’t bad, otherwise I’d probably end up filling this one with flower stock too.”

“I don’t doubt that. When there’s an empty corner, it must be filled with flowers.”

“Yes!” he exclaims, clapping me on the back of my shoulder. “Thanks again.”

He leaves, and I close my eyes to take in the smell of the flowers for a minute. It’s strong, unsurprisingly. I take a breath, knowing this is just what I need to empty my head and relax.

I spend all day at the flower shop. At first, I was only intending to stay until I felt less guilty and my brain was overrun with flowers, but as I continued repotting the little buds from their starter containers into the next size so they could grow bigger, it became a challenge to see if I could get through the whole greenhouse.

To be clear, these aren’t your average backyard home greenhouses.

They’re massive. I had my work cut out for me.

It’s dark by the time I reach the very last one.

Then I spend half an hour studiously watering them before I finally take my leave.

While I rarely take a flower payment from Kellan, there’s a single stem of a very pretty orange flower that catches my eye on the way out, and I snag it.

It will look lovely against Lie’s complexion.

I don’t head home right away. Since I haven’t eaten more than a cookie that Kellan brought in, I stop at the deli on my way home, eating the sandwich as I take the long way to my house.

I’m unsurprised to find Nason and Miranda out back around their firepit, roasting s’mores. I hear Nason’s voice calling me through my open back door. Damn thing is always open. Good thing the island isn’t filled with mischievous people, or I’d have been robbed blind eight times over.

I set the flower by the front door and head to the back. Elijah’s bedroom window catches my eye. The light is on. That means he’s home. My stomach flips. I haven’t seen or spoken to him all day.

“Where you been?” Nason asks.

“Kellan’s.” I hold up my hands with dirt staining my skin and stuck under my nails. I’m going to need to scrub before I climb into bed.

“Bored, huh?”

I shrug, yawning. “He was in an endless cycle of not catching up with his re-potting, so I thought I’d help out.”

“Cool. That what you’ve been up to the last few days?”

No. I’ve been avoiding you.

Those words don’t leave my mouth, obviously. There’s a chance that I bite my tongue for a minute, so a dirty confession doesn’t fall from my lips. “No,” I say, after a while. “I’ve been home. Entertaining myself with stories.”

He nods. I yawn again, and Nason throws a marshmallow at me. “Go to bed. It’s apparently past your bedtime, old man.”

I snort. “Too much fresh air, obviously.”

“Uh-huh. See you tomorrow.”

I raise my hand as I head back to my house.

This time, I shut the back door too. The house is dark as I make my way to my bedroom, but pause when I come to the front door where the flower is.

I lean my head against the door and close my eyes.

It shouldn’t be so hard not to say something to Nason, but until now, I’ve never intentionally kept a secret from him. He knows everything about me.

Every kid lies to their parents and schoolmates. Little white lies. Lies so you can stay out later or go to an R-rated movie. Lies that don’t hurt anyone.

I’ve probably lied to most people in my life at some point. Stupid little things, even when it’s something as dumb as saying ‘ I’m fine ’ when I’m sick. But I’ve never lied to Nason. This isn’t the kind of lie where I’m actively telling him falsehoods. It’s a lie by omission.

Which might be worse. Keeping words in that want to spill out is more difficult than one might think. I don’t want him to know because it’s his kid. Clearly. But I want him to know how this person makes me feel. Alive. Excited. Obsessed.

I fear that too many questions from him would lead to him knowing who I was talking about by my answers, though. Therefore, the entire thing needs to be kept to myself. As if it never happened.

A knock on my front door has me sighing. It’s dark out and the front light is off, so I can only make out a vague shape through the frosted glass. I don’t need to see his face, though. I know who it is. I have the shape memorized.

Flipping the lock, I pull the door open.

Elijah jumps into my arms and kisses me. I groan. Fuck, I didn’t think I’d get to taste him today.

I stumble backward, my hands hiking his feet off the ground by gripping his luscious ass. I swallow the sexy sound he makes.

The kiss isn’t long. Just a quick, hot taste before he backs away. Elijah flashes me a smile and starts to turn. I grab his arm and reach for the flower I have hanging by the door that I’d been saving for tomorrow.

His face lights up when I present it to him. My heart flutters at the look on his face. The shine in his eyes. “Thank you,” he whispers, as if we’ll be overheard. He kisses me again, short and hot, and then bounds into the darkness, disappearing into the shadows.

My front door can’t be seen from Nason’s house at all. Not unless someone is at the end of his front lawn. It’s set back within a little alcove, which I’m finding incredibly convenient at the moment.

I stare into the dark street for a minute before I back inside and close the door.