Page 36 of Thorns of Deceit

“Everything’s fine,” I finally said, deciding it was best to keep the details to myself. The last thing I wanted was to pull them into this mess and inadvertently expose them to danger. “My mom wants to move again before I leave for Paris.”

Understanding flashed in their eyes. They knew how much I despised moving and longed for a place to call home. The boarding school was that place for me—a single, immovable anchor that was gone now that I graduated.

“She cannot possibly still think that your father is looking for her?” Athena muttered.

I shrugged.

“Did she ever share his name?” Reina asked. “The way she behaves, you’d think he’s the devil.”

“We sure are a unique group,” Phoenix signed, pointing out the obvious.

“Unique is one word for it,” I signed and voiced simultaneously while smiling. “I’m just glad we fit together, however weirdly.”

Smiling faces filled the screen and I couldn’t help but feel incredibly lucky to have friends like these. For a moment, the distance and the time zones didn’t matter. It was just the five of us again, dreaming like we always did.

I looked past the screen, out at the skyline. The tall glass buildings glowed in the sunset, and I imagined trading this view for the Eiffel Tower and narrow streets, morning croissants, and all of us bumping elbows in a tiny Paris kitchen.

I felt torn. My feelings for Aiden were growing, but they couldn’t quell the longing and dreams of studying in Paris. I wanted to fully embrace the college years with my friends. We’d been talking about it for so long, and in a silly, perhaps immature way, I resented the thought of giving it all up.

The screen flickered for a moment, freezing my friends’ smiles in time while a storm raged inside me. When the signal returned, only Athena remained.

“I guess we lost everyone, huh?” I said softly.

“It’s just as well,” she shot back. “Because I want to talk to you… alone.”

I winced inwardly.

“What’s up?” I asked, forcing a neutral expression. Athena could be a force to reckon with when she wanted to be.

“You tell me,” she stated matter-of-factly, her expression that of a wannabe mother. “And don’t give me some BS. I want the truth.”

I worried the full truth might get her into the same kind of trouble as it got me.

“Honestly, I’m not even sure where to start,” I admitted.

She smiled. “That’s easy. At the beginning.”

I sighed, a swirl of emotions twisting inside me. All this would be so much easier if I didn’t like Aiden.

“I cannot say some words,” I started slowly, shooting her a meaningful look. “So you’re going to have to read between the lines.”

Her brow arched. “Okay, I’m all ears.”

“I saw something I shouldn’t have, and it put me into a pickle.”

“What kind of pickle?”

“Well, I would have said not the good kind, but I really like this guy.”

Athena’s brows furrowed. “I’m not following.”

I pressed my palm against my forehead.

“This guy was doing something… bad, and I saw it.” Her eyes widened, and I could tell her imagination was already running wild. “Anyway, he found me, and we’ve been…” I hesitated, the word “married” lodged in my throat. “Seeing each other.”

“Holy shit,” she whispered, her eyes just about to bulge out of her skull. “Are you having sex with him?”

I grimaced. “That’s theonething you took from everything I just told you?”