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 doesheknow 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.”
