“Wait, you have other friends?” Cash asks, looking at me.
Lie laughs, shoving him toward the door. Cash gives me a wink, and I know that tease was for Lie’s benefit more than it was a legitimate question.
I watch them until the door shuts and then stare for just a second. How do I fix this? How do I make it better so Nason acknowledges his son again? Then again, maybe that’s not for the best right now. I would never have guessed that Nason would accuse me of seducing Lie.
As I walk down the road, I try to imagine the things he’s probably thinking, and I have to admit, the ideas that pop up aren’t good. At all. I’d be pissed at me, too.
Which is why he needs to listen to us. He needs to let us explain. I need him to understand that I’dneverhurt Lie.
Deryke is sitting out front of his bungalow when I walk up the path. He offers me a smile and a drink. “I ordered lunch. I’m hungry. It’ll be here in minutes.”
“Thanks.” I take a seat beside him and sip on the smoothie he provided.
“You look like hell,” Deryke says.
I close my eyes, sighing heavily. “Nason found Lie and I kissing on the beach the other night.” Deryke cringes away and I nod, laughing without humor. “Yep. He’s not taking it well.”
“What will you do?”
“What I keep telling Lie is that we need to give him time to sit with this information until he calms down and lets us explain.”
“And what aren’t you telling Lie?”
“That I don’t know if we’re going to get to that point. It’s been only a few days, and I know it’s premature to determine, but I’ve known Nason for thirty years, Deryke. Iknowhim. If he’s so angry that he won’t talk to Lie…” I shake my head.
“They have a special relationship,” Deryke notes. “You’ve always said.”
“Yes. Exactly. The thing is, I knew he was going to be angry. That’s why I’ve been content to sneak around the way we’ve been because I… I guess I’ve been naïve in thinking that I’ll come up with some magic solution in which Nason will be understanding and supportive. But now that I’m faced with the truth, I know I’ve been content with secrecy because I always knew this was going to get ugly. What Ididn’t knowwas that Nason would treat his son like shit. I couldn’t have predicted that. I didn’t think there was anything Lie could do that would make Nason treat him like he is.”
“That’s shitty.”
I rub a hand over my face. “It is. But I’m left with the same problem—I don’t know what to do about it. Iwon’tstop seeing Lie. I love him in a way that I’ve never experienced loving someone. And you know what? Even if we do what Nason demands and stop seeing each other, nothing will go back to how it had been, so I’d lose my best friendandthe only person I’ve ever loved with my entire soul.”
“That’s not an option.”
I shake my head. “I have to believe that time will make Nason… calmer. More open to listening to us.”
“Will him listening help?”
“Oh no. Not at all. But I’ve seen the hint of a very ugly confrontation coming, and I’m hoping to avoid it. This anger and hurt and betrayal and whatever else he’s feeling is going to end up with him saying some things that he knows are untrue, but he’s too upset to curb his mouth.”
“It’s shitty when people say things just to hurt someone else when they’re angry,” Deryke says.
“It is. But you know, I’m not even mad about him being angry. He has that right. He’snotwrong about some things. We lied to him. We snuck around behind his back. Yes, I crossed avery thick line in the sand when I touched his son. He has every right to be angry with me.”
Deryke nods. “It takes a bigger person to listen to a lifelong friend when they’re angry.”
“Nason isn’t concerned with being a bigger person right now.MyNason isn’t even home.”
“What will you do?”
I shake my head and close my eyes. “Make sure Lie has the support he needs. Comfort him as best I can. Make sure he knows how much I love him.” I shake my head again. “What else can I do?”
“You love him.”
My eyes open, and I’m staring into the clear sky. I’m not sure I’ve said those words out loud prior to this conversation. I’m not sure I’ve even truly acknowledged them in my head before more than, you know, in passing. Like an inevitability. Something that we don’t call attention to. Until now.
“Yeah.”
