"Shit how?" Cy asked.
"He kept asking for pics of Violet naked," Luke admitted. "Always joking, but it's kinda how Mike does things. He was giving me the chance to say she was my beard."
"That's almost cute," Violet said.
"In a pervy sort of way," I reminded her.
She rolled her eyes. "As if there's much difference between some of your lingerie and full nudity, Ash."
I just waved that off, refusing to let go of Darnell's point. "So, if Simmons is the problem, then what are our options?" I asked.
Which made everyone in the kitchen fall silent. That was the real issue. We stood out too much, were too different, and were too easy to point fingers at. We also shouldn't need to change. I couldn't be straight if I tried. I knew, because I had. I'd done everything in my power to resist Cy's allure, but I'd still fallen in love with him. Now, there was also Luke.
"I'm not ashamed of who I am," Cy said, breaking the silence.
"Me either," Luke promised.
But my mind was still churning. "When we got our asses kicked at the Grill..." I started.
"Another point against Simmons," Violet muttered. "And the reason why the paint on the door bothers me more than the gate."
"Be that as it may," Darnell said, leaning back to use the fridge to hold him up, "the missing gate means they can get to the door."
"So we're going to fix it today, right?" Luke said. "Pretty sure we can weld it back. Might need to straighten out the bars, or maybe bend some more pipe, but with a few extra hands, I'm pretty sure we can hang it before Faith gets home."
"Wait!" I demanded, thinking about something Cy had said not too long ago. "Picking a fight." My eyes sought out Cy. "We're doing this because sitting down and shutting up doesn't protect anyone, right? It teaches kids like Zeke that they can't come out. It tells Faith that she needs to be on a diet. Simmons is our problem, but we can't change him. We're fighting against him - but how? By throwing sex in people's faces? Not really a winning strategy when it comes to working with kids."
"Still needs to be done," Cy told me. "C'mon, Ash. Would you have been so freaked about being bi if you knew you wouldn't be called a pussy? Change isn't going to happen unless someone pushes."
"But is now the time to push?" I countered.
The answer came from Luke. "Yes." Slowly, he turned his coffee cup in his hand. "Now is exactly the time to push. They just outed me.Me,the hometown football hero. The guy with a kid. The local who knows pretty much everyone here. My dirt got dug up and put on display, and why? Because I went up against Simmons. Who's to say it won't happen to someone else? It's not about sex. Not really. It's about being bullied."
"He's right," Darnell said.
"I'm also checking out your tatts," Luke joked. "That pistol by your hip is complete shit."
"Fuck," Darnell said, pushing the waistband of his boxers lower. "I did that shit myself."
"Coverups," Violet told him. "There has to be a decent artist in Dallas."
Darnell just grumbled. "Cess likes them."
I raked my eyes over his lean, dark body. "I have a feeling she'd like them a lot more if they looked good. That's gang-banger trash, Darnell. You aren't gang-banger trash. Granted, you do wear the ink well."
"Fuck, gonna start telling me about prostate orgasms next too?"
"Good shit," Luke drawled around a smirk.
Darnell just tossed his hands up. "Outnumbered by the butt-fuckers. I'm buying Violet a damned strap-on for Christmas so she can get in on it."
"Own one," Violet said. "Ash is my best friend, remember?"
"She's a little rough with the pegging," I admitted, amused at how easily distracted they were before coffee. "Someone needs to give her more practice." Then I lifted a hand. "And before all of you get distracted with the idea of that - Simmons,remember?"
"Ideas?" Violet asked.
"We need a tally of our friends," I decided. "Who is already on our side, who is leaning to our side, and who wants to see us gone. That's where we start. Then, we have got to figure out how to make people change their minds."
