Vicious Lies (Lies 1)

That’s Langston—he fits into any situation. The city, countryside, woods, castles. He can belong anywhere.

“Maybe I would have,” Langston answers. “But I won’t be dying today.”

He turns, leaving me no choice but to follow.

I yank my sweatshirt back off and tie it around my waist as I follow Langston pushing through the brush.

“You aren’t really going to kill something for our breakfast, are you?”

He looks back at me with an amused expression. “You eat meat, don’t you?”

“Actually, I don’t,” I lie.

“Liar.”

I shake my head. “Well, I would be a vegetarian if I had to actually kill the animal before I ate it.”

“That I believe.” Langston stops, putting his backpack, bow, and arrows down.

“What are you doing?”

“Getting you breakfast without killing anything.”

Langston grabs the base of a palm tree and begins to scale it. It takes him five seconds to reach the top. He slices off two coconuts before sliding back down. He cracks them both open and hands me one.

“You’re welcome,” he says before sucking the juices out.

“Thanks for providing me with food, oh great one. You forget you wouldn’t have to feed me if you’d just set me free.”

“I could stop providing you with food, then, if you don’t appreciate it.”

I roll my eyes. “Then I would die from starvation instead of at your hand, before you’ve had your way with me. Now, who’s a liar?”

After that, we finish eating our coconuts without any more smart remarks.

“Let’s go,” Langston says soon after I’ve finished my last bite.

“Where? Back to camp?”

He raises a brow with a large smirk as he holds his hand out to me. I reluctantly let him help me off the ground. “No, to my house.”

I gasp.

“You’re lying.”

“Follow me, and you’ll find out.” He takes off at a quick speed, almost like he’s running as he carries his backpack, bow, and arrows.

I run after, still not sure if I believe him or not.

Suddenly, Langston stops at a clearing.

I follow his gaze out to see a large house—the kind you see celebrities renting when they take vacations to private islands. I would guess the house has at least ten bedrooms and as many bathrooms. I can see a large infinity pool, and the landscaping is immaculate. There are people living on this island.

“You son of a bitch! You had us sleep on the ground last night. You made me think that we were on a deserted island, just the two of us. You bastard!”

I hit him squarely in the shoulder. More pissed that he lied to me, tricked me, and I fell for it than I am that he made me sleep on the dirt when there was a mansion with big fluffy beds not ten minutes from where we

slept.