Lies We Tell (Thistle Cove 3)

4

Kenley

I park my car in Ozzy’s driveway. Finn’s dad’s truck is on the street, Ezra’s motorcycle next to it. I take the path around the side of the house that leads to the basement door.

Ozzy’s basement became our hangout over the last few weeks. His mom works a lot and his younger sisters ignore us. The guys like it because Ozzy has a gaming system they like to play. I like it because it’s a private place we can just hang out together and not worry about judgement. Sure, Ezra’s house is nicer, but I don’t like to be around his dad. He’s made it clear he doesn’t approve of me, and I don’t want to give him the opportunity for him to let me know.

Sometimes I think I don’t like to be around Mr. Baxter because I think he may be right.

Am I good enough for his son?

I haven’t been honest about everything. Like the flowers I received from BD and the disturbing fact someone from the SugarBabies app knows my name and where I live.

It wasn’t just Ezra I hadn’t told. I’d kept it a secret from everyone.

How do I confess to the guys that I’d been hiding secrets of my own? That I’d engaged on the SugarBabies platform, that I’d intentionally struck up conversation with a potentially dangerous person. Sure, after I slept with Ozzy I cut it off, but obviously that didn’t take.

My hope is that my lack of response is a signal to whoever sent those flowers that I’m not interested. I’m blessed with three boyfriends and no one is going to mess that up for me. Especially not some controlling, gross, old guy. We’ve got enough of those around here, anyway.

I walk up to the back door and peer in the window. All three boys are sprawled across the couches, eyes focused on the screen across the room. I get a warm feeling, seeing them all together. They’d been so close when we were kids, then we spent three years apart, caught up in our own lives, only to be brought back again by tragedy.

It makes my feelings about Rose’s disappearance complicated. If she was still here, I doubt this ever would have happened. No, I know for a fact it wouldn’t have.

I crack open the door and catch a snippet of their banter.

“Damn, son,” Ozzy says, “Ez, if I didn’t know better, I’d think this was the first time you played this game.”

“Seriously? You’d have better luck trying to score with your sister.”

“Burn,” Finn laughs.

“What are you laughing at?” Ozzy spits back, while grimacing at the screen. “Your ass is grass, and I’ve got the weed-whacker.”

Finn sits up and quickly moves his hands on the controller. “Fuck you, you little fucker.”

“You kiss Kenley with that mouth?” Ezra asks.

Finn smirks, “And other things.”

My cheeks warm despite the cold.

“Sounds like he’s got a boner to pick with you,” Ozzy adds.

“I have a serious question,” Ezra asks. “Is masturbating while smoking weed called masterblazing?’

Ozzy snorts. “Nope. It’s called highjacking.”

“What about weedwhacking?”

I step through the door and slam it. They all jolt up straight. “It’s called disappointing your mother, you perverts.”

They look at me with a mix of amusement and alarm. Only Ozzy looks slightly ashamed for getting busted talking trash. I take off my coat and toss it on the chair by the door. I walk over to the couches, stopping to place a kiss on Ezra’s temple, and another on Finn’s forehead, and drop to the couch next to Ozzy and kiss his jaw.

“So what are you guys doing, other than talking about getting high and your dicks?” Their penises, I’ve learned, are one of their favorite conversations. To be honest, I think about their cocks a lot, too.

“Not much,” Ezra says. “You?”

“Just counting down the days until Christmas break.”