I’m spent, but they look equally destroyed by the news. Akara lifts up his leg and rests his forearm on his knee, staring out.
He keeps muttering, “I just wish we had longer…”
Banks places a palm on Akara’s head, consoling him.
I encase both of my hands around Akara’s hand. After I ask, he ends up showing me the gossip site on his phone.
THE ROYAL LEAKS
We reveal all the truths about the American Royals. These are verified and come directly from the source.
ROYAL LEAK #1: Sullivan Meadows is dating Banks Moretti & Akara Kitsuwon at the same time.
#TodaysLeaks #didnotseethatcoming #polyamory #StillAVirgin? #DoubleStuffed
That last hashtag makes me see red, but I calm down when Akara places a hand on the small of my back and Banks weaves an arm around my shoulders.
“Happy Holidays to us, right?” I mutter, more hot, angry tears brimming. “This mole is the fucking cummiest cumwad.”
Banks almost smiles.
Akara leans his head back, eyes ablaze.
“How are you two handling this?” I whisper.
“Livid,” Akara says.
“Annoyed,” Banks answers.
I swallow a knot. “What if it won’t be as big of a change as we think?” I wonder. “What if no one cares? What if paparazzi just shrug?”
“The world will care,” Akara says certainly. “They care about you.”
“Not like Jane and Moffy.”
“They will now,” Akara whispers. “I’m sorry, Sul, I can’t let you think it’s going to be the same when we leave here. Your safety is the most important thing to me. I can’t let anything happen to you.” His voice almost cracks. He stares off into the thicket of snowcapped trees. “You’re my heart.”
I lean up and touch his face.
Akara clasps my hand against his jaw. “I love you, Sulli.”
“I love you too, Kits.” I nod a few, pained times. “I don’t want to be naïve about what we’re facing either…” I have to be prepared. “But the media hasn’t fucking won yet.”
They haven’t.
They haven’t.
Akara nods with me. He takes my hand and kisses my knuckles.
Banks digs in his pocket, taking out a pack of cigarettes. He toys with opening the carton, but when I lean my head on his shoulder, he closes them. “Come hell or high water, the three of us are surviving together. I don’t care what anyone throws at me.”
“They’re going to throw shit at her, Banks,” Akara reminds him.
“We’re protecting her,” Banks shoots back. “There is no path where we don’t.”
He’s keeping the hope alive, and I breathe every ounce into my bloodstream. I look up at Akara, and his confidence bears back down on me.
“Banks is right,” he tells me. “There is no path where we don’t protect you.”
We’re surviving together. And we listen to the wind whistling, the shake of the fir trees, and our breaths that try to calm. I don’t want to go backwards. I can’t lose their companionship, their love, everything they mean to me.
The woods are where we started, but I don’t want this to be where we end.
45
BANKS MORETTI
Suitcases lie open on the ground in our room. Clothes stuffed and half-folded inside. Tomorrow, we leave the sanctuary of the lake house, and the three of us are dragging our feet. No real motivation to pack up and head back to Philly in the morning. It’s been four days since the leak, and social media has gone wild with theories.
While I try to fix an extra radio, Sulli lies sideways on the bed with her head in my lap. She holds a cellphone above her maddened eyes and scrolls through comments under a news article. The title: Olympic Gold Medalist Is Dating Two Bodyguards!
Other headlines are variations of that one:
Heiress of Fizzle & Hale Co. Fortunes Reportedly in A Polyamorous Relationship
Shocker! Is Sullivan Meadows Banging Two Bodyguards at Once?
American Royals are Scandalous Like Us
The articles about Sulli dating the twin brother of Thatcher Moretti are buried beneath the triad explosion. A saving grace, really. I’m not jumping for joy knowing Jane and my brother might be pulled into this mess just because I happen to look like Thatcher Alessio Moretti.
Plus, I hate those types of comments. It’s like shrapnel in my eardrums. Infuriating as hell. I saw one buried comment about “it’s weird” that Jane & Sullivan are dating two brothers who have the same face, and steam shot out of my fucking ears.
Christ, I’m not my brother.
Sulli takes a tight breath, and I angle my head to see her phone screen. Reading the comments with her.
It has to be true. The families have only denied 1 leak out of how many??
No way is Sullivan Meadows in a poly relationship! It’s not in her character.
WOW. Can you imagine what Ryke & Daisy are thinking? Maybe Sulli is the sex addict of the second gen *eyeball emojis*
She’s such a slut. Two guys at once? Come on.
This is so juicy! Does anyone have more details?