“I swear if you keep talking, Valerian, I am going to murder you in your sleep.” King jumped to his feet. “And it won’t be slow!”
“Hey, at least you’re talking to me again.” I shrugged at him then looked back at Dad. “King and I also decided to skip school one day just so we could go drink at one of the lakes. We took the girls with us, and everyone skinny-dipped. It was totally fine until Violet started stripping, and then I had this huge problem, so King started dancing naked on the dock, giving me time to run to the shore and jack off shamelessly behind a tree while Violet swam like a fucking mermaid through the water. I think it’s why every Usher song gives me a semi—though I really don’t want anyone knowing that.”
“It wasn’t Usher, you idiot. It was T-Payne!” King stepped closer and gave me a shove. “Plus, it wasn’t my fault you had zero control of your hormones. A swift wind would have given you a semi!”
“That’s probably true.” I winked.
“Boys.” Dad pinched the bridge of his nose. “These— er, confessions, not really what I was talking about.”
“But I have a point.” I crossed my arms. “Everything I did, I did with King. He was and still is one of my best friends. I told him because I was afraid, and I burdened him with that truth, but it was and still is one of the only things I kept from you, and that’s the truth.”
Dad’s eyes locked onto me, and then he was pulling me into a hug. King tried to escape, but Dad grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pulled him in too.
I thought he was going to say something emotional.
Instead, he held us so tight it was hard to breathe. “Mom never hears a word of any of this, are we clear?”
“But Dad, you said to be truthful—”
“Damn it, I know what I said!” He shoved us away, jabbing his finger between the two of us and then back to me. “It’s for my own sanity. She’ll make me sleep on the couch, and you know that hurts my neck. She hears not a word of this. And for the record…” His eyes darkened. “Never, and I do mean never tell Chase that you jacked off watching his daughter swim. Ever.”
I held up my hands in innocence. “He actually tolerates me now. No way would I let that get out.”
King let out a little chuckle. “Hmm, seems the tables have turned. Maybe I should shoot off a little text to… what’s Ash’s name for him? Scary Dad?”
“King.” Dad glared. “No.”
“Fine.” He rolled his eyes.
Dad took one last look at us then made a beeline for the bar where Phoenix and Andrei had set up camp.
“Is there a reason Phoenix is showing Andrei pictures of an RV?”
I shuddered. “Sure hope not.”
“Cool.” King exhaled and then started to walk away.
“Wait.” I grabbed him by the shoulder.
He froze.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I’m sorry I didn’t prepare you for this, I’m sorry you had to keep this secret, sorry you had to watch everyone mourn. I’m just… I love you, and I’m sorry.”
“See, that’s all you needed to say.” He hung his head and then turned back around. “You made an impossible choice, I get that. But you made it for both of us. You made a liar and betrayer out of me too, and that’s not me, that’s never been me. Yeah, we kept a lot of shit from Dad when we were young, but it was always because I was with you, not because I was strong enough on my own.” He gulped. “Sometimes, I still don’t think I am. Sometimes, I don’t know who I am without the great Breaker— or sorry, Valerian by my side.”
“Bro.” I pulled him in for a tight hug. “I’ll always be by your side.”
“In Seattle.” He grumbled.
I let him go. “Then move up here for a year. It’s not like you wouldn’t be safe.”
His eyes lit up, and then Violet walked out to the patio. “Newlyweds… Maybe I’ll wait for a few weeks before I bring it up to Dad. Hopefully, by then, you’ll be bored of all the sex you’re getting, and I won’t want to cut my own ears off and bemoan the fact that I’m not getting any.”
I rolled my eyes. “You were literally sleeping with your tutor all semester.”
His grin turned sloppy. “She gave me an A+.”
“Wow.” Violet shook her head at him. “And here I thought this one was the whore. Congratulations, you’ve just earned a new badge for banging the tutor who’s how many years older than you?”
“Three.” King waved her off. “What can I say? Sex helps me focus.”
“King!” Dad roared from inside. “Something you need to tell me about Miss Turner?”