Chapter 24
Chapter Twenty-Four
CASH
Quincy hands me the box. It’s heavier than it looks. “Big Office. It goes to Sammie on the eighth floor. You know Sammie?”
I nod. “He lives across from Lie. Diagonal actually. But yeah, I know Sammie.”
“Cool. He’s expecting this. Remind him that we need six of this exact one. I’m sending the physical product because the serial number tends to pull up three variations for some reason, and this is the only one that fits.”
“Got it. This one exactly. Serial number lies.”
Quincy grins. “It does. Shift is over when you’re done.”
I nod. “Thanks.”
The box feels like it’s hiding lead balls inside. I rest it on the railing right outside for a minute and take turns shaking out my arms. This is going to be a long walk.
The ‘Big Office’ is our equivalent of the corporate office on Kala.
It comprises several floors of the biggest hotel-like resort building.
The second, seventh, and eighth floors. The rest of the fifteen floors are all guest rooms. Do I think it’s weird that the offices are within a hotel?
Kind of, but since this is literally the only environment I’ve ever known, it’s not that weird.
It’s not a short walk, and I stop to rest on the benches several times. I never considered myself out of shape, but my arms are going to feel like goo when I finally drop this stupid thing off. I don’t even know what it is or what it’s for.
I’m a sweaty mess by the time I step into the hotel lobby. I sit on a chair right inside the door to catch my breath. There’s a chance this thing is gaining weight with every step I take.
After another minute, I get up again for the last leg of my trip to the Big Office. I give a bob of my head as I step down the hall beyond the front desks. The chaos of the lobby is almost silent now.
“Hi, Cash,” Lindsor greets. “Need a hand?”
“My struggle is that obvious, huh?”
He laughs. “Well…”
“I’d playfully flip you off, but then I’d drop this on my foot, so… just know the intent is there.”
Lindsor continues to laugh as I walk by. I hit the button of the employee elevator with my knuckle, thankful when the door opens right away. Thank fuck. Stepping inside, I rest the box against the wall on the little rail as I push the eight.
Before the door can close, Nason steps into the elevator. My insides clench with disgust.
“Hey,” he says, giving me the smile he usually does. I stare at him for a minute, unsure what to make of this… normal… expression. “You’re enjoying your job still? I hear such great things about your tours.”
“You can’t be serious,” I deadpan. Is he really talking to me like nothing has happened? Like he hasn’t turned into the world’s most despicable father in an instant to my very best friend!
Nason laughs. “Absolutely. The guests love you.”
“Don’t talk to me,” I say in abhorrence. “You’re a piece of shit, Nason Cain. I will never believe otherwise.”
The humor fades. “You can’t—”
“Seriously, don’t talk to me. I have never been more repulsed by someone in my entire life, which says a lot considering my brother is a bigoted asshole.”
The doors open onto the eighth floor, and I pick up the box again. It doesn’t feel as heavy as it did a minute ago. I walk quickly down the hall, finding more energy than I realized I had.
Thankfully, Sammie’s door is open, and I kick it lightly with my foot since I can’t knock. Sammie is a middle-aged man with a whole lot of laugh lines. He’s a good guy. He smiles when he sees me.
“Cash. Come in.”
“Please tell me you know exactly where you want this so I only have to put it down once.”
He chuckles. “Right here.” Sammie gets to his feet and gestures to the side table, approaching it as I do.
I’m careful not to drop it. Pretty sure if I dropped it, it would make the table buckle under its weight.
There’s a chance I should maybe do some strength training or something.
“Thanks for being the delivery man.” Sammie grips my shoulder. “Much appreciated.”
“I’m told to remind you that we need this exact one and that the serial number lies. Six of them.”
Sammie inclines his head with a kind smile. “Thank you for the reminder. I’ve made the mistake enough times that I won’t do it again.”
“Glad to have you back at work, Mr. Sohta.”
His smile remains. “Laiken accidentally brought around a lot of good change. Our work environment has improved tenfold.”
“He’s a good guy,” I say.
Sammie’s smile softens. “He is. I hope people remember that soon.”
My stomach flips, and I nod. “Me too. It’s unsettling how many people can so easily imagine they see the bad in someone when it’s so blatantly a lie.”
He nods. “I agree. I’ve always thought Kala was above mob mentality. Not so easily swayed by the opinions of a couple of bad eggs. I’m disappointed that’s not the case.”
“Me too. I’m also really angry. I might egg some houses later.”
Sammie gives me a mischievous smile. “I know nothing.”
Grinning, I give him a wave and step into the hall again.
A quick look around shows that Nason isn’t in sight, so I head back to the elevator.
The conversation with Sammie did a lot to pull me out of the gross anger that Nason inspired in me.
I’m not a violent person. In all the time that Benson has been a dick to me, never have I wanted to retaliate physically.
But the pain and trauma Nason is causing Lie right now has me seriously wanting to knock his teeth out.
I’m not sure I have the strength in me to succeed. I’d have to hit him several times.
Thankfully, I don’t run into Nason again on my way out of the building.
Onyx is waiting for me when I get back to the docks.
He’s here after every single shift. Always.
Yes, I think it’s partially with the intent to dissuade Ben from bothering me, but I also think that’s just how he is. He wants to be with me all the time.
“Hi,” I say. “Waiting for someone?”
Onyx’s smile makes me all warm and squishy inside. “Where’d you go?”
“Dropping off a really heavy reorder part to Sammie Sohta at the Big Office. Whatever we’re doing tonight, we’ll have to use your muscles. Mine are now limp noodles.”
He laughs. “Sounds good to me.”
“I’m just going to clock out. Be right back.”
He nods and leans back on the dock railing to wait for me. Knowing he’s there makes my heart skip around. I swear, being with Onyx is going to give me arrhythmia. My heart rate is never normal with him around.
We walk side-by-side down the path from the tour docks to the ferry terminal. I tell him about Nason in the elevator, and he shakes his head.
“I don’t understand how he thinks his behavior is okay and that I’ll just overlook it. Me, of all people! Lie’s best friend. Like… seriously?”
Onyx shakes his head. “I think the island in general is flabbergasted at the whole thing. No one saw Nason reacting this way toward Lie. Laiken either, but that seems less far-fetched than how he’s treating Lie.”
“Can we stop in at Laiken’s and visit Lie on the way home?” I ask. “I want to make sure he doesn’t need anything.”
“Of course, we can.”
“Oh! Let’s go to the bakery. The one with penis donuts.”
Onyx laughs. “That should put a smile on his face.”
I agree. Even if it’s a temporary smile.
This means we have to turn around and walk more inland, which is fine.
I choose half a dozen—one with really bulbously filled balls—and we head back to the ferry.
Onyx and I talk about anything. Our conversation never lacks, and I love that.
Outside of Lie, I’m not sure anyone can make me laugh as much as Onyx does.
We stop at the security check long enough to grab our phones from the lockers before walking down the street.
We never touch outside of accidental arm bumps.
There’s never any PDA. Sometimes I wonder if that bothers me.
Like, would I want Onyx to take my hand as we walk down the road?
Or steal a kiss while we’re on the ferry?
Maybe? But I also don’t feel like anything is missing, either. This is just us. Our relationship, as it’s grown, has always been private.
I knock on Laiken’s door and wait. He answers a moment later, shirtless, of course. Unless he’s working, I don’t know that Laiken ever wears a shirt.
“Hi. Lie home? Can we play together?”
Laiken chuckles. “Come in.”
Lie is sitting on the couch. I’m relieved that he smiles when he sees me. I haven’t seen him since the day he quit the bar because Nason was being an asshole.
“Hi, sweetcheeks. I brought you dicks. They’re even filled with cream, and if you squeeze them, they’ll juice all over you.”
He laughs. My cheeks warm as the words leave my mouth because I’m far more shy than my best friend. Especially when it comes to talk of… dicks and sex and whatever. But right now, I’ll do anything to make sure he smiles a little.
Placing the box in his lap, I drop beside him and cuddle into his side. “Mmm,” Lie says as he chooses one. “These look so good. Want one, or you going to suck the cream filling out of a different dick later?”
And now my cheeks burn. I glance at Onyx. He’s in the kitchen with Laiken. “Hush, you. Just mind your pastries.”
“That’s a nice hickey you have on your neck,” Lie says slyly, taking a bite of the balls on his donut.
I sigh, clenching my hands in my lap so I don’t automatically cover the hickey under one of them. A part of me loves having a hickey because it feels like I’m announcing to the world that Onyx is mine. Or maybe I’m his. Either and both are literally the highlight of my days.
It also means that I flush all day as everyone gives me knowing looks. No one has outright asked about Onyx by name. In fact, I’m curiously suspicious that most people don’t know and don’t even suspect. Something I find wildly fascinating since Onyx walks me to and from work daily.
“Yes, well. Tell me about you.”
Lie’s smile fades. “Nothing new. Nothing better, and I’m not sure how it can get worse, though I’m not going to put it into the universe in case she sees that as a challenge.”
I debate whether to tell him I ran into his father at the Big Office today. Ultimately, I decide against it. It’s not going to make him feel better.
“What are you guys up to tonight?”
Once again, I glance at Onyx. He’s watching me and smiles when I look in his direction. “I don’t know. Going back to my house, I guess.”
“Yeah?”
I shrug one shoulder. “We’ve just been hanging out. You guys want to double date at my house? We’ll cook in the backyard and play games after.”
Lie smiles. “Yes. That sounds like a good break in my wallowing.”
“Tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow,” Lie agrees.
“Might turn into a triple date. My dads have been home a lot.”
“Finally decided to monitor your useless bullying brother, huh?”
“Yes, well… better late than never?”
Lie rolls his eyes.
We hang out for a while longer, but since I dropped in unannounced, I don’t stay long. My house is eight down from Lie’s, which means seven from Laiken’s. Onyx and I walk in silence for a minute.
“So… is there something specific you want to do tonight?” Onyx asks.
“Are you fishing for a precise answer?”
Onyx grins. “No. I was thinking. Want to stay at my house tonight?”
My stomach flips around like a three-year-old dancing. “Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Your mom won’t mind?”
“My mom probably isn’t home since she works most Thursday nights, but no. She won’t mind.”
I chew the inside of my lip and then nod. “I need to ask… uh… tell? my parents.”
Onyx’s hand grips my wrist for just a minute and then lets it go. Support. Understanding maybe. This is as much an announcement of our relationship as anything.
It’s only thirty-eight seconds more before we’re walking into my house. I hear my parents laughing as we come around the corner into the living room. I glance at Ben’s door. It’s quiet. No light glowing from under it down the dark hall.
“He’s not home,” Pops says.
“Okay, cool. So, can I—” My words stop abruptly as I remind myself that I’m not a child.
I’m going to be twenty-one in a few weeks.
“I’m going to,” I emphasize, “stay the night at Onyx’s tonight.
” I literally bite my tongue so I don’t tack on, is that okay?
It is okay because I’m an adult. Onyx is an adult.
We’re allowed to do adult things and have sleepovers.
My dads turn their attention to Onyx. Silence fills the room, and I think I hear the seconds pass with an audible tick, tick, tick. My stomach rolls with anxiety.
“Okay,” Dad says.
“Yeah?” I ask.
Pops smiles. I don’t miss the amusement.
“I mean… yes. Good,” I correct.
Onyx covers his mouth to hide his laughter beside me. I glare at him.
“You’re an adult,” Dad says. “As I’ve been saying for a while, though under different and… misguided?... circumstances. I don’t get to change that sentiment now.”
“But you want to?” I guess.
“No,” Pops says. “We don’t.” His gaze turns to Onyx. “Though I’m trying not to question whether you’re trying to make Benson’s head explode.”
All the humor Onyx carried disappears. “I’ve wasted a lot of time trying to be what Benson needs, and I can’t get those years back. Benson… he hasn’t been my friend in a very long time.”
My parents nod. I can see the sadness in their eyes, and I want to take it away, though I’m not sure how.
“I understand,” Dad says.
“We do,” Pops agrees.
“I’ve loved Cash since we were kids,” Onyx says, and my heart practically stops. I stare at him with wide eyes, not breathing. He gently touches my chin with a soft smile. “The easiest choice I’ve ever made is choosing him, even if it took me nearly fucking it up permanently for me to realize it.”
For a long time, we stare at each other. When I finally remember to breathe, I look at my parents to find them watching us with knowing smiles.
“Good thing you figured out how to force your way into his life again,” Dad says.
I roll my eyes. But yeah. I agree.
“He’s worth fighting for,” Onyx says.
“Okay, that’s enough sappy stuff,” I announce. My entire body feels flushed. “I’m going to get a change of clothes and my toothbrush.”
“Don’t forget condoms,” Pops calls as I turn my back on them.
“Oh my god,” I mutter.
“It’s okay, Cashy. I already have some,” Onyx says.
I scowl and flip him off over my shoulder. My cheeks are burning. My fathers are laughing on the couch. Jerks.