Chapter 26
Chapter Twenty-Six
CASH
“Here. Give me your phone,” Lie says, handing me his cushion as we walk down the road toward the meeting hall and the resident meeting.
“For the record, I have reservations about you with my phone.” I tuck his cushion under my arm with mine and dig my phone from my pocket.
I lean in close and watch what he’s doing. Downloading the audiobook app he uses. Then he logs into his account and pulls up a book. He hits play, so it goes through the first few seconds of the intro credits and then pauses it, turning my phone screen off and handing it back to me.
“This one has some super hot and detailed blowie scenes. Listen to it.”
“Oh my god,” I mutter, desperately wanting to cover my face in my hands. I can feel it burning. Since the sun is hot, I can pretend it’s a sunburn. “I shouldn’t have asked you!”
Two days ago, I tracked Lie down at his landscaping job to keep him company and take his mind off being miserable. Miserable because he hates his job and because his father is a piece of shit. Maybe I asked him for some blowjob pointers.
Clearly, that was a mistake.
“Just put your headphones on and listen, Cashy. I promise you’ll thank me. So will he.”
I huff and follow him down one of the aisles of folding chairs. The room is already filling up. Laiken is waiting at the end of one aisle for us. Lie drops his cushion, kisses Laiken for the entire room to see, and then sits.
I’m glad he’s leaning into their relationship. Unlike me.
I glance at the door in time to see Onyx. He’s watching me and smiles when I look in his direction. Feeling brave because Lie kissed Laiken despite all the eyes on them, I wave. Onyx’s smile grows, and he waves back.
“You going to have him sit with us?” Lie whispers close to my ear.
I chew the inside of my lip and look around. “Is that a good idea?”
Even without looking at my best friend, I can hear the eye roll in his voice. “Can it get worse? Besides, I didn’t suggest you ride his punk rock drummer’s cock in front of everyone. I said invite him to sit with us.”
Ignoring the way my skin heats at his lewd comment, I shove him away and then wave Onyx over. No one pays attention to him until he sits beside me. Then I see no less than three people lean in and whisper.
“I hate people talking about me,” I mutter and slouch further into my seat.
“I can kiss Laiken again if you want,” Lie says.
“I’m not a shield, Lie,” Laiken deadpans.
“You’re assuming I don’t need a kiss every ten minutes in order to survive,” Lie says. I glance in his direction in time to see him fluttering his lashes at Laiken.
I’m grinning when Laiken grips the back of Lie’s neck and kisses him hotly. That did it. No one even remembers that Onyx is sitting next to me.
“I need a bestie like that,” Onyx comments.
I laugh. His foot presses against mine, and I bow my head and sigh.
Taylor is really awkward at town meetings now. He’s so cautious when approaching a topic that’s very clearly his concern. It’s kind of cute. I feel really bad for him.
“Next up. This’ll be in our newsletters for a while,” Taylor says. “Let’s talk about live talent. With the breakup of Whiskey Horizons, Laiken—our new bar manager—is looking for new live talent. Laiken, would you like to tell us what you’re looking for?”
The entire room turns to our aisle, and once again, I sink into the chair a little further.
Lie wraps his arm around me and tucks me into his side.
They’re not just looking at Laiken. They’re looking at Onyx because Taylor’s announcement that Whiskey Horizons broke up was the only one to actually be said.
Laiken gets to his feet. He looks at Onyx, and Onyx sighs, joining him. Which surprises me. I had no idea he was going to speak.
“Whiskey Horizons didn’t officially break up,” Onyx says.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Taylor says quickly. “I didn’t mean to—”
Onyx raises his hand and shakes his head.
“It’s okay, Taylor. It’s a technicality.
We didn’t officially break up. But…” He rolls his eyes as if he’s looking for the right words.
A smirk plays across his lips before he says, “Due to infighting within the band, I’ve decided to take a break until a certain member can get their hateful, bigoted head out of their ass and remember they’re a decent human being.
As it’s now been nine years, I have little hope that’ll happen, so Whiskey Horizons may never return to the stage. ” He shrugs.
Whispers immediately break out but die down quickly as Onyx takes his seat. I press the side of my foot to his in support, and he smiles as if he hadn’t just spoken out against Benson publicly for the very first time.
“I’ve been considering looking for additional talent for a while,” Laiken says, and the attention turns to him.
“We have several venues throughout the islands that I think would benefit from live entertainment, and while we’re not opposed to bringing in bands and singers from around the world, I’d really love to showcase our own talent.
You don’t have to have a band. You can sing on your own or play an instrument.
It doesn’t have to be music at all. We’ll be holding auditions throughout the month, and we’d love to see everything you have. ”
“Age restrictions?” Norval Jones asks.
“I’m not going to put an age restriction in place.
You need to take responsibility for your underage children and remember where they’ll be performing, who their audience is, and what they’ll be exposed to.
My staff are not babysitters. Our venues are for the guests, and we will not be restricting or modifying their behavior to accommodate your kids. ”
“Hear, hear,” someone behind us calls.
“Good,” another says to the right.
“As they shouldn’t be,” a third person says from the front.
Laiken holds up his hand to quiet everyone.
“I have a feeling this could spiral quickly, as the topic of parenting often does, so I’m going to tell you outright that I have sole discretion about who will be performing, and yes, I’ll be basing my decision about minors on the history of their parents’ behaviors.
Like it or hate it, I don’t care. My job is to run successful bars across Kala, not protect your feelings or validate your wrong behavior. ”
He’s grinning as the last four words leave his mouth, and an immediate uproar begins. Laiken crosses his arms, smirk firmly in place, as a whole line of people begin loudly complaining.
Taylor hits his gavel several times until the room quiets. “I don’t think that’s what Laiken meant—”
“It’s exactly what I meant,” Laiken says.
“Quite frankly, another person’s lack of control over their children breaking rules and getting into trouble online isn’t anyone’s problem but theirs.
Your job isn’t to be their friend; it’s to be their parent.
Likewise, it’s not my staff’s responsibility to protect your kids from seeing grown-ass men at a gay resort grinding half-naked on the dance floor.
If that’s not something you want your children to see, then clearly this opportunity isn’t for them.
You’re choosing to raise your kids here.
That doesn’t mean this entire business should be changed to allow your children free rein because you don’t want to entertain or discipline them. ”
“Has this been an issue lately?” Onyx leans in and asks while the room erupts in arguments.
“Yes,” Lie answers. He sits forward and leans in over my lap.
“Sarah Mullen wants to be able to bring her kids all over the islands and is complaining that there are people having sex on the beach and walking around naked on Ceto and Makara and burying sex toys in the sand on Etsumi.” He rolls his eyes.
“Those are the resort islands,” Onyx says, frowning.
“Yes, well. Some people feel entitled. Like Mick Brown, who brought his three- and five-year-olds into the new Justa Tip Café on Ceto and literally let them run around unchecked, screaming and pushing each other. They tripped a customer and then Mick got mad at the customer when the kid cried. Then Mick was outraged when the owner—Leven—kicked them out instead of the customer who the kid tripped and banned them from coming back.”
“What the fuck?” Onyx says, scowling in Mick Brown’s direction. Unsurprisingly, he’s one of the people complaining about Laiken’s announcement. “They’re on my waiting list for drum lessons. I’m taking the liberty of kicking them off.”
“Good idea,” Lie says and sits back.
It takes Taylor several minutes to get the crowd under control. Not before Isaac Llewellyn shouts, “Your choice to have children doesn’t give you the right to make them everyone else’s burden!” and Sid Holms adds, “Take responsibility for your fucking spawn!”
“Such a hot topic!” Lie says, grinning wickedly.
I cover my mouth to hide my laughter. Onyx doesn’t bother. His quiet chuckle makes me shiver in appreciation of the deep sound.
Most of the remainder of the meeting resulted in everyone throwing in little digs at what the entitled parents don’t get to do with their kids, based on the topic at hand.
As we leave the meeting a couple of hours later, I think I hear Taylor say to the six islands’ ‘governors’ that they’re going to need to bring this up to Mr. Calloway.
I call them governors, but really, they’re representatives that are only partially elected by the people.
Their job is to voice the complaints, concerns, and suggestions of the residents or staff who live or work on that island.
They’re like liaisons, so the Calloways aren’t bombarded with hundreds of people.
Though after the recent chaos with Taylor, the Calloways have made themselves more available and accessible.
We walk back to my house, but I stop when I see Benson coming out the front door. He doesn’t look in our direction. It’s dark out, and there are people walking down the road en masse because of the meeting just letting out. He was never big on the meetings.
Our town meetings are a combination of theatre entertainment and actual business.
Some of the topics are comical, while there are some incredibly serious.
We’ve often argued that not everyone needs an opinion on the little things, like the color of the flowers for the Spring Festival or the species of trees that they’re going to plant in the park to replace the ones that were damaged in a storm last year.
At the same time, there are very few places around the world where we get a vote and a voice in everything. Every small detail and all the big ones as well. Maybe it’s unnecessary chaos, but I don’t think I’d want it any other way. My voice matters. Truly.
Lie and Laiken wait with me and Onyx as the crowd walks by. No one needs to ask why. Everyone sees Benson leaving the house. Once I’m sure he’s not coming back, I walk down my driveway.
“Listen to the book,” Lie says as he kisses my cheek. “See you later.”
Onyx follows me inside, and I try desperately to ignore the way my cheeks heat at Lie’s words.
Something Onyx doesn’t miss. He follows me to the bathroom, where we get ready for bed together.
For a minute, I forget the dirty horrors that Lie is trying to get me to listen to and marvel at how easy and domestic it is with Onyx as we brush our teeth together, wash up, and get ready for bed.
Once we’re in my room, I wrap my arms around his waist and sigh. His arms envelope me, too. “You okay?”
“Yeah. I just… I love how natural it feels to get ready for bed with you.”
He holds me tightly for a second and then begins tugging at my clothes. “Get undressed and lean over the bed. While I prep that pretty hole of yours, you’re going to tell me about the book Lie wants you to listen to.”
“Oh no, I’m not,” I declare, though I do get undressed.
“Why not?”
I lean over the bed as I answer. “First, because I haven’t listened to it, so I don’t even know what it’s about.
Second, I know the filth that Lie listens to, and while I understand that I’m an adult and can talk about se-ex—” I gasp in the middle of the word as Onyx’s fingers press into my body.
“Oh my fuck,” I mutter and let my head drop onto the bed.
I’m not sure if prep is supposed to feel good, but it always has my knees trembling. Onyx always makes me feel good. No matter how he touches me. Like right now—fingers deep in my ass and his other hand stroking my cock between my legs as he does.
“You didn’t finish your sentence, Cash,” Onyx says.
“I don’t even remember what we were talking about,” I answer, breathless. My body loses all its strength, and I go limp under him. Every single way he touches me turns off my energy. As if there’s a button he hits inside me that disables my muscles. It’s Onyx’s superpower.
“You’re an adult and can talk about sex,” he says.
“Yeah, I know.”
He laughs, and I feel his teeth scrape against the skin of my top-right butt cheek. “Did I turn your brain off already?”
“Uh-huh.”
His hands leave my body, but I don’t move. I honestly feel like a doll most days. A minute later, Onyx sits on the bed beside me and runs his hand through my hair. His cock is big and slicked with lube over his condom.
“Come here, Cash. Sit on my lap.”
With a sigh, I push myself up and climb into his lap. Onyx adjusts me so my legs wrap behind his back, which means he’s using his strength to move my body and get his cock inside me. This position is new and steals my breath entirely. I feel like I’m literally sitting on a pole.
“Holy fuck,” I gasp. I can’t decide whether it hurts like this or is just a whole lot of overwhelming sensation. “Oh fuck,” I repeat, voice getting higher.
“Mmm,” Onyx hums as he moves me slowly, minutely on his cock.
Our mouths come together, and I quickly get lost in the pleasure he brings.
Everything this man does to me feels good, and for just a moment, I’m reminded that I want to make it all feel just as good to him as it does to me.
That’s why I was asking for blowjob tips even though I was mortified to do so.
Then the thought slips away as we come together and float away on the pleasure we share.