I turned the corner toward my house, and a brand new, sparkling car that stuck out like a sore thumb was parked in front. My mind raced wildly, considering the number of people it could have been, but when I parked and got out of the car, I was shocked and pleased to see Cherri get out of the driver’s seat.
“Cherri,” I said. “Hi. I was just about to call you.”
“I bet you were,” she said. “You know, it feels like everyone’s been just lying to me for the last four years. And if it was just Nathan, or just Kyle, or hell, the entire fucking Royal Court, that would have been fine, but I never expected you to lie to me.” My lips parted to respond, but Cherri held up a hand. “But I lied to you too. I let you think that Nathan and I had broken up and almost used you to cheat on him. Call it even?”
I let out a sigh of relief. “I would fucking love to call it even.”
She nodded. “Good.” She opened her driver’s side door and started to climb in, nodding her head toward the passenger’s side door. “Get in. Now that we’re even, I want answers.”
29
Cherri
Deon and I rode in total silence as I drove us all the way to the park in South Postings, where we were meant to have our first date. It’d changed quite a bit in the four years since we were last there, but there was still a large oak tree that I could park under so that we could watch the setting sun. I parked my car and put some music on over the radio, then unbuckled my seatbelt.
I used the button controls next to my seat to lower my seat so that it was flat and then pointed toward the panel on the other side of Deon. “Use those buttons over there. Get comfy.”
Deon nodded. “Okay.”
While he was fiddling with the buttons to bring his seat flat as well, I reached into the back seat and dragged out the items I’d stopped for at the store when I’d made my plan. Alistair and Avery had just dropped me off, and I realized that I didn’t just want to toss Deon away. He’d kept a pretty big secret from me, but there had to be a reason. This was the only thing standing between us now, and if I could just get over this one last hill and be assured that he was still the man I’d grown to love, that would be enough for me.
I pulled out a can of cream soda and handed it toward Deon. “Still your favorite?”
He smiled wide. “Yeah. They didn’t have them when I was locked up. I didn’t even realize I haven’t had one since I got out.” He took it, and his fingers brushed against mine, sending a jolt of electricity streaking across my body. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.” I reached back into the bag and pulled out my own can of cream soda, then pulled out the pre-packaged sandwiches I’d picked up. I handed one to Deon along with a bag of chips, then pulled the other sandwich and bag of chips out and set them up in front of myself. “Our picnic.”
Deon nodded. “Looks like it.”
“Sans dead bodies, hopefully,” I said.
“God I fucking hope so,” Deon said before cracking open his can of soda. I watched as he took a sip with his eyes closed and seemed to enjoy it so much. “Shit. That’s good.”
I chuckled. “I’m glad. I have questions.”
He stuck out a hand and folded his fingers upward. “Bring ‘em on. Whatever you ask me, I swear I’ll be honest.”
“Are you really Connor Loche’s son?” I asked.
Deon looked frustrated as he nodded. “Unfortunately. My mom met him through her job and got pregnant before she realized he was a snake.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because your dad worked for him, and you were upset about the move and everything. I was afraid that, if you knew my dad was the one that forced your family to move to Postings, you’d take it out on me.” He took another sip of the soda. “And you were so cute. I didn’t want you to do that.”
“Points for flattery,” I said, and he chuckled. “Obviously, after a year or two, it wouldn’t have mattered. Why didn’t you say something then?”
“I don’t know. I was pretty much trying to pretend like he didn’t exist. You and my mom were my life, and I was happy to keep it that way.”
That made sense, even if I wished I’d known the truth back then. If I’d gone into everything while knowing that Nathan was Deon’s brother, I never would have given him the time of day. “You know that if I’d known…”
Deon held up a hand. “You don’t even have to explain. You didn’t do anything wrong. I was shocked, I’ll admit it, when I finally got out and saw that you were with him, but I didn’t blame you for that.”
We took a little break in the conversation to eat some of our sandwiches and chips, and then I asked the next question. “What’s up with that girl?” I asked. “Annika?”
He smiled. “She’s just a friend,” he replied, and I scoffed.
“You promised to be honest.”
“I am being honest,” he responded.
“When I first saw you two, she was sucking your face off.” I glared at him, unamused as he laughed.
“A little jealous, are we?”
