Page 1 of King of Liars

Part I

1

Boss

Istood on the front porch of the two-story home, not far from campus.

I didn’t know much about this Sy kid, but he must’ve come from money. That was the one thing all the rumors seemed to agree on. The rest, well…who the fuck knew?

Meth, orgies, Satanism—people would say just about anything about this guy and his friends.

I struggled to convince myself to take that next step.

Just fucking do it. What’s the big deal?

I took a breath, counted to three, and knocked. Didn’t seem like I’d knocked loudly enough, so I tried again.

The door opened, and a guy—well over six feet tall, built like a linebacker—stood in the entryway in just a pair of black trunks. He seemed a little older, probably a junior like me, if not a senior. His dirty-blond hair was in a short crewcut, spiked at the front. His sharp, square jawline tensed as he cringed, looking me over the way he had a few nights earlier when I’d last seen him. I hadn’t caught his name during the gossip fests I’d overheard or in my chats with Sy, but I knew he was one of the guys who hung in Sy’s circle—the alleged sex cult.

He couldn’t have appeared less impressed with me if he’d tried, as though he was wondering why Sy had even invited me over.

“Think you have what it takes to satisfy the King?” he asked.

I’d learned quickly that’s what Sy went by around his crew—well, according to my peers, hisknights. And damned if that kind of weird-ass shit didn’t make me that much more intrigued about learning whatever they were into.

“You don’t seem to think I can impress him, but I’m guessing he invited me over because you guys need help in that department.” I couldn’t fucking help myself. This guy seemed like a real ass, and the only reason I had even bothered coming over was because my curiosity had gotten the best of me.

Truly, Sy had a way of luring me in. First at a house party a few blocks from campus, then chatting me up at the coffee shop where I worked. Before I knew it, he had my number and was texting me.

Don’t believe the rumors.

You need to come see for yourself.

It’s fun. I promise.

We hadn’t texted much, but the texts we had exchanged had steadily drawn me in, and as Sy assured me,If it’s weird, you just head the fuck out, never see me again.

It was going to be weird—I didn’t have any doubt in my mind about that.

I waited for Ass to slam the door in my face, but he shook his head and stepped aside.

“Come on in, and I’ll take you to Wonderland.”

I stepped across the threshold, and Ass closed the door behind me.

Every red flag, every alarm in my mind, told me I needed to bolt right then, so I opted for conversation to ease the tension. “You guys call this Wonderland?”

“The fuck? No. What’s wrong with you?” Ass turned around, and I followed him through a short hallway, my eyes fixed on his perfectly sculpted ass in those boxers.

Damn, the guy had a nice ass… The kind of ass that would get plenty of attention in a sex club…or cult…or whatever the hell it was that Sy and his crew were up to. Just made Ass an even more fitting nickname for him.

“So Wonderland is crazy-talk, but king and knights is totally normal?” I asked as we slipped around a corner, into the kitchen area.

“Isn’t it Gandhi who said: ‘Firstthey ignore you, thenthey laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win’?” He went through the kitchen, around another corner, and then opened a door, motioning for me to follow.

“Gandhi didn’t say that,” I remarked, calling out the misattribution. “But since you mentioned winning, am I to assume we’re playing a game?”

He chuckled. “Oh, it’s a game, all right. You think you can win it?”

---