Page 37 of King of Liars

And yet, I wanted to know him so much better. “So, Aiden,” I said as I headed over to the sofa and planted my ass in my favorite spot. Aiden took a seat on the cushion opposite me. “You close with your parents?”

He did a double take. “Um…”

“Was that a weird question to start with? Sorry. Maybe I should have opened with saying I’m not. Well, not my dad, at least. Even when you commented about how nice my place looks, all I could think was that if he walked in, he’d find a speck of dust or something else to criticize.”

“Your dad’s some kind of massive asshole?” he asked.

“Yeah, probably more than you cared to know, but…”

“No, it’s fine. It was nice of you to share. I’m cool with my mom. My father wasn’t that interested in being a part of my life. I remember him some from when I was little, but then he moved to Los Angeles and started dating some actress. He’ll send a card with some money every once in a while—if only to soothe his guilt—but he paid child support, and I guess that’s all he thought he needed to give me.”

“Sounds like we both have grade-A dads.”

“Probably better that mine left me alone, for the most part. Would rather have that than the dick you had to deal with.”

“Yeah…it wasn’t the best situation,” I said, downplaying the severity. I didn’t need to get into the verbal abuse or the beatings. Definitely too soon for that crap. “Hey, you wanna get high?”

Aiden chuckled. “Yeah, I’d love to.”

I hopped up and headed to my room. I figured I’d grab the shit from my nightstand and head back, but Aiden followed me, and I didn’t have a reason to stop him.

“Not as clean as the rest of the place,” I warned him as I went for the nightstand drawer where I kept my stash. I retrieved my bottle and vape.

“Is that how you do it?” Aiden asked.

“Oh, I guess I should have mentioned I use THC oil. That okay?”

“Just used to smoking weed but could be fun to try.”

“You’re trying a lot of new things at this school, aren’t you?” I said, giving him shit. “But trust me, it’s good. Hole and One will swing by just to mooch off my shit.”

“Well, if all the knights are doing it, you can count me in,” he joked before I got us going. I slipped onto the bed and took a hit, then passed it to Aiden as he sat down beside me.

We enjoyed my stash some before Aiden said, “Oh, this stuff’s good.”

“Get it from a friend in California. We hook up occasionally when he’s in town. He went here for two years, then transferred to UCLA. Comes back to visit his family for holidays and stuff.”

“So you mess around a lot outside of Sy?”

I glared at him, and he corrected himself. “Sorry. I meant to say King.”

“Don’t worry. I won’t report you,” I teased. “Relax. It’s not as hard as it seems with the rules. King doesn’t give a shit what we do on our own time, which is why we use protection and keep on top of our STI tests. Hell, One and Hole mess around plenty just with each other, along with a whole slew of guys at school.”

“So how long have you been a knight?”

“Going on our third year. Met him freshman year. I was all confidence and so fucking sure I wasn’t going to fall for whatever game King was into. I saw a lot of myself in you when you first came in. But he has a way of breaking down barriers, doesn’t he?”

“He does, for sure. So do you mind if I ask what made you decide you wanted to be a knight?”

“Probably the same thing that made you decide you wanted this. King is…charismatic. And the stuff we do in that bedroom… Where else are you going to find shit like that in this middle-of-nowhere college town?”

“Right?”

“It’s exciting. Makes you feel alive for a minute, you know?”

I could tell by Aiden’s nod that he felt the same way.

“In my opinion,” I continued, “we have to be a little fucked up to end up with King. We’re not like other people. We’re not looking for something normal. We’re looking for some magic in the dark world.”

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