Page 100 of Filthy Little Secret

“Jealous much?” I ask.

“You fucking bastard.” He comes at me, fists ready.

I snatch his wrists and turn him around before shoving him back against his wall.

“No, you’re the fucking bastard. For what you did. What you tried to fucking do.”

“You know the story tomorrow morning’s going to be, ‘Governor’s Son Gets Fucked by Drug Dealer.’”

“No, it’s not. It’s going to be, ‘Governor’s Son and Boyfriend Victims of Asshole Hacker.’”

“You think we don’t have media leverage?” Mark asks, his left eyebrow arched higher than his right.

Keith takes a breath, and as he appears to calm down, I release him.

“Goodbye, fucker,” I say. “Hope you get what you deserve. Come on, Mark.”

I take Mark’s hand, and I head toward the hall, but Mark tugs me back. “One more question,” Mark asks. “That day at the library. You acted so thrown by everything. You knew all along?”

Keith snickers. “Of course I knew. Been watching you guys since the beginning. I knew I had to put on a convincing act. Wouldn’t have been very believable if I started acting all cool with you right away.”

“You’re a fucking dick,” Mark says as he guides us into the hall.

Through my periphery, I see Keith step out of his room.

“I’m supposed to believe the drug dealer’s going to go to the cops? I’ll turn you in.”

“They can fucking search my place,” I call back to him. “I’m clean. I’m just a bartender.”

There’s catharsis in being able to say that and it being true.

“Feel better?” I ask Mark.

“Starting to.” A smile creeps across his face—one that promises to deliver so many more in our future.

Epilogue

MARK

Iwonder if the alarm is going to go off soon. The sunlight pours through the blinds of my bedroom, reflecting off the screen on Tim’s phone.

I want to know what time it is. See if we need to get up to Mom’s event yet, but Tim’s arm is draped around me, his nose pressed against my neck. I just want to savor this moment. Fully take it in.

I’m safe in these arms that have held me close like this for a year.

It’s been a fucking year since the day we used that word.

Boyfriends.

Seems like we’re so much more than that now.

I keep perfectly still. I don’t want him to wake up. Just want to enjoy him holding me like this. Just right. Feeling his breath against the back of my neck.

He shifts his head back and forth, and his lips near my ear before he says, “You pretending to be asleep again?”

I chuckle. “Shut up!”

He presses his face into my cheek, and I can feel him smile before he licks across my skin, stirring desire within me.

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