Page 79 of Saint

“It’s fake,” Yejun growled.

“It isn’t.” He turned to Lake sternly. “This is why I warned you about getting involved too quickly. That boy has only been officially your mate for a week, and already he’s blatantly cheating on you. He used you to get into the club, nothing is more apparent than that.”

Except nothing was apparent to Lake at all.

He took the device from Yejun and inspected the photo. There was no denying that it was Nix and Juri, and that their mouths were touching but…

“Nix is unwilling.” He handed the multi-slate back to Demitrious, barely holding his rage together. If he let his emotions slip and exposed how he truly felt, that would be a weakness, one the old man would absolutely grab onto and use against him. So he kept his icy exterior intact and spoke with a flippancy he wasn’t feeling.

Demitrious sputtered at him incredulously. “You can’t be that naïve.”

“He’s right,” Yejun chimed in. “You wouldn’t know since you don’t know him at all, but that’s not the face Nix makes when he’s into someone. Juri is taking advantage. The real question is, why?” He tipped his head and eyed him with obvious suspicion. “And why’d he choose to send the photo to you, of all people?”

Lake barely listened as the two of them got into it, too caught up in his own tumultuous thoughts.

Nix thought of Juri as a close friend, and all this time, Juri had presented himself as such to all of them. There was no chance in hell the Songbird would be the one to make a move, though, which meant the kiss had to have been initiated by Ferd.

Since it was a photo and not a clip or video, there was no telling how long the kiss had lasted. Had Nix pushed him away?

Had he returned the affection?

Lake clenched his jaw, catching himself and smoothing out the tense muscles before it could be noticed.

No. No, Nix wouldn’t do that. If nothing else, the intimacy between the four of them was real.

Nix wouldn’t cheat, it wouldn’t even be a passing consideration for him.

But then why hadn’t he immediately texted Yejun to pick him up?

“Give that back.” Lake held out a hand, waiting for Demitrious to return the device to him.

“What are you doing?” Yejun asked.

“Checking the time stamp.”

“I came to find you as soon as I received it,” Demitrious said. “That was at two twenty-six.”

“Less than three minutes after the photo was taken.” Lake didn’t like the dangerous turn his thoughts were taking. “The photo was taken with the purpose of sending it to you.”

“Then perhaps this is Phoenix’s way of coming clean,” Demitrious suggested, holding his ground when that earned him glares all over again. “I know you don’t want to hear it, boys, but the proof is undeniable.”

Lake’s device rang then and he immediately picked up the call. “West.”

“Yo, something’s going down with Nixie,” West sounded unsure as he spoke.

“What is it?”

“Is that my son?” Demitrious leaned in and raised his voice to call out, “Pick up the phone when your father calls you!”

There was a pause and then, “What the hell is the old man doing there? I thought you were at practice?”

“I am.” Lake didn’t have time for this. He switched to speaker mode so at least no one was screaming around him. “What’s happening with Nix?”

“He’s making out with other people, that’s what,” Demitrious snorted.

“What the hell did he just say?” West asked.

Fucking A.

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