Page 13 of Last One Standing
I stood. “Listen, Matt. These twin rejects fuck around more than they do anything else.”
“Fuck and you.” Noel glared.
“They tease me, relentlessly. It’s abuse, really.” I shrugged and decided I was leaving.
“So you do like Kona?” Matt asked, but I refused to answer and walked out.
I should’ve known that wouldn’t be the end of it. As I entered the kitchen Matt, Nick, and Noel were on my heels. My mistake was in not going to my room, because JJ was in the kitchen with Mason and if either of them got wind of what Matt was asking, I’d never get peace.
I tried to pretend I was alone. My intention was to grab a drink and move to my room. But fate had a different idea.
“Angel has the hots for the drag queen.” Matt smiled.
JJ’s eyes widened. “This is wonderful. I was just saying to Shep the other day that you needed to get laid.”
I’d have spit my water out had I been drinking. “Why are you talking to Shep about my sex life?”
“Lack thereof,” Noel said under his breath.
“And how would you know?” I snapped at him.
Phoenix chose that moment to enter the kitchen. Everyone had gone silent, and he eyed each of us.
“Hi?”
Noel went over to him and wrapped him in his arms. “We’re messing with Angel, nothing to worry about.”
Phoenix nodded. “Why?”
Noel shrugged. “He has heart eyes for Kona, that drag queen from Stilettos and Sangria.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. I’d have bolted, but Phoenix and Noel were blocking my escape route.
“Oh!” Phoenix shouted excitedly. “I saw him the other day at Sephora. I was there with my sister and Lizzy. I needed some new eye stuff. He was there with his brother.”
That sparked my interest, but I didn’t want any of these guys to know that. They were like sharks—if there was a little blood in the water, they’d come swimming.
“Did you talk to him? I know you really loved the show.” Noel was grinning at Phoenix.
I understood why. Even though it was a year ago, he’d been the victim of a serial killer, held for three months in a shed and mentally abused. Fortunately, hikers found him and he was saved before The Broken-Doll Killer was able to carry out his sick end game. But for a while Phoenix had struggled.
“Yeah, I said hi and that I loved the show. It was Saturday, the day after, so almost a week ago. I haven’t seen him around since. He’s super nice. But I could tell something was wrong. I wasn’t gonna pry.”
“Wrong, how?” I asked.
Phoenix’s nose scrunched. “I could just tell, you know. Like, his smile wasn’t genuine, he was moving stiffly, there was no light in his eyes.” He whispered the last part. “I could be reading into it, though. Maybe he was uncomfortable talking to me.”
“I’m not sure about that.” Mason walked over to the coffeepot to refill his mug. “After my attack, I saw people differently. I sometimes saw myself.”
“I get that.” JJ nodded. “You totally can see the silent struggle in others if you’ve lived through it yourself.”
Both JJ and Mason had suffered at the hands of monsters, and I didn’t doubt they were right.
“Kona is connected to the Dead Kings. Do you think there’s an issue there?”
Everyone turned to look at me, all with different expressions.
“What?” I snapped.
