by Liv Rider
Shaun sighed. “Make mine a virgin.” As much as he wanted another regular Long Island Iced Tea, he needed a clear head. “No alcohol,” he added, when Mitchell looked confused.
“Right. You should consider telling people yourself. Unless you can figure out another solution.”
“Fine.” He watched Mitchell leave with a heavy heart. He still couldn’t entirely believe Mitchell wanted to help him and cared so much. It was one thing for Chris to support him in his own way, since they’d known each other for years, but he’d only met Mitchell yesterday. He didn’t want the other man to go, but it was easier to think without his distracting presence here. His mind kept drifting back to the amazing kiss, which sent desire through his body all over again.
He glanced at the bed. No, first things first. Natalie, Aaron, and their little scheme. There had to be a way out that didn’t involve humiliating himself.
What about convincing them to drop it? He’d told Mitchell it wasn’t an option, but maybe there was a way to get through to them. They weren’t teenagers anymore. He could reason with them.
Mitchell’s words about what they were doing with their lives echoed in his head. What were they doing? Shaun didn’t know. His family knew he didn’t care about updates.
He grabbed his phone. If they could look him up, well, two could play that game. Maybe he’d find something to persuade them to drop it.
Shaun started when the door opened and Mitchell stood in the doorway with two cocktails. “This one’s for you.” He carefully handed the cocktail with the green straw and tiny umbrella to Shaun, then joined him on the couch.
It didn’t surprise him that Mitchell had gotten himself a regular Long Island. It looked like he’d get a demonstration of how well shifters could handle their liquor.
“Thanks.” He clinked his glass against Mitchell’s. “Cheers.”
Mitchell looked pleasantly surprised. “You seem more cheerful.”
Shaun took a careful sip to double-check there wasn’t any alcohol in it. “I’ve been doing some Internet-stalking of my own.” He gestured with his phone, where he’d been scrolling through Raymond’s Facebook posts. They were few and far between, and usually links to some blog about Ten Travel Destinations For Your Bucketlist, or a bunch of pictures from a hiking weekend.
But those hiking weekends had always been within a few hundred miles of Millersburg. Shaun had scrolled through updates dating back years and had seen nothing to show Raymond had ever left the state.
He hadn’t spent a lot of time with Raymond back when they’d been teenagers, but you learned things about the teens you bought beer for. Raymond had often talked about wanting to travel. If it hadn’t been plans for road-tripping across the country and how best to get to all fifty states, he’d been talking about wanting to visit every continent at least once.
Maybe Raymond had done all that after high school. Maybe going hiking for the weekend and finding new local routes was his new dream. But Shaun doubted it.
Raymond’s wanderlust was one of the reasons Shaun hadn’t expected him and Caroline to last beyond high school. Caroline had been very clear about wanting kids and settling down in town, being as perfect at being a mom as she was at being a babysitter. Raymond had insisted kids got in the way of traveling. Going by both their Facebook posts, they didn’t have any kids.
It had taken Shaun some time to figure that out, since Caroline often posted about how much fun she had with her kids that day. There’d been different names each time, and he realized she was talking about the kids in her class at the local elementary school. She adored her job, but he wondered how much that made up for not having kids of your own when that was what you wanted.
“Stalking who?”
“Aaron, Natalie, and the others.”
“Why?” Mitchell took a long sip from his own drink.
Shaun looked at his phone, then logged out and closed the screen. “Curiosity. And I thought I’d find something to help me persuade them not to tell the truth tonight.”
“Did you?” Mitchell was more interested in his straw.
Shaun knew why. Of course Mitchell wanted him to be honest with people. “No, but it was useful.” Mostly because he’d found out that the lives of the four people who’d been making his weekend miserable were, well, kind of miserable.
Natalie was a mom of three, even though she’d always said back in high school that she didn’t want kids until she’d made it as a successful actress in Hollywood. It didn’t surprise him that dream hadn’t come true. Being a talented actress in the local high school plays and making it big were two different things. But it surprised him she didn’t even seem to be part of the community theater group in Millersburg. She’d enjoyed acting and being the center of attention.
Her Facebook looked like what he expected from Caroline. There were reminders about PTA meetings, posts about school activities, and memes. Lots of memes. The only surprise was that Shaun couldn’t find any pyramid schemes she’d been suckered into.
Her husband Aaron still worked at his dad’s hardware store, something he’d already done part-time back in high school. He’d hated it and dreamed of a career as a professional football player. Like Natalie, he’d been good at a local level, but not good enough to get much further than that. He didn’t post much, occasionally linking to a sale or event at the hardware store, or websites with DIY tips. If he hated the hardware store so much, why was he still working there?
“What did you find?” Mitchell asked.
He gave Mitchell a quick summary, explaining how all their lives had turned out different from how they’d wanted. “They seem unhappy,” he concluded.
“I can’t say I’m surprised.” Mitchell took another long sip. “But how does that help your situation?”
Shaun drank as he considered it. Could he assume Natalie and Caroline weren’t happy based on some updates, and their lives not turning out the way they’d planned? Whose lives turned out how they’d hoped at eighteen? But the contrast between their dreams and their realities was so big. And Caroline seemed happy as a teacher, and Raymond loved his hiking trips.
Unhappy wasn’t the right word. He took another sip, staring down out the window at the trees.
No, they weren’t unhappy.
They were stuck.
Stuck in Millersburg. In a job they hated. Or in a marriage with someone who wanted opposite things in life. Stuck in the past. Stuck in a rut.
Looking at it like that, he wondered why the hell he’d ever thought he had to lie to impress them. He’d done what they had never even tried from the looks of it.
He’d been stuck and done something about it. He’d taken the risk of moving to a strange city. Sure, his life hadn’t gone the way he’d hoped when he was eighteen, but at least he’d changed it for the better and could do so again.
Anger welled up inside of him. Not at Natalie or Aaron, but at himself. How could he have been so stupid? How could he have cared more about their opinion of him than his own?
Chris had been right all those weeks ago. He had to stop caring about what they thought of him. Even if he had become the success he’d pretended to be, they would’ve still treated him like dirt.
He’d been an idiot. Which, well, what else was new?
“It helped me realize how stupid I’ve been,” he admitted. “You were right. What I did was impressive. They’re stuck and don’t even seem to know they can change that.”
Mitchell smiled at him. “Told you so.” He sounded smug before going back to his cocktail.
Shaun just snorted. “You telling me is different from me accepting it.”
Mitchell shrugged, still looking pleased with himself. “But now that you are accepting it, what do you want to do?”
He knew what he had to do. If he wanted to stop being an idiot, he could do something about it. He wasn’t stuck. He could change.
It didn’t make his stomach turn any less than when Mitchell had suggested it earlier. “You wer
e right about that too,” he grumbled, watching Mitchell’s smile turn even smugger. He’d tell the truth before they could, and tell it his way. He took a sip, wishing he’d told Mitchell to get him the alcoholic version. “I should tell people the truth.”
He felt Mitchell move and wrap one arm around his shoulder. He leaned in, glad for the man’s reassuring strength. “I’ll help where I can, but it is up to you how you want to do it.”
It would be embarrassing and humiliating to come clean. It would be a risk.
But it was better than staying stuck in a lie.
“Let’s go downstairs and get it over with.” He finished his cocktail and got up.
Mitchell gulped his down, and Shaun was about to tell him to take it easy when Mitchell got up, showing zero signs of swaying or being drunk. “Those are good.”
Shaun eyed him. “Yes, and with a lot of alcohol. Are you sure you’re okay?”
“It’s not that easy to get a shifter drunk. I told you that last night.”
“Yes, when you’re a dragon, because you’re bigger.” Shaun gestured at him. “Now you’re normal-sized! I know what people are like after two Long Islands, Mitchell. It’s all ‘oh, I’m fine’ and five seconds later they’re hanging over the toilets.” And that was if they were lucky.
Mitchell smiled at him. “It’s a shifter thing, but I appreciate the concern.”
From anyone else, it would have sounded sarcastic, but Mitchell meant it. He enjoyed having Shaun worry about him.
“Well, if you end up embarrassing yourself during dinner, at least it’ll distract from me embarrassing myself!” he joked.
Mitchell laughed. “That is not how I’ll help.”
Simply having Mitchell there with him already knowing the truth helped. So far, he only had Chris in his corner. He hoped no one would mind Chris sticking around even if he wasn’t Shaun’s boyfriend.
“Are you sure?” Mitchell took his hand.
Shaun nodded, even though part of him still wanted to run away. “I should never have cared about their opinions. I turned out all right.”
“Better than all right,” Mitchell murmured, leaning in.
Shaun gave him a quick kiss. “You sure that’s not the cocktail talking?” The words made him feel light and giddy. “Anyway, I won’t let them chase me away from my sister’s wedding.” If he focused on his anger rather than his fear, he could get through this.
As they entered the dining room, Mitchell let go of his hand. The doors to the lawn were all open, with the picnic tables set up just outside.
Shaun realized with some relief they weren’t awkwardly late. People were still looking for their assigned seat, although he overheard Jake tell an older couple that they were free to switch places later on if they felt like it. No one noticed them coming in.
They had set up a salad bar inside, and a mouthwatering smell came drifting in from a grill outside. Shaun preferred this relaxed atmosphere over last night.
He walked around, for once looking for the telltale purple Natalie and Caroline were wearing. Like Jake, they were showing people their places.
He found Aaron and Raymond at the table next to the one he was placed at. Aaron gave him a smug smile. “Can’t wait what you have to say for yourself later.”
“Me neither.” He sat down with Mitchell, his stomach squirming as the rest of Emily’s and Dale’s family sat down. Chris threw him a confused look, but didn’t comment.
Shaun barely registered the speeches and the toasts, still thinking about what to say. He wouldn’t tell the truth through some big, public declaration. He didn’t want to distract from Dale and Emily, and most people here only knew him as ‘Emily’s brother with the cats.’ They didn’t know Chris was here as his boyfriend or that he’d claimed to own a bar.
No, the truth would best be told later, once everyone at the table had settled down to eat. He would tell the truth to the people he’d been lying to the most. The people who mattered to him the most.
The thought of telling two dragon shifters he’d been lying to their faces all along had his stomach tying itself in knots. Mitchell had taken it well, but how would his parents react? Would they be angry? Worse, how would his own parents react? Was it too late to make a run for it?
He only had to look at how happy Emily and Dale were to know he’d made the right choice by staying.
Dale and Emily opened the buffet, although Dale didn’t linger by the salad bar long and headed outside for the grill.
His parents got up, along with Mitchell’s parents. When Chris walked over to the buffet, Shaun went after him. “We need to talk.” He steered Chris over to the salad bar, waiting for his parents to move along so they could have some privacy.
Chris pretended to be interested in the tomatoes. “What is it?” he asked quietly.
“It’s a long story.” Shaun helped himself to some carrots. “But I’m gonna tell everyone at the table the truth about us.”
Chris froze as he was about to add another tomato to his bowl. “You what?”
“Like I said, long story.” He added some cucumber. “Let me do the talking and play along.”
“I get to stay, right?” Chris whispered.
“You’re still my plus one.”
Chris looked reassured at that, then his smile widened. “Oh, if people know I’m single, I can flirt with Kelly.”
“I’m only telling people at our table.” But as a bridesmaid, Kelly was at the same table as Natalie and Caroline. She’d overhear and the story would spread.
What the hell was he doing? His heart was pounding, and his palms were sweaty again. Telling people was a terrible idea. It wasn’t too late to leave.
He glanced over at the grill outside, where Mitchell was talking to his brother.
He wouldn’t have to do this by himself. Mitchell and Chris would back him up.
When they got back to the table, Shaun still didn’t have much of an appetite. He poked at the boiled egg he couldn’t remember adding to his bowl. He’d grabbed another soda, while Chris had gotten himself a beer.
What was the right moment to bring up you’d been lying? Before everyone started eating? While they were talking about how nice the salad was? While Dale was telling everyone what other food was available outside? Waiting for that right moment only made him more nervous, and made it more obvious that he wasn’t eating.
There would never be a right moment. He’d have to do it himself.
His fingers trembled as he held his empty glass. His mouth still felt dry. “I’ve got something to say.”
Emily looked up from her food. “If it’s a toast, you kinda missed your window.”
“No. It’s…I haven’t been honest with you guys this weekend.” Dale and Emily didn’t look surprised. His own parents looked worried, and Mitchell’s father’s expression was stern, while Mitchell’s mother looked concerned. Mitchell gave him an encouraging nod. “I don’t own Orion’s. I just work there as a bartender.”
“What? Why would you lie about that?” his father asked.
He pushed on. “Chris also isn’t my boyfriend. He isn’t even into guys. We’re roommates.”
The silence around them stretched, and Chris coughed. “I hope no one minds if I stick around as a plus one?”
“No, that’s fine.” Emily leaned over to pat his hand.
“Why would you lie about any of that?” His mother’s voice was quiet. “Why would you lie about that to us?” She grabbed her husband’s hand, shaking her head. “Why did you—why?”
“I wanted to impress you. Not you two specifically. Just…everyone here. I thought I had to. I thought I had to pretend my life was better than it was, by pretending I’m someone I’m not.” The tension in his stomach didn’t ease. He felt like a bigger idiot with every word.
But at least so far no one was angry with him.
“What else did you lie about?” Mitchell’s father narrowed his eyes.
“What? Nothing!” He felt his face turn
red. “It was my job and Chris, honest.”
Mitchell’s father looked at him for a long time, then nodded. “At least you are being honest now.”
“You know there’s no reason to lie to us,” his mother said. “We just want you to be happy.”
Shaun grimaced. Now wasn’t the time to go into all the times his parents had told him they’d wished he was more serious like Emily. They had stood by him when the rest of the town thought he was a car thief, and they’d given him some money to make a fresh start in Lewiston. “I know. It was never about you.”
“Why tell us now?” Mitchell’s mother asked, her voice gentle. “Why tell us at all?”
He didn’t want to tell them he’d been blackmailed into it. Besides, that wasn’t the full truth. “Because it was the right thing to do. I should never have lied in the first place. I shouldn’t have pretended to be someone else to look successful.”
Mitchell’s mother gave him a long, thoughtful look. “Better late than never, I suppose.”
“I’m glad you told us,” Mitchell added, his voice warm.
Shaun’s tension melted away. He’d been worrying over nothing. “Good. Great.”
“I think you owe them more than that.”
Shaun tensed up at hearing Aaron’s voice behind him. He’d expected they would overhear his confession, but he’d been so nervous that he’d forgotten all about them.
Aaron and Natalie both stood by the table, Caroline and Raymond lingering a few feet away. “Come on,” Natalie told him, folding her arms. “If you’re going to be honest, tell them everything like we asked.”
Shaun looked at Mitchell, who was glaring at Aaron right behind him. He’d done the hardest part. He could do this.
“I have told them the truth. I’m a bartender with a roommate and a GED and no chance at a high-flying career. And that’s fine.” He turned around to look at Natalie. “There’s your truth.”
“Tell them everything.” Aaron loomed over him.
Shaun didn’t move an inch, refusing to give Aaron the pleasure. “You wanted me to tell the truth, and I did. It’s not my fault you can’t accept it.”
