Started With a Lie

Chapter Thirty-One

This one’s dedicated to @xbeautyrisesx! Beautiful cover to the side by her.

Chapter Thirty-One

After the whole Peter thinking he’s king of the world and that he could mess with people’s feelings, Lee takes a hold of my hand and we walk. He’s gentle but has a firm grip, swerving past people that are smoking or people that are dancing in the living room. My nose twitches from the smell of alcohol on everyone we pass by. Lee seems unfazed and takes me to Brent’s “man cave” in the basement.

            “Out,” Lee says to the one couple that’s making out feverishly downstairs. I think I recognize them as Patricia and Melanie from Calculus. They smile sheepishly before hopping up the creaky stairs. I’m surprised they’re the only ones down here though. Even though Brent tells everyone that if they go down here he’ll cut their legs off, people usually go down to smoke quietly or other reasons.

            I take a seat down on an orange bean bag. I try to sit as ladylike as possible because, well, I’m wearing no pants. Peter kind of got there before I could put them on.

            Lee glances at me and lets his eyes wander for a second before reaching over for his suit jacket and placing it on my legs.

            “So…,” I start, folding my hands on top of my legs.

            “I didn’t expect your lingerie show so soon,” Lee jokes—I think he’s joking. He sits down on the bean bag next to mine, our knees almost touching. Almost.

            “Ha-ha, very funny,” I say in a sarcastic tone.

            “Well, that was fun,” Lee says, running a hand through his hair. “Kind of forgot what it feels like to be at an actual party instead of some business meeting or charity event.” I notice something on his hand.

            I stop his hand in his hair and take it in both my hands to examine it. His hand is soft but rough around the fingers—from work probably. Signing a billion contracts and whatever he does must do that to you. What caught my eyes were the bruises on his knuckles. They’re a bright purple, some even blue. Stupid Peter.

            “What?” Lee says and we’re sitting closer now, me huddled over to see his hand.

            I run my fingers over the bruises to see how bad they are and when he winces, I know it’s bad enough.

            “Does it hurt?” I ask.

            “No.”

            “Liar.”

            I stand up and the jacket slips to the floor. There’s a bright blue fridge in the corner of Brent’s room. I hate to admit but Brent’s man cave is actually nicely designed. Splashes of color and just the right texture for everything. I guess he got his artistic side from Mom. It’s a shame the room’s always messy.

            I need to see Mom tomorrow—to check up on her and see if she’s okay and to tell her I’m okay. I want to tell her about Lee and Madam Jin even if she can’t hear me.

            I have to tell her there’s a boy I like.

            “What’re you doing?” Lee asks when I open the fridge. To see him here in Brent’s den and being swallowed up by a purple bean bag, it’s surreal.

            I have to tell her there’s a boy I love.

            “Getting you ice,” I mumble as I reach into get the ice pack that Brent has. In fact, it’s the only thing there. There’s no food even though Mark literally bought the entire Walmart store yesterday morning. The ice is cold in my hands as I sit back down next to Lee. He’s looking at me, bemused.