BOY KING (CFTM Prequel)

Chapter 60 *NEW*

"On a scale between extremely attractive and heart-stopping, how do I look? You think your mom can handle it?" I ask.

Lacey cocks an eyebrow and stares down my ego from across the car.

"I think she'll be fine as long as you keep your clothes on."

My face heats up.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, I'm sure you do. I recall a certain someone doing a solo strip-tease in front of my house earlier. We have windows you know."

My jaw drops just low enough for Lacey to catch my chin between her fingers.

"Y-you saw that?"

"I did. It was extremely entertaining—and mildly heart-stopping, but I may be biased. You might have to ask my dad if you want a second opinion."

I lean across the car, pull her in close, but stop a couple inches short of her lips.

"I was gonna kiss you, but then thought about your dad, and I lost my motivation."

"Then stop thinking so much."

Lacey eases me into the kind of kiss I didn't realize I needed. Her lips are soft and easy against mine, so much so that I find myself struggling to figure out how she can be so calm on a day like today. On the drive over, I tried to keep her mind off of where we were going. I thought she needed the distraction, so I turned up the radio and blasted Foo Fighters hoping that a little bit of rock music would help her forget about having to see her mom at this graveyard. But I was wrong. About her and this place.

Lacey eases away from me and gestures toward the car door like she isn't afraid to walk outside and take on the day. I freeze up for a couple seconds and squeeze the life out of the steering wheel like it'll ease the panic running wild in my veins. Once I pull myself together, I step outside of the car into the midday sun, and a runaway breeze from the ocean takes the edge off the heat. 

I pictured Cliffside being somewhere somber, eerie, and full of shadows. But the sun touches everything here. The air outside's peaceful. Calm. Quiet enough to catch the sound of the palm trees rustling overhead and the cadence of the waves crashing against the shoreline. 

Earlier, I couldn't figure out why Lacey didn't seem nervous about coming here. Why she didn't fall apart back in the car like I expected her to. If I were her, and it was my mom I was going to see today, I'd be in pieces. I'd probably be drinking or doing something stupid just to deal with the pain. 

But Lacey sat in that passenger's seat and sung along with "The Pretender" at the top of her lungs like nothing was wrong. Like the right power chords could take her to a place where sadness couldn't touch her. She air-guitared her heart out, giggled every time I broke out in my version of Dave Grohl's vocals, and every reaction was beautiful because all of it was real.

I know when Lacey's hiding or trying to put on her best face for me. But she's not pretending today.

Her grip's tight and steady as she leads the way up the stone path through rows of other people's gravestones. I'm trying to keep it together. I'm trying to focus on how beautiful and alive Lacey is in this moment instead of letting my mind drift off into darker places. I'm with a gorgeous girl on a gorgeous day, and I want that to be enough.

 I want the sadness that's painted over every inch of this place to disappear. I don't want to think about how unfair it is that the two of us even have to be here. Or how her mom's absence is starting to eat away at me. Or how Lacey's the last person in the world to deserve this situation.