Of Stars & Lies Read Online Free Page A

a doozy.”
    'My secret'?
    He didn't phrase it in those words before, and if he hadn't just now, Love would have dropped back on the sofa and stewed over his life. But with his imagination running in overdrive, he brushes his clothes and slips his shoes on. The television remains on—he can hear the audience still booing behind him—as he grabs his jacket and keys.
    Closing the door behind him, he heads down the hallway in anticipation. For the first time in months, something close to excitement rushes through his veins.
     

 
     
    Five
     
     
         “ Close your eyes.”
    “ Cade, I already know where we are.”
    “ Just do it, will you? Humour me.”
    Love sighs and does as he is bid.
    Behind the sparse and shedding trees, the pathway leads into the park. With them both growing up in this area, they know the place well; they spent their childhood playing here.
    “ I want you to see the place with fresh eyes, like a child on an adventure.”
    “ It's a park, Cade. Besides, it's not like I can feel much.”
    “ You are so cynical and old.”
    “ We're the same age,” Love reminds him.
    “ You think age is just a number?”
    “ No, but I can't be a big kid like you.”
    “ Why not?” Cade's body brushes against his as he wraps his hands across his eyes, causing Love's long eyelashes to flicker against the shield like a butterfly inside a glass bottle.
    “ I said close your eyes.” The whisper slips inside his ear in one warm and calming wave. The act is a beautiful contrast to the chill in the air.
    “ I guess I haven't been here since.”
    “ Since what?”
    Love takes a hollow breath in, then exhales as though the weight of the universe slumps on his shoulders. He swallows the thick build up of saliva and ignores the question.
    Not since my world fell apart.
    “So what's the secret?”
    “ Nice try. You've got to get in the park first.”
    Cade pushes his knees into the back of his to force him to walk while he keeps his eyes covered. They stumble together from side to side down the pathway and over the grass.
    When Love's foot drops into a shallow dip, he tries to raise his arms to keep his balance, but Cade nudges them down with his elbows. “I've got you. Trust me.”
    Loveren fingers fall back against his jeans where they drum on his thighs. He wants to cover the hands that blind him to steady his heart. Yet, he doesn't want to appear freaked out by the whole ordeal. Sure, he is incapable of fear, especially over something so trivial, but it is better than Cade knowing the real reason for his need to reach out and touch him.
     
    ***
     
    There was no reasoning behind the 'get up and go' attitude, other than spontaneity. He has thought hard about coming clean to Love for days. Now, he has concluded this is his opportunity, and if he doesn't take it now, he never will. How he takes his secret is anybody's guess, but at least he cannot get angry.
    The gate slaps shut behind them after he struggles to hustle it open without removing his hands. They trample over the soggy bark from the earlier shower as they head over to the playground within the gloom. The lamp on the pathway illuminates enough to keep him from losing his footing, or shoving Love face-first into something. Yet, it's not enough to dispel the ominous shadows that stretch along the grass, or gravel.
    “Be c areful when you sit,” he whispers beside his ear. A plume of grey breath slips from his mouth and is gone seconds later.
    As he eases Love onto the plastic, metal tingles from beside him. He can tell the sound alerts his mate to where he is sitting in an instant by the way his body tenses. Yet, he remains silent.
    “ Right, open your eyes.”
    When he takes a seat next to Love, the damp soaks through his jeans, but he couldn't care less. He is too busy watching Love wrap his fingers around the chains like he did when he were a child.
    Cade mimics the action on his swing with the cold kissing his skin, but he doesn't mind.