Sophie Oak - Siren Beloved

“Let me give you some examples. First, whore isn’t exactly modern. Ho-bag, hookerbop, boom-boom girl, DPF—that stands for dirty penis face—chlamyidiot, hozo, slank…I like that one because it’s a great combo of slut and skank. You could go with dumpster if you’re really dirty. Now, that last one is a little more urbane way of saying cum dumpster, but if you’re trying to be insulting, it really works.”

There was silence from the crowd and then snickers. One very properly dressed white-haired lady in a green polyester suit actually clapped.

“Nicely done, dear. I used to be an English teacher. That girl always needed a thesaurus.”

“You’re just a crazy bitch,” Karen said, her face flushed. She looked around as though realizing just how stupid she looked.

The crowd moved fast, hauling their children away as Lexi opened her mouth to give Karen a stern lecture on how common the word bitch was.

“You’re good, baby,” Lucas said, covering her mouth with his hand.

She was quiet long enough that he took it away. “You do that a lot.”

Aidan answered for him. “Well, angel, you have quite a mouth on you.” He leaned in and kissed her cheek. “Not that I don’t love it.”

“Aidan, you can’t mean to do this,” Karen protested. “I’m done being put through hoops. I’m sorry I picked Carl over you, but he’s dead now, and we can be together. All you’re doing by running around with this…woman is causing a scandal. Can’t you see that?”

An unholy gleam lit Aidan’s eyes. “You think I’m causing a scandal now? How about this one?”

He reached out and dragged Lucas toward him, planting his lips on Lucas’s and kissing him for all he was worth. Lexi watched as everyone stopped and stared. Well, Aidan had certainly declared his intentions. For better or worse, he was out in the open.

“Well, at least the church ladies will stop talking about my beer drinking now.” Bo’s face was red, but he held his ground.

Her mother shook her head and put her arm around Bo. “Yes, I think Aidan has given them plenty to pray about.”

Aidan came up for air. “I’m not apologizing for loving someone. Not ever again.”

Karen huffed and hurried away as fast as her heels would carry her. Karen’s little pack turned and trailed after her.

“Well, you could have warned me I was coming out,” Lucas said with a frown. “I would have thrown a party.”

The retired English teacher made her way to the front. “I am so glad about this, boys. I have been waiting for years. This town is so dreary. We need your kind to spice it up. I loved Will & Grace. I was not as happy about Queer as Folk, but that Will & Grace was so funny. Could the two of you do something about town hall? It’s so dingy. I’ve been trying for years to find a good designer.”

“I will get right on that, ma’am.” Lucas stifled a laugh.

Jack walked up to the group carrying Olivia under her arms and as far from his body as possible. Lexi stared at her little sister, who seemed to be wet from head to toe.”

“She fell into the trough at the petting zoo,” Jack explained.

“That’s not giving her enough credit.” Sam jogged behind them toting a giggling Josh. “She dove in.”

“I went swimming, Momma.”

Her mother’s face fell, and she took her youngest daughter. “Let’s get her back to the motel.” She shook her head as she looked at Lexi. “I hope your first baby is as easy on you as you were on me. The second is hell on wheels.”

Lexi knew her mother meant well, but the whole night dimmed. She’d already had her first baby. And she’d lost him.

And now she had to tell his father that she’d failed.

Dwight tried to put on a calm face, but his stomach had been in knots since this afternoon. He’d thought when he’d managed to get Aidan home that he would be in control again. He was Aidan’s best friend, after all. He was the one who had stood beside Aidan in the hospital. Now he was the one Aidan ignored in favor of a couple of people he fucked.

Dwight stood by the popcorn stand and wondered what the hell he was going to do now. He’d thought if Aidan just came back, he would get into his routine, which included taking his sleeping pills. It was only when he dreamed that he started to remember that day—the worst day of Dwight’s life. If Aidan remembered, Dwight’s whole life would be over.

He should have smothered that dumb cowboy while he was in his hospital bed. Better yet, he should have made damn sure the bastard was dead that day in Fallujah.

Dwight had lived with the guilt long enough that it had turned into a strange form of entitlement. He’d made a mistake. Everyone made mistakes. It wasn’t his fault. It was the goddamn US Army’s fault for putting him in the position. He’d had a few weeks training and then he’d been shoved into combat. Was it his fault he’d panicked?

The gun had gone off on its own. It was a piece-of-shit gun anyway.

What the hell was he going to do?

Karen Wilcox stomped through the fairgrounds, making a beeline for the parking lot, her face screwed up in a mask of rage. What had put that look on her face? Karen caught sight of him and turned on her heels. Dwight had the sudden urge to flee but held his ground.

“How could you? You told me he wanted me.”

Ah, so Aidan had finally had it out with the bitch. He’d been a pussy about it. It had been easy for Dwight to convince her that Aidan was just mad that she’d chosen someone else. Karen was thirty and there weren’t a lot of prospects in a town as small as this. Dwight had fucked her a couple of times, but she wouldn’t consider him. Though Aidan might not have a ton of cash, he had land and that made him wealthy to these people. Aidan was the catch.

“Well, who wouldn’t want you, darlin’?” Dwight had found that she was very susceptible to flattery. All he had to do was tell her she was hot, and she suddenly was willing to listen to anything he said.

Karen face was bright red with rage. “And you didn’t mention that he’d gone queer. It was one thing when he was fucking that whore to get back at me, but I can’t sleep with him now. He’s kissed another man. I can’t believe it. He humiliated me in front of the whole town. Everyone’s going to say I made him gay.”

Dwight’s mind raced with the possibilities. And if everyone had seen that little drama play out, then maybe he could use it to his advantage.

“He’s insane. You could make a gay man straight with that body. Come on, darlin’, you deserve a drink. Let’s take your car.”

He walked with her, nodding at the people they passed. Everyone they walked by looked at the blonde with sympathy. They talked about her behind their hands. Dwight could tell she was getting more and more worked up with every pitying glance. Her shoulders got tight and her fists clenched. By the time he got her to her SUV, she was practically vibrating with rage.

He opened her door. He had a plan in mind, and it just might work. Dwight had talked to Aidan just moments before Karen had found him. He’d intended to gently introduce the idea of taking his sleeping pills, but Aidan hadn’t had time to talk. He’d told Dwight not to wait up. He, Lucas, and Lexi planned to stay for a while. That was just fine with Dwight. It gave him a little time to do what he needed to do.

“Why don’t we get you a drink, darlin’?”

Karen nodded. “Yes, I think I could use one.”

Or five. Once he had her drunk, she would talk and then everyone would know how mad she really was. She was the perfect scapegoat.

Dwight pulled out of the parking lot and aimed toward the bar. If he had a bit of luck, maybe his problems would all go away.

Two hours later, Aidan opened the door of his truck and handed Lexi up, wishing he could go back to that moment when she’d been triumphantly happy. After the smackdown with Karen, she’d practically glowed. She was Lexi, sweet and brutally sarcastic. Something had happened to shut her down again, and for the life of him he couldn’t figure out what. Had it been him kissing Lucas in public? He doubted it. Lexi had never been afraid of what other people thought.

The cab was quiet as Lucas got in and shut the door. Aidan shuffled around, putting off that moment when he had to sit beside her, when her hand didn’t find his thigh the way it used to.

With a heavy heart, he got in and started the truck. He didn’t miss the way Lucas’s hand slid over hers, their fingers entangling. They were so close. They were a unit, and he might never be one of them. He might be able to worm his way in, but they would always have had those years together without him. They had bonded because they had survived his desertion.

Did he really have the right to even try?

Maybe he should try to find them a new Dom. It was obvious they were happier with one. Lexi had been responding. He pulled the truck out of the parking lot and decided to try to understand what had gone wrong.

“What happened back there, Lexi?” He kept his voice quiet. He was as non-threatening as possible. He would never order her to tell him. There would be no punishment if she chose not to trust him, just an aching sadness in his heart. “One minute you were giving Karen hell and the next you shut down.”

He pulled onto the one-lane highway. At this time of night, it was full dark once they left the neon lights of the fair grounds. The moon was new, so the only lights in the night came from his headlights. It felt like they were the only three people in the whole world, and yet he was alone.