Our Illicit Desires

Our Illicit Desires RORY IRELAND TATE MONROE Copyright © 2023 by Rory Ireland + Tate Monroe All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. Created with Vellum To Silas and Zoey You two were our first official co-write We wouldn’t be here without you Take chances, make mistakes, get messy! MISS FRIZZLE, THE MAGIC SCHOOL BUS Contents Content Tropes + Tags 1. Zoey 2. Silas 3. Zoey 4. Silas 5. Zoey 6. Silas 7. Zoey 8. Silas 9. Zoey 10. Silas 11. Zoey 12. Silas 13. Zoey 14. Silas 15. Zoey 16. Silas 17. Zoey Epilogue Fu*kboys in Flannel Acknowledgments About the Authors Also by The Authors Content Tropes + Tags Breeding Jealous/Possessive Parental Gaslighting Mention of Pregnancy - Epilogue Only Chapter 1 Zoey Re-Max Advantage. That’s the first thing I see when I pull up in front of my parents’ house. The sign in the front yard has a sold sticker plastered across the front of it, and once that processes, my entire face goes numb. I graduated from college two months ago and moved in with my boyfriend, Lucas. We were supposed to go on a vacation together in Mykonos, but that all got shot to shit last night. My bags were packed, we weren’t arguing for once, I was excited to finally have a few days off from the shitty job I’ve been working at for the last four years in a diner near campus. And then he told me that instead of booking our vacation with the money I saved, he invested it in some bullshit coin pyramid. They promised him he’d make his money back tenfold before it was too late to actually book the vacation, but it turns out that it was all a scam. He lost all of it. And the fucked-up part is that this isn’t the first time he’s done something like this either, just never to this magnitude. I thought he was pushing a little too hard when I said I’d take care of it. He whined, complained, told me that it hurt his feelings that I didn’t think he was capable of handling the money. And I fucking fell for it, hook, line and sinker. I packed my shit up, loaded it in my car and took off the next day. He can figure out how to pay the rent by himself. Luckily, when we were moving off campus, his father agreed to put the house in his name and let us pay the rent because I didn’t qualify by myself, and Lucas certainly didn’t. I thought that after dating for so long, trying to make it work over and over with no genuine changes or future in sight that I’d feel bad. I thought I would miss him the moment I drove off campus, but I didn't. I don’t even feel angry either, I feel nothing but relief. But now I have this to deal with. I lean against the passenger side door of my car and fish my cell phone out of my purse. This is totally something my mom and stepfather would do. Mom has always flown by the seat of her pants, never actually knowing how things are going to work out until they somehow magically do. And Ted, her partner for the last five years or so, doesn’t ground her in any way. He’s just as unpredictable, which I think is good for her, but not for me at this moment. “Zoey, sweetie! How nice. Ted, come here! Zoey’s calling,” Mom yells into the phone loud enough that I have to pull the phone away from my ear and put her on speaker. There’s so much noise in the background, and I’m not sure if it sounds like she’s under water or being chased by a herd of elephants. “Mom?” I say with a huff. I should be more patient with her, but I’m frustrated and if there hadn’t still been a sign in the front yard, I could have accidentally walked in on whoever bought the place. “Yes! I’m here, Zoey. How are you? Guess where Ted and I are!” She sounds so happy, and not at all phased that they’ve apparently sold my childhood home without telling me. I’ve been here for mere minutes and I’m already regretting my knee-jerk reaction to come home. “Mom, I’m at the house. There’s a sign in the front yard and a random truck in the driveway. What’s going on?” “What house?” I can hear that she’s perplexed by her tone, and I know the exact look that’s gracing her face right now. I’ve had to be the adult for as long as I can remember, and really Ted was a blessing when he came into our lives because he keeps her occupied. Before him, I had no life because she was constantly meddling and finding reasons to keep me home. As much as Ted annoys me by interjecting his unwanted opinions in every situation, if it weren’t for him taking one for the team and marrying my mom, I probably wouldn’t have been able to go to college. She has a knack for making every situation about herself and manipulating anyone who disagrees with her. “Mom. Stop whatever you’re doing and listen to me, okay?” I snap, and then instantly feel guilt when I hear the soft hum leave her mouth, signifying that she doesn’t enjoy being reprimanded. “I’m sorry. I’ve just got a lot going on right now and I was hoping I could come home