Tell Me A Lie

I need a little ARC break, and...no, I'm just off the rails again over here. Here's Brianna Flores's "Tell Me A Lie."

["Lucas
I take one look at Sage's pretty face and know that I could never deny him. When he's promising to be mine as long as I do what he wants, I know that I'll give him anything.
"Just tell me a lie, and I'm yours."
It's the strangest thing a hookup has ever asked for, but if one little lie makes him mine, I'm eager to do it.
And after it's over, I know that it's the best thing I've ever done.

Sage
All that I am is a burden that nobody loves.
That's fine. I can deal with it because I have no choice. And now that I'm away from my parents and living with my brother, who doesn't know why I ran away, it's easier to handle.
But being lonely is hard, and one night, when I'm feeling particularly sad, I go looking for love in the last place I should. I know going into a one-night stand expecting intimacy is a borderline delusional wish, but I just need to hear it. Just once, even if it is a lie. It's the most embarrassingly desperate thing I've ever done.
I should be happy when it's over, that he's given me what I was craving. But as I'm leaving, knowing that I'll never see him again, I can't help but feel that it's the last time I'll ever feel loved.
Getting a taste just to never have it again might be the biggest mistake I've ever made."]

The hurt/comfort in this one is real, y'all. And like, not even on purpose. But Lucas is a functioning real-life adult with experiences and support, and Sage is a sheltered, scared, abused anxiety-ridden hot mess. Lucas does XYZ, and we allllll know its because he has Feelings, but Sage takes it to so many imposter-syndrome, taught-self-hate, anxiety-spiral places. I mean, hell, half the people in their lives are aware of Lucas's Feelings (and Sage's Feelings--boy can't hide that level of jealousy). It's heartbreaking at watch read, especially since soooo many of the chapters are in Sage's POV.

But they finally sat down and talked some things out, and they made it work.

I gotta say, most authors do really good at making sure there are quality trigger warnings for their books. I'll be honest, I sometimes combine a few or expand a few (or add additional ones), and I never add the "sexual content" one (we all know why we're here). But I looooove that Brianna added "a dick big enough for my precious size queen" to the list. Love that for Sage. ;)

Trigger Warnings: homophobia, internalized homophobia, allusions to physical abuse, mental/emotional abuse, anxiety, depression, brief mentions of self-harm, mentions of past reparative/conversion therapy, and more.

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