Page 39 of Lie for a Lie

“Please, Paige, I am not an idiot, so don’t treat me like one. I get attraction, and you two have it. But I thought you wanted to see where this could go.”

He motions between us, and I feel bad about crushing on Graham. I sigh, frustrated, but can’t bring myself to say anything. Too much is going through my mind, and there is no way I am going to be able to unpack all of this sober right now. The growing silence seems to be telling Seth everything my words can’t.

“All right, night, Paige. Text me when you feel like talking,” Seth snips, sounding rather disappointed.

I wrap my arms around myself tighter. He shakes his head with an eye roll before heading to his truck and driving off.

I watch him for a minute before turning around and seeing everyone from dinner’s face shoved into the open front window. The four of them scramble the second my eyes land on them.

“Who wants cheesecake?” I hear Bre yell off in the distance, followed by responses.

I wrap my arms around myself and walk back into the house before sitting back on the couch, and a piece of cheesecake appears in front of me a minute later.

After we leave Clint’s, I can’t escape the thoughts in my head all the way home as Bre talks about nothing important. More than once, I notice Chris checking on me in the rearview mirror, and by the time we get home, I am fuming and beyond frustrated before heading to my bedroom, slamming the door behind me.

I check my phone for the five hundredth time and can’t help but sigh in frustration when Seth still hasn’t replied to my messages from almost two hours ago. I put my phone down and take a cold shower. I know I shouldn’t be feeling this way, and I hate that I am pushing it down instead of being able to have a normal conversation with my kind of boyfriend.

Ten minutes later, I am freezing and even more annoyed than before. I quickly dry my hair just enough not to soak my sheets. I grab my phone, seeing Seth still hasn’t responded, before opening my message app and creating a new message.

Me: Are you up?

I can’t help but laugh and realize how quickly Graham responds.

Graham: Everything okay?

Me: Am I not allowed to text you in the middle of the night?

Graham: You are allowed to text or call me anytime.

Me: Call?

Not even thirty seconds after I hit send, he calls me on Facetime. As I answer, I can feel the flush in my cheeks, not bothering to cover up that I am braless in a gray tank. He is still in his clothes from earlier, and I put my air pods in.

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t realize you were in bed,” Graham says, slightly amused.

I can’t help my smile, and his whole face shifts as he climbs into the driver’s side of his truck and lets his eyes take me in.

“Where are you?” I ask, lying on my side and placing my phone on the charger pad on my nightstand.

Graham watches my every movement as I begin cuddling up in my bedding.

“I had to come do some charting and follow up on a few cases. I was just about to head home when I got your text.”

“Sorry, I was just…” I struggle for the words, and he leans back in his seat, giving me time to figure out what I need to say.

“I just needed to talk and know I can talk to you.”

I know the weight of the words, and I may be crossing into some questionable territory. Graham studies me for a moment before smiling softly at me.

“Well, then talk.”

Chapter 19

Graham

It’s the first boy’s night Chris has hosted since he started dating Bre, and to no one’s surprise, Bre is taking care of everything. I don’t mind, though. I need the distraction.

Since football doesn’t start back up for a few weeks, we decided on a poker night with Bre as our fifth player to help keep things interesting.

---