Page 52 of Lie for a Lie

His eyes meet mine in apology. Paige pulls away immediately.

“It’s not my fault you have some pretty attractive friends,” she responds before winking at me.

Chris studies her for a long moment before nodding in agreement. I stand up, realizing everyone else has left. I laugh and head towards the kitchen to grab one of the water bottles on the counter, putting some distance between me and Paige. I smile towards Bre when she returns to the room dressed for bed. I glance at my watch, realizing it is almost ten.

“Oh good, you’re up.” Bre smiles and I hear Chris laugh softly.

“Yes, love, Paige woke him up just like you asked.”

“Any issues?” Bre asks exhaustively toward Chris.

“No love. We are all good,” Chris answers, not breaking his gaze from Bre as he stands from the couch and heads toward her.

“Just about to head to bed myself,” Paige says, taking her eyes away from Chris and focusing on me.

“Night, Graham,” she says softly before heading towards her bedroom.

“Night, Paige,” I say, looking toward her bedroom, lingering on her for a moment before my attention is back towards Bre.

“What?” I ask as Chris comes to wrap his arms around Bre’s waist.

“Nothing,” Bre says with a shit-eating grin before adding, “If you just told my sister how you felt, maybe you wouldn’t be so miserable all the time.”

I feel all the emotion settle in my jaw.

“Love,” Chris said softly, shooting me another apologetic smile.

“Bre…”

I have trouble finding the right words before she lets out a small laugh.

“Closed mouths don’t get fed, Graham.” She offers before Chris pulls Bre towards their bedroom.

“Night,” Chris chimes as I head towards the door and lock it up behind me.

When I return to my seemingly always empty townhouse, my mind spirals in Bre’s words. She isn’t wrong. No surprise here, I pull out my phone.

Me: Made it home safe.

I don’t know why I am surprised when I turn on the shower and by the time I remove my clothes Paige has loved my message and I have butterflies when the three little dots appear and a few new messages ping me by the time I finish.

I decide to wash off quickly, but Paige is FaceTiming me by the time I get out of the shower. I quickly wrap a towel around my waist and answer the phone while drying my hair with a different towel. Nothing but pure desire is in Paige’s eyes, and I smile at her.

“Ma’am, are you objectifying me?”

She laughs and cuddles one of the large pillows on her bed tighter.

“You could have ignored my call, you know.”

“Oh, I could never do that to you,” I say playfully, heading into my bedroom.

I throw the phone onto the bed facing the ceiling and hear her whine in protest.

I laugh.

“As much as I love your late-night phone calls. Was there something you needed?”

I finish pulling on some sleeping pants and hang my towels back up. She hasn’t responded, and I put the phone on my nightstand. Once comfortable, I can see she is staring at me, and I’m unsure what to do.

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