Page 23 of Deceit

I wave goodbye as I begin heading back to my dorm until my creative writing class, which I absolutely despise by the way.

After classes are done for the day, Maggie and I are heading to the parking lot when Liam comes jogging up. He steps in front of us in an attempt to stop our movement, but I give him an unimpressed look as I continue walking.

He grins at me like he expected nothing less before he begins jogging backwards, keeping his eyes on me.

“Hey, babygirl. Where you going?”

“None of your business,” I cut.

“Aw come on, don’t be like that. It was funny. If it would have happened to me, you would have been laughing.”

“No, I wouldn’t have. It was cruel and undeserving. I most definitely wouldn’t participate in the public humiliation of others because I was so desperate to be accepted by my peers,” I snap back at him.

His teasing smile falls, and he stops in his tracks as he nods solemnly.

“You’re right. I’m sorry, it was a dick move.”

My eyes narrow in suspicion for a moment, searching his face for something teasing or disingenuous. But I come up empty.

“It was,” I say carefully.

“Can I make it up to you?” he asks.

I raise an eyebrow. “Probably not, I’ve been known to hold a grudge.”

A laugh escapes him as he smirks.

“I’ll bet. There’s a party tonight, be my date?”

Now I’m the one that laughs, causing his smirk to drop and a confused look to knit his brows together.

“Absolutely not,” I snicker, as Maggie gives me a side eye before chuckling to herself.

“Why not?” Liam asks, obviously deeply offended.

“I don’t need a reason. No is a complete sentence,” I say, as my laughter dies down with a shake of my head.

I brush past him, looping my arm with Maggie’s to take her with me. Liam quickly jogs after us, grating on my nerves as he speaks.

“Fine, don’t be my date but at least come. There will be drinks, dancing. I’ve been told I’m quite the dancer,” he says as he takes a step to the side, practically humping the air as he does.

I’m not sure if he’s trying to look like an idiot, but either way he’s succeeding. I can’t help but let a laugh slip out at his expense as I shake my head, when Maggie speaks up.

“Bonfire?” she asks.

His eyes flick to her before he smiles and nods.

“You in, Bartlett?”

“As long as you stop dancing, Walcott,” she laughs.

His body stops instantly as he snickers.

“Done. I’ll see you ladies tonight,” he says with a saucy wink in my direction, before he saunters off back to campus.

I look over to Maggie with wide eyes as I shake my head.

“We aren’t actually going, right?”

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