Page 109 of Not Fooling Anyone

Shit. I didn’t mean to cause problems with her relationship with Travis, too.

The front door unlocks, both of us turning toward it.

It’s showtime.

CHAPTERTWENTY-SIX

ETHAN

The door swings open,Lexie’s eyes widening as she spots me on the couch.

Surprise.

Her lips press together tightly but she enters, locking the door behind her. “I should have known you wouldn’t give up,” she mutters as she sets her bag down on the kitchen counter. She turns to Travis next. “And you let him in?”

“He wants to talk,” he replies weakly.

“I already told you I’m done,” she says, breezing past us on the way to her room.

Oh, hell no. “Actually, you didn’t.” I stand, rounding the couch. “You said a few cryptic things I don’t get, but I need more than that. I’m not leaving here until I understand what’s going on. After all we’ve been through, after all I’ve done for you, you owe me that.”

Her nostrils flare. “I told you I can’t deal with it.”

“Deal with what?”

Her gaze flicks between me and Travis. “I don’t want to have this conversation.”

“Well, I do.”

She retreats, heading toward her room again, and I yell after her, “Were you saying I need help in the bedroom?”

She stops and whips around, shock radiating from her, an identical expression on Travis’s face as he gapes at me too.

“What?” she asks.

“When you said we weren’t compatible. That I needed help. Did you mean we’re not a good fit sexually?”

She blinks at me, a tic forming in her jaw. “You think I’ve been avoiding you because you’re bad in bed? Ethan, you’re amazing in bed.”

Travis covers his mouth, hiding a wide smile, despite the seriousness of the conversation.

She sighs, comprehension dawning over as she seems to realize what she said, resignation soon following. “Fine. If you want to talk, let’s do it in my room.”

Travis sits up, solemn once more. “Do you need—”

“I’ll be fine,” she says. “It won’t be a long conversation.”

Great. Glad we’re both going into this with an open mind.

She shuts the door behind us, leaning against it, and silently picks at her thumbnail.

I cross over to the chair by her desk, the seat hard and unforgiving. Kind of like her right now.

I try to wait her out but patience has never been my strong suit. “So you admit you’ve been avoiding me,” I say into the silence of the room, hoping it’ll spark something.

“Yeah,” she says, leaving it at that.

“Why?”