Page 58 of Loving Lies (Granton University 3)

“Why do you think? I liked the lie. I liked pretending I could be someone completely new, starting from fresh. I liked her being…mine.”

Bailey let out a big, frustrated sigh and jerked her hands to her hips again. “Christ. You really do care about her, don’t you?”

He nodded as he glanced away. “And if I was a completely different, better person who was worthy of her, I’d fight to get her back, too.”

“Oh, there’s no if to that statement, buddy. You will fight to get her back. In fact, I’m going back to campus right now, grabbing her ass, and dragging her back here so you can apologize and grovel and explain to her what an idiot you are.”

“You can’t.” When she opened her mouth to argue, he motioned toward the television as it showed his picture again. “Just look.”

Bailey glanced up and gasped. “What…? Why are you on CNN? Holy Jesus, you’re on freaking CNN.”

“Yeah. They know it was my gun. They know I bullied Einstein. And they all think it’s only fitting I should be dead right now. I’m not just the most-hated guy in Granton anymore. It’s spread nation-wide.”

Swerving around with a look of disbelief, Bailey just gaped at him until he couldn’t take it any longer.

“I know I deserved to be shot,” he muttered. “I’m fully aware I should be dead right now. People that didn’t even know him were killed. Completely innocent people died because I helped create a monster, and I’m still alive in this hospital bed, unworthy of my life. I know! You think that doesn’t bother me every hour of every day?”

She opened her mouth but no words came out. When she closed her lips again, Jonah pressed his hand to his chest.

“I don’t know how to deal with this,” he confessed. “I don’t how to say sorry and have it actually make a difference. I’m so fucked up right now, my life is basically over, and the only friend I ever had is dead, killed by Einstein. Now everyone in America hates me and thinks I should be dead too. No way in hell do I want Tess involved in any of that. And you know she would be. You know her better than anyone. She’s so giving and big-hearted, if I apologized and managed to make up with her, she’d try to stand by me through all this. But it’d only drag her down too.”

“Well, fudge,” Bailey muttered. “I was all fired up to come in here and blast you a new one, tell you you had it all wrong, she didn’t lie to you to get any kind of revenge. She honest-to-God just wanted to help the poor amnesiac in room three-twelve feel like he wasn’t alone for one night. I was going to force you to talk to her.”

“And now you see why I can’t. I can’t let her back in.”

“Actually, Tess is a big girl and can decide with her own mind whether she thinks being with you is worth the risk. You should not get to make that decision for her.”

Jonah held his breath and waited for her to reveal what she was going to do about it. When she didn’t, he asked, “So…you’re going to tell her I didn’t really want her to go, then? You’re going to let her know I actually do care?”

“Jesus, no!” Bailey exploded. “Are you insane? You’re a fucked up mess, and everyone in America hates you and wants you dead. I’m not letting my best friend get within fifty miles of that.”

He blinked, utterly confused. “But you just said—”

“Hey, just because you’re wrong and shouldn’t make a decision like this for her doesn’t mean I don’t agree with you. You need to straighten your shit out before you go anywhere near my best friend again.”

His derisive laugh was harsh and bitter. “Yeah, if I could only figure out how to do that.”

Bailey sighed again, scowling hard. “If you look at it from Tess’s optimistic point of view, you’d see you can only go up from here. Right? So, stop whining over everything you lost. It’s gone. Life sucks, and you have to start over from scratch, blah, blah, blah. I get it. But Tess isn’t going to stop hurting until you fix yourself. So, find a way to get your act together, and then—only then—should you look up my girl again. Got it?”

That was not what he was expecting her to say at all. He’d been ready for her to warn him away from Tess forever. But to get a partial blessing from the best friend gave him a smidgeon of hope. “Why are you helping me?”

“Excuse me? Let’s get one thing clear. I’m not helping you.” She sent him a dirty look. “Why would I help you? I don’t even know you. And what I do know, I don’t like. To me, you’re just that douchebag who’s breaking my best friend’s heart. This is all for Tess. Only Tess. And she likes you. She can open up to you as she’s never opened up to any guy. I don’t know what she was smoking when she chose you, but she did. I’m just here to make you pull your head out of your idiot ass and get my friend the guy she chose.”

The crazy ball of hope in his chest that just wouldn’t die stirred from the depths where he was so sure it had shriveled up into nothing. It pounded through his heartbeat until he heard it thrumming through his ears. Suddenly, he had something left to live for.

Nodding solemnly at Tess’s unorthodox friend, he said, “I’ll see what I can do.”

Chapter Sixteen

A WEEK PASSED. And then another. Tess didn’t return to the hospital, not even for volunteer duty. Bailey called for them to say they wouldn’t be in for their Sunday shifts any longer.

The days dragged on, and classes resumed. Tess went to each course lecture, continuing her regular routine…without any contact with a certain lying, deceiving, heartless gunshot victim. And on the weekends, Bailey drove them back to their hometown as she did every Friday, where they spent Saturdays and Sundays with their families.

Though her two older twin brothers, Marc and Eddy, still lived at home with her father, Tess rarely saw them anymore. They each worked odd shifts at the power plant near their farmstead and were usually asleep when she was awake.

But she did spend mealtimes with her dad. He took care of the cattle and came in whenever she texted him that she had lunch ready. She wasn’t sure who cooked while she was away at school during the week, but it looked as if her father was gaining a little weight, so he must be finding food somewhere.

On the second weekend after everything fell apart with Jonah, her dad seated himself across from her at the family table in the kitchen, and they started a quiet meal together. He glanced over at her and finally noticed something was up with his only daughter because he frowned thoughtfully.

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