Page 73 of Loving Lies (Granton University 3)

“No,” she said, her voice frantic. “What other guy? There is no other guy!” Who the heck was he talking about? How could he say he loved her and write such beautiful things about his feelings for her and then drop such a confusing line about another guy?

If he was only staying away because he thought she’d moved on, then she needed to set him straight. Immediately. Scrambling for the bathroom door¸ she flung it open and raced to Paige’s room.

“We need to find him,” she blurted out as she exploded into her suitemate’s den.

Paige and Logan were tangled together on Paige’s bed, without shirts on, and not even that fazed her. Logan ripped his palm off his girlfriend’s breast and jerked upright. The scar on his chest was an ugly purple pucker, but nope…not even that caused her pause.

“Well, put your clothes on,” she said, helpfully bending down to scoop up their tops and tossing the clothes at them. “We have to find your friend Sam and get her to tell us where Jonah is. He has to be somewhere in Granton, right? If she’s still talking to him.”

Logan tugged his shirt back on, but Paige paused and sent Tess a sad cringe. “Tess, we can’t go to Sam about this. Logan stole that letter from her. We’d get into big trouble if she knew what he’d done.”

“But…” Tess shook her head. They were so close. They knew someone who could lead them to Jonah. They couldn’t just give up now. “He said he loved me.”

She thrust the letter toward Paige. Reaching out with an uncertain slowness, Paige hesitantly slipped the letter from Tess’s hand and smoothed it flat before reading it. Logan leaned over her shoulder to read with her.

Tess chewed on her fingernails as she watched them, certain they’d love Jonah just as much as she did, just as soon as they saw his beautiful words. How could they not? She wanted to hug herself and laugh and cry and scream and smile and just spill out every emotion ever made because reading his heartfelt words made her love him hard. Her heart soared with how good his confessions felt. But being kept from him turned it all inside out until she ached.

Paige set her hand over her mouth. “Wow, this is just…wow. I want you to write me a letter like this.”

Logan frowned and shook his head. “I’ll work on it.” Then he looked up at Tess. “What other guy is he talking about? I’ve never seen you around another guy. You can’t even talk to them.”

 

; “I know!” Tess cried, taking the letter back to scowl at that part. “I have no idea what he’s talking about either. That’s why I need to find him. I need to set him straight. I need to tell him I love him, too. So, you guys have to help me find him.”

When Paige and Logan exchanged wary glances, Tess growled. “You have to! You’re the ones who brought me this letter. You gave me hope.”

“We’ll see what we can do.” Paige bit her lip and glanced at Logan again. “But…”

Tess had a bad feeling Paige wouldn’t do anything to get her boyfriend into trouble, so she held up a hand. “Wait. I have an idea.” Turning on her heel, she raced back into her room.

With shaking hands, she scrambled for her bag and yanked out the first notebook she found. After writing, I have no idea what other guy you’re talking about. There’s only you, so please come back to me. I’m waiting. I love you too, on a blank page, she tore the sheet free of the binder, folded it into thirds and scribbled his name on the outside. Biting at a fingernail with chipped polish on it, she returned to Paige’s room and thrust it forward.

“Could you give this to Sam? You don’t have to tell her you know anything about the missing letter or how you know she’s talking to him. Just…see if she can pass it along.”

Paige hesitated, but then she nodded. “Okay.” She took the note and looked at Tess.

Even though Paige’s gaze was leery, as if she didn’t think it would work, Tess gave her a watery smile of thanks. “I owe you, big time.”

Tess wasn’t sure how she made it through classes the next day. She only knew when they started because the professor began talking. And she knew when they ended because that was when everyone stood up to leave. But other than that, she wasn’t aware of much else. She didn’t realize she skipped lunch; she was too busy stalking Paige’s room to hear back from either her or Logan.

She was lying on her bed, hugging Jonah’s letter when the lock on her door clicked and the handle turned.

Sitting up fast enough to make herself lightheaded, she held her breath until the door opened and a hesitant Bailey stepped into the room. Gaze downcast, her friend didn’t look up until she closed the door and leaned against it.

And even when Bailey lifted her face, Tess still held her breath, bracing for the yelling and accusations. Fearing she was going to lose her best friend forever, she covered her mouth with her hands and waited.

But her best friend shocked the crap out of her when she quietly murmured, “So…” She glanced away. “I’m sorry.”

A huff of shocked air exited Tess’s lungs. She dropped her hands from her lips, completely clueless. “Sorry? For what?”

“For, you know…” Bailey flailed out a hand, looking as stumped as Tess felt. “For doing everything that made you upset, for butting in, for visiting your boyfriend at the hospital. Just…for all of it. You were right; I needed to be reminded you are your own person, not just my best friend, here solely to love me.”

“Oh, Bailey.” Flying off the bed, Tess leapt at her, hugging her hard. “Of course I love you. And don’t ever apologize for being you. I’m so sorry for yelling at you. I shouldn’t have—”

“But you were right.”

“No. I yelled at you for doing what you’ve always done, and—”

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