Page 82 of Loving Lies (Granton University 3)

“So, you were assigned to me? You had no idea who I was at all?”

“None whatsoever. All I knew was that you hadn’t eaten all day, you had amnesia, and no family or friends had visited you. I felt so bad for you. I just…I wanted to make things better somehow. And then, after you threw your tray against the door—”

/> “You were there when I did that?”

“I was standing right outside the doorway with Bailey, getting my instructions for the evening. No one was willing to help me get you another tray, so that’s when I went to get you the tacos, and I decided to take off my striper apron to act like a friend…so you wouldn’t feel so alone.”

He chuckled and hugged her close. “Well, I’ll be damned. You really are too sweet to be true.”

She rolled her eyes. “Not hardly. Are you forgetting the whole stupid-gene thing? I outright lied to you and told you I was your girlfriend. But once I got to talking to you, the real Tess was actually able to come out.” With a laugh, she buried her face to kiss his heartbeat before pulling back to grin up at him. “I was so afraid I’d have to settle for some guy someday that I wasn’t attracted to in the least, because those tend to be the only guys I can talk to. But then you came along, or rather I came along to you. And you…saved me from that fate. Now I can even talk to Logan occasionally.”

“And hug him too,” Jonah reminded, still remembering how he’d thought Logan was with Tess. Unable to get the image of them embracing out of his head, he blurted, “God, I was such an idiot that day. I came to see you in the hopes of making my fake girlfriend into my real girlfriend.”

Her mouth fell open. “Oh…wow. Really?”

He leaned his forehead into hers. “Would it…I mean, if I hadn’t run off in a jealous pout, do you think it would’ve worked? If I had approached you and explained everything I had in my letter, do you think you would’ve taken me back that day?”

Cupping his face, she looked up at him, her blue eyes glittering with emotion. “Yes,” she whispered. “Definitely.”

“Will you take me today?”

Her breath caught as her eyes glittered with joy. “Definitely,” she repeated.

He kissed her, sweeping her up off her feet and into his arms. As his mouth fed from hers, he carried her toward the couch. But after the first uneven, faltering stop, she broke off from his mouth, gasping. “Your leg! Oh, put me down before—”

He kissed her again, cutting off her argument, and carried her the rest of the way to the cushions. The tendons in his leg pulled, but it was good kind of stretching pain.

“You’re too tiny to hurt me,” he assured her.

With a self-derisive laugh, she shook her head. “I have always been short, but never tiny.”

He kissed her again. It seemed to be the best way to hush her because he didn’t like how she thought of her perfect figure. She was flawless and soft, and—“Tiny,” he insisted. “Trust me, no one but you could fit on this couch with me.”

He lowered himself, bringing her down with him and settling her into his lap. When her soft, rounded backside landed on his arousal, he groaned, clenching his teeth.

“What is—” She wiggled her bottom with a thoughtful crinkle in her eyebrows, until her face cleared. “Oh.” Instantly blushing, she tried to crawl off him, but he caught her hip and swung them both around until she had her back to the cushions, her head resting on an armrest and his hips slotted perfectly between her thighs, where he was once again pressing the throbbing part of himself against the warm, soft, intimate part of her.

“Oh,” she breathed again, her eyes wide with wonder. “We never quite did this at the hospital. I only ever felt you with my…” Realizing what she was going to say, she trailed off, blushing too hard to finish the sentiment.

Jonah chuckled and kissed her nose. “Mmm,” he said. “That’s my fondest memory of that place. But here, we don’t have to worry about anyone interrupting us.”

Her eyes twinkled with mischief as her fingers trailed down his shirt. Then she paused and cut a worried glance toward the front door. “Unless your roommate—”

“He’s been out until after midnight every night this month, practicing for the play they’re putting on next week. He’s been pulling double duty. Not only does he have a major acting role, but he’s helping build the set.”

The two pink spots on her cheeks brightened. “So…”

“So,” he repeated, his soul soaring with thoughts of all the fun they could have by themselves. “The only thing hampering us is this small-ass couch.” He began to kiss his way down her throat. “Someday, I swear, I’m going to get you on a real bed that’s at least a full size and—”

He cut himself off with a groan as her wandering little hand found him through his jeans.

“Damn.” He panted, leaning his forehead against her shoulder.

“As I recall, you liked this. Right?” When she gripped him through denim, he made a strangled sound of assent from the base of his throat. She chuckled. “That’s what I thought.”

While her fingers examined him through his clothes, he toyed with a piece of her hair, smelling it and then winding it around his fingers, trying not to think too hard about what she was doing because it felt so good.

It’d been too long.

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