Page 23 of Loving Lies (Granton University 3)

Oh, hell, he just wanted to hold her hand for nothing other than the pure pleasure of holding her hand. Should that affect her as intensely as it was affecting her?

“I like your TMI,” he murmured. “Can you give me some more, please?”

Breathless and a little dizzy by the fact that someone—and a superhot male someone at that—actually enjoyed her bumbling, stupid-gene ways, she blew out a strained breath. “Well, there is one thing I’ve always wanted to unload on someone.”

He arched interested eyebrows. “Really? Do tell.”

She nodded. “Yeah. It’s about Bailey, actually. She was riding in the car with her mom when they got into an accident, and I guess she was trapped for a really long time before help finally arrived. I think…I think she was forced to see her mom die an awful, gruesome, painful death. She might’ve even died slowly.” Gulping, she glanced away. When Jonah’s fingers tightened on hers as if offering her support, she sent him a small, appreciative smile.

“The thing is, Bailey was seven when her mom died. And I was five when my mom died. But I have memory upon memory of my mother. Bailey is completely blank when it comes to hers. I think the accident was so traumatic she’s just blocked it out completely. She blocked her mother completely. Her dad didn’t want her to suffer unduly, so he told her her mom died when she was young, like two or three years old. She has no idea she was there when it happened. And I—”

Tess focused on the strong masculine hand holding hers. “It really bothers me that I have to keep that from her. I mean, Bailey is my absolute best friend on earth. We have no secrets from each other. Except this. But her dad doesn’t want her know; he’s too afraid of what it’ll do to her. And with good reason. She was a complete zombie for months after it happened. I was afraid she’d never be the same again. If she knew, she might have a major setback.”

“So, you knew her back then?”

“Oh, we’ve known each other since birth. Our mothers were best friends and got pregnant with us at about the same time. I think Bailey and I have been mandatory companions since the womb. But that’s okay. I love her to death. And she shows it in different ways, but I know I’m one of the most important people in her life, too.”

“I can tell how close you guys are.” Jonah drew her hand to his mouth and lightly kissed the backs of her fingers. “I think you’ve told me more about her than you have about yourself.”

Tess sputtered, realizing she had. “Geez, I’m sorry. I just—” God, she was going to blush the entire night away, wasn’t she? “Sometimes, I feel like we’re an—I don’t know, an extension of each other. No matter how irritated we may get with each other, we always stick together.”

“As all best friends do,” he murmured, a sad far-away look on his face.

“You sound like you know exactly what I’m talking about,” Tess said. “Do you have a friend like that too?”

He blinked and focused on her, his skin suddenly ashen. “I don’t…” Glancing away as if ashamed, he mumbled, “I don’t know.”

“Oh my God.” Tess gasped. Smacking herself in the forehead, she said, “I am so sorry. For a minute, I totally forgot about your amnesia. It really was like we were getting to know each other for the first time.”

His smile was small as he studied her face. “Let me guess. We never opened up like this before the coma, did we?”

Now Tess had to glance away. The lies ate at her stomach like acid. “No,” she said quietly. “We never did get this deep into personal conversation before.” Because they’d never gotten into a conversation at all.

His eyes held hers as if he regretted that, as if he wanted to take their talk even deeper, make it more personal. Then he flushed slightly and gave a small laugh. “There I go again, breaking the rules of our pretend first meeting. I’m sorry.”

She shook her head. “No. Don’t apologize. You made the rules; you’re allowed to break them if you want to.”

Yet she hoped and prayed he didn’t. She liked how this first-meeting discussion was going. And she especially liked that she didn’t have to lie so much this way.

“No,” he murmured. “I don’t want to break the rules quite yet. I like learning about you.”

Warmth stole through her. “Now I feel guilty about hogging all the conversation and centering it around myself.”

“Don’t feel guilty. I like this.” His words were so soft and sincere; she had no idea how to respond.

So, they just studied each other, a content silence filling the room until he smiled. She couldn’t help it, she smiled back. She wasn’t sure what they were smiling about, but she couldn’t seem to stop. She just felt…happy. And he seemed to share the joy.

She bit her lip, and his grin spread. Dear God, he knew exactly what he was doing to her, and it tickled him. Tess rolled her eyes to let him know he was getting a little too cocky. In return, he gave a low chuckle.

“You are so God damn adorable,” he murmured, lifting her knuckles to his mouth to kiss them a third time.

Absolutely glowing under his compliment, Tess shook her head. “And you are too handsome for your own good.”

Smile spreading, he used his grip on her hand to tug her just a little bit closer. “You keep telling me how good I look.”

Cheeks burning hot, she smirked before bashfully admitting, “Well, yeah. Have you seen yourself lately?”

He looked thoughtful for a second before saying, “Actually, no. I haven’t. I’ve been too afraid to

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