Page 14 of The Lies You Love
Griffin hits me on the shoulder. “You gonna answer the man? Who is it?”
I swallow hard, tasting the food I just consumed. “That’s ah, the reason we completed the scavenger hunt last night.” Also, the reason I’m so fucked up today, but that’s not for public consumption. “My grandma.”
Auden looks to Ramsey’s line of vision, and her terror mirrors mine. She leans over to her friend and whispers something in her ear. Not the man getting married. Not him. I know it’s what she said. Ramsey looks confused, but her gaze drifts to meet mine, and it’s the strangest feeling. I watch her near-constant, but she’s never seen me. I’m a shadow. A figment of a man she might have passed on the street. She doesn’t know I can mimic her orgasm cry or that I know her favorite foods or her schedule. Ramsey doesn’t know I know her more than any other person on the planet, and that makes this uncomfortable. I look away quickly, trying and failing to come up with a plan to deflect this. It changes everything if our lives intermingle. She’s the woman I’ve sworn to protect.
I ignore everything around me as the buzzing adrenaline forces me into work mode. I know my friends are asking questions, and I can see the confusion in Auden’s eyes, but I don’t make a move. I stay shocked, silent, and still ruminating in my bad decisions. Auden’s forehead crinkles as she waits for something, but a waitress comes up and seats them on the other side of the restaurant. Behind me. Away from us. I exhale a pent-up breath.
“You’re not going to introduce us? It was that bad?”
No, it was that good.
I take another bite, but I can’t taste anything. It’s autopilot. “It might be weird.”
“Which one is it? They’re both hot,” Griffin says.
“The blonde one,” I say, purposefully being elusive.
Griffin chokes on a sip of Bloody Mary. “The brunette is headed your way right now.”
Ramsey. Ramsey. I wonder where Grey is, and if he’s watching this unfold, or if he’s just listening. If he’s watching, he’s in a panic, knowing everything about our job is going to change. If she knows who I am, the levels of lurking change. If we move her to another city or town, she’ll recognize me. The excuses and lies will multiply and that makes this life complicated.
I turn in my chair to meet Ramsey’s angry gaze. Leaning over to peer around her, I see Auden shaking her head, covering her face with her hands. “I’m giving you twenty seconds to get over there and redo that entrance, introduce her to your friends, and offer to buy the woman lunch. Do you hear me?”
It’s odd seeing her up close. I know she’s real. She’s my fucking life. I don’t see her like this. The interaction makes my stomach flip.
“Is that what she wants?” I ask, keeping my tone sarcastic.
Ramsey leans in and I can smell her perfume. Another weird sensation washes over me. I know what the bottle looks like and the name of the scent, but I’ve never been close enough to smell it. I hate it. My granny, the real one, wears something similar. “You fucked her in every position in the Kama Sutra and you’re wondering if you owe her lunch? What kind of piece of shit are you?”
Griffin chuckles, and Ronan is doing his best to try to ignore us. The other men are too far away to hear what she’s said.
“We already spoke our peace this morning. It was a mutually beneficial night. Our tab is settled.” It’s a dick thing to say.
Ramsey rears back and smacks me across the face. It will leave a red imprint and the stinging forces a little pride. I smile, and she mistakes it for asshole, so she smacks the other side of the face. A little less hard because it’s her left hand. “Why does the first man she actually shows interest in have to be a fucking player?”
Now everyone is watching, and the waitstaff is arguing about who is going to kick Ramsey out. If there is a God in heaven, please let Grey be in the apartment. I would be. A lunch with Auden is a normal occurrence, not something that needs kid gloves.
Auden rushes to the table, laying a hand on Ramsey. “What are you doing? They’re kicking us out!” Her voice is a hushed, embarrassed whisper. “I told you to leave it alone. It doesn’t matter.”
Ramsey turns to Auden. “It matters. Men can’t just toy with emotions like that. Did you, or did you not say this was more than a normal night?”
Auden’s cheeks flush red as she lets her gaze flit around the table. “This is not the place, Rams. Please let’s go. You’re making a fool out of yourself. Out of me.”
I can’t meet Auden’s eyes because this is so painful. Ramsey has a hot head every once in a while, but this isn’t something I ever expected from her.
“He thinks because he’s good-looking he can treat you like this.”
Auden looks down. “I was mistaken, Ramsey, it wasn’t more than normal. It was normal.”
Griffin, enjoying this completely, adds, “Are you saying he’s just average in the sack? I’ve been wondering, but it seems we have a firsthand participant.”
The waitress brings our check and asks us to leave.
“Oh, fuck off, Griff,” I say. Ronan laughs.
“He’s below average,” Auden hisses. “In almost every way.”
It looks like she regrets her word choice, but she doesn’t take it back.
