Page 109 of Surviving Lies

He nodded as he started back toward his apartment. “Have fun,” he said as he waved.

I pulled away, headed back to my, or what used to be our, apartment to pick up the other two. I was quiet in the car, not sure if Lanie wanted to talk about anything. Last year, when she had her shit going on, she never wanted to talk. So I sat there and planned on taking her lead.

“Becca!” she yelled. “Why are you not saying anything?”

I looked over at her as I pulled into a spot in front of my place, ready to honk the horn.

“Don’t honk yet!” she screamed at me. “You can’t do this to me. Are you and Ty back together or not? I’ve been desperate to hear from you and you’ve been radio silent for two days.”

Ty and I went back to his apartment, knowing Macie was home, and spent the first twenty-four hours “making up” at his place. But then his roommates made it very obvious they could ... hear us.

So then we moved it over to my place for the next twenty-four hours. It wasn’t spententirelyhaving sex. We ate, we slept, we watched some TV. Maybe a show or two.

But yeah, we made up.

Suddenly, the back doors of my car flew open and Ava and Macie piled into the car.

“I don’t care that he has washboard abs, Mace. He is a manwhore, and you really should reconsider seeing him,” Ava was saying as she got in.

“Hi, guys,” Macie said sheepishly. “Sorry, it always seems like I’m hooking up with douchebags. Why do I always find the losers?” She folded her arms in disgust as I looked back at her in the rearview mirror and gave her the best sympathetic look I could muster up. “I did it again, Bec. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

“Standards,” Ava added. “Raise your standards. That’s all you need to do. Let’s take our friends Lanie and Becca, here.” She gestured toward the front seat. I wasn’t sure if I should start driving or not – had no idea where this was going. “These two both have fine young men that they are fucking. Loudly, I might add.”

Shit.

“Becca!” Lanie yelled again while slapping me on the arm.

“What? That’s what today was for. I was going to tell all of you the complete story,” I said. I gave Ava a dirty look as I spun around in my seat. “I did not tell them.”

“She didn’t have to,” Macie said. “We heard it all.” She giggled.

Ava laughed out loud. “Damn right, we did. I think I came right along with you a few times. Christ, those walls are thin.”

Oh my God, I was mortified. We had upped our spice game a bit once we got to my apartment. It may have involved some apparatus that used batteries.

“Shit, I had no idea you guys were home for most of that or could even hear us,” I whispered. “Well,” I said with more conviction, “that’s OK. Better to hear us fucking than fighting, right?”

All I could do was drive. So I did; I put the car in drive and drove.

“Bec, all good, kid,” Ava said. “Knowing you, you wouldnothave taken his ass back if he wasn’t worth it. I’m looking forward to hearing the story.”

All the while, Lanie sat in the passenger seat, quietly watching me. With a smile on her face. She reached out and gripped my hand, which was on the shifter.

“I’m happy for you, Bec. Happy for both of you.”

I nodded, a bit choked up and not wanting to cry.

“Me too. Thanks, Lane.”

“I don’t know anyone with a baby,” Macie said. “Well, I didn’t, but now I do. We don’t even have any young cousins in our family or anything.” She was thoughtful for a moment. “Have you met her, Becca?”

It was such an innocent question asked in an innocent way. But it hit me hard.

“Um, no, not yet.”

And that was all I could give them.

“Mace, they literally just made up. When would she have met her?” Ava asked.

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