Page 60 of Surviving Lies

Alone with the roses from the man I should probably be with.

The man I knew loved me but who was holding something back – a secret.

I reached into the stems and pulled out the tiny notecard. But it wasn’t a tiny notecard; rather, folded up inside the small envelope, was a piece of paper with a handwritten note.

To my beautiful Becca – You are like the butter in my popcorn, and the bubbles in my soda, you are the best of all the good in my life. The sun shines brighter with you by my side. I hope these flowers made you as happy as you make me. Yesterday goes down as one of my best days.

Ever.

I only hope you will let me continue to give you more best days ever.

You are my perfect.

Love – Ty

I admired the flowers; they were beautiful. Each color more vibrant than the next.

Yellow, red, pink, coral. They looked so pretty together.

I folded the note back up, returned it to the envelope, and tucked it prettily in the bouquet.

And then I burst into tears.

Chapter 17

Ty

“Hey, man, are you around tomorrow to help with the fundraiser?” Xander asked. I’d stopped at his place for a fraternity meeting. Apparently on the last Tuesday of each month, we needed to meet to organize the philanthropy events that were expected of us. But we didn’t mind, because it was just another excuse to get together and have a drink. I was playing a game of pool when Xander approached me.

“Sure, I can help out tomorrow. My classes are done by one. I’m open after that. Is it in the student union?” I took my shot as I was talking and really fucked up my game, the eight ball curving into a pocket. “Shit,” I mumbled.

Xander chuckled beside me and took the stick out of my hand. “You have no right to be playing this game, dude, not with a shot like that,” he scoffed at me. “And yeah, but it’s outside the union as long as the weather’s good. Miller and Evans should have a table set up long before that, so get there when you can to take over.” He pushed me out of the way and moved in on the table. “Now get out of here and let a real man take over.”

I didn’t mind. I was playing as a distraction, but it wasn’t working well. Working my way over to the couch, I squeezed between some guys playing video games. Maybe watching them play would take my mind to a better place. I reached out for one of the unopened beers on the table, twisting the cap, knowing I shouldn’t be drinking much more to drown out my sorrows.

It had been three days since I sent Becca the roses, and all I got in return was a thank-you text with a heart face.

Three days.

And I hadn’t even seen her on campus. I had hoped we would run into each other, giving me an excuse to talk to her, maybe ask to see her again. But no such luck. I didn’t want to seem desperate. I sent her the flowers. I kind of felt like the ball was in her court at the moment. But waiting for her to make the next move was driving me fucking insane.

Making the commitment to give her space after the day we spent together was hard to stick to. I mean, staying away from her after the mind-blowing sex we had was fucking impossible, especially knowing she was spending time with that asshole. We never discussed that night if we were even still doing the whole “space” thing anymore. I would think having sex would make that moot.

I jumped to my feet, too antsy to sit any longer. Heading back to the pool table, I waited out Xander’s game. He and an older guy, Nate, were in a duel at the moment, a fight to the end. A much better game than I had given my opponent.

Jake sidled up next to me without me hearing him. “You OK, dude? You seem out of it tonight.”

As we stood there together, we both watched Xander knock three balls in a row in their intended pockets, one ball away from winning.

“Eh, I’m OK, just got some shit on my mind.” I didn’t know if I wanted to talk girl crap with him. I wasn’t sure if our friendship was at that stage yet. Jake had driven me and our other roommate, Ben, here in his car. Seeing the beer in Jake’s hand told me we were going to have to find a different ride home later.

He threw a heavy arm around my shoulder and wrapped it around my neck. With his head so close, I caught the drift of his booze breath, a further sign of his level of intoxication. “Well, we’ve got some Sigma girls coming soon. I’m sure one of them can help get that shit off your mind, am I right?”

This was Jake’s favorite kind of night: drinks, buddies, and a plethora of girls to fawn over him. Because they always did. He wasthatguy. The one at the party who every girl had their eye on, trying to get upstairs. Well, it would have been Xander, had he not already committed himself to Lanie. But Jake was right up there with him. Not being one of those girls, I couldn’t exactly pinpoint what it was about guys like them that did it to the girls. But I was not in their league.

I pulled myself from Jake’s hold, shaking my head. “Yeah, I don’t think so, man.”

He shook his head as he pushed a pointed finger into my chest. Hard.

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