Page 111 of Surviving Lies

I stood watching him go for a moment longer than was necessary, then turned around. Gage was still standing at the top of the stairs to my building, leaning against the ledge near the door. As I walked up, I realized I was no longer cold, but now sweating in the sweatshirt Ty left me with. But there was no way I was taking it off. It made me feel like he was with me.

“Hi, Becca,” Gage said, his voice still as sultry as ever. He dressed rather casually for him in black sweats and a long-sleeve tee. His beard was longer than his typical five o’clock shadow, but still attractive.

Still fucking hot.

“Hi, Gage.” I tried to keep my voice neutral, no emotion. But I fear I failed.

He hurt me.

And even though I was fine with us no longer hanging out and “doing” what we were doing, he still lied and hurt me.

“I see you and Ty are back together.” He gestured toward the oval, where he had seen us, and our kiss.

And I heard something in his voice when he spoke. I didn’t think it was jealousy, but maybe a bit of longing. Longing for what Ty and I have, and what he wanted for himself, maybe.

“We are,” I said simply.

“I’m happy for you. I really am.”

And he sounded genuine. He stepped closer but kept a respectable distance between us. “I’m going inside. Let’s head in – it’s getting cold.” He walked to the door and held it for me, assuming I would follow him.

But I didn’t have a choice; my class started in five minutes. And he knew that. I walked through the open door, and he came in behind me. As we started down the hall, our steps fell in line, but we remained quiet.

Finally, he broke the silence.

“Becca,” he said, stopping and reaching out for my arm so I would stop as well. “I know you don’t have much time, but this won’t take long. I wanted to tell you I’m sorry and that I’m ...”

“Gage, it’s OK,” I said. “We were never supposed to be anything more than casual. We never talked about your life, and I never asked about it. It really is OK. I think we just both, well, it became something more than we thought it would at a time that didn’t work for either of us, right?”

He stared at me. Those dark, sultry eyes making me think back to the first moment I saw them when he pushed me up against the wall of Xander’s house that day back in August.

The day Ty crushed my heart.

And it needed someone to bandage it.

Gage did that.

He was my bandage.

But I needed to rip that bandage off and get rid of it. For good.

“He’s a good guy, Becca. I’m happy for you.” His somber tone struck me, spurring me to look at him after his kind words. He looked away when I did, his sad gaze focusing on something in the distance.

Well wishes. I would accept well wishes from him at this point.

“Thanks, Gage. I hope things work out for you in your life, I really do.”

I gave him one more moment of my time, our eyes finally connecting as he looked down at me. A small smile touched the corner of his mouth, and I turned and walked away.

Chapter 33

Becca

It was nice settling into our new normal. We were going to class. We were hanging out with friends. We were hanging out together. The only difference was every other weekend, Ty headed home to see Savannah. Ty and I made the decision that I would not go home with him just yet. We would decide together when I would be ready for that.

And I wasn’t entirely sure when that would be.

But for now, I was completely content with our “new normal.”

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