Page 39 of Surviving Lies

“Hi, girls. Looks like it’s pretty full back there. Sorry ’bout that. But if I let you get back there, we might get pulled over. I can either come back for you or you can get in the cab with me.” The twinkle in his eye and the smile on his face told me he was not upset with this option.

I looked at Lanie and shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t want to wait for him to have to come back, so let’s just get in,” I said.

We nodded in agreement and she opened the door. I intentionally did not look at the back of the truck; I didn’t need to see Ty and how he felt about this development. Lanie was standing there, holding the door for me to get in first, which made sense. I should be the one to sit closest to Gage.

Once I slid across the bench seat, I got a look at Gage. He was dressed in faded jeans that looked years old and a school T-shirt that looked equally aged. Just like the night before, he looked so much younger than when in his expensive dress clothes. A nice touch today was a pair of worn work boots and a backward cap on his head.

He looked hot.

“You’re really working to fit in with the crowd today, huh?” I asked, the sarcasm dripping from my words.

“Have you been to Mid Street? No way I’m wearing anything nice to that place,” he said as his eyes fixated on my outfit, or lack of one. “Fuck, Becca.” His mouth came close to my ear, I assumed to prevent Lanie from hearing him. “You look amazing. What I’d really like to do is say, ‘Fuck Mid Street,’ and take you back to my place right now.”

I peeked down at my self-created halter top, which was doing a pretty good job of holding the boobs in place, and my little white shorts. I knew when I stood they were short, like, really short. But like I’d always said, these were the years to flaunt what ya had. They wouldn’t be around forever.

Gage’s hand landed on my thigh after he put the truck in gear. He slid it up higher as the truck jerked forward, his fingertips between my two legs, working dangerously close to the hem of my shorts. With Lanie basically sitting on top of me, I knew I should stop him, but I didn’t want to. I stole a glance at Gage as he turned to look at me. The heat in his gaze went straight to my core, forcing me to rub my thighs together. His grip tightened on my thigh, feeling the contraction of my muscles, knowing what I was doing. A low groan came from his side of the cab.

“All right you two, you know I’m here, right?” Lanie blurted out.

I turned to look at her at the same time I pushed Gage’s hand from my leg.

Gage let out a cackle.

My face got hot.

Lanie leaned toward me, trying to whisper. “Didn’t you just tell me last night he suggested you take things slower?” Her eyebrows lifted in question as I stared at her.

Gage was the one to answer. “Lanie’s right. I did, but Becca never really gave me an answer.” He was leaning against the door, further away from me now, with a sly smile on his face. The hand that was once about to be inside my shorts now firmly gripped the steering wheel. “But Lanie, you have to admit, she looks hot. What am I supposed to do when she’s sitting this close to me?” His bright white smile shone at both of us as we looked his way.

“She is hot, Gage. And guess who else has taken notice?” Lanie said with some concern in her voice. She was sitting with her back against her door, sideways, facing me, because it was tight with the three of us. That afforded her a view of the bed of the truck – a view of the people in the bed of the truck.

And that was when I froze. Stock still in my seat, facing forward, arms crossed. The lump in my throat made it hard to swallow. I knew I was going to be with both of them today; I’d dressed for it.

But I also knew how seeing Ty with Kayla made me feel. This had to be so hard for him, seeing me up here, basically sitting on top of Gage.

“Is Ty watching us, Lane?” I asked, robotically. My mind felt that if I stopped moving altogether, he would lose interest and look away.

“He hasn’t taken his eyes off of you, Becca,” she said.

OK, that was OK. Because from where he was, there was no way he could see over my shoulders and what Gage’s hand was doing moments ago.

But it also shouldn’t matter, right? I was free to do what I wanted, yet I didn’t feel free most of the time. The tether attaching me and Ty, it was frayed, but it was still attached; I knew that deep down.

I composed myself, my breaths returned to normal, and I chanced a look at Gage. He was facing forward, driving, wearing an unreadable look.

“Let’s try to keep today uncomplicated, if we can,” I said in his direction softly. “Let’s all just have fun at the first tailgate and football game!” Hoping my enthusiastic attitude might improve my mood, I started hyping myself up.

“Hey, Becca,” Gage started, “just remember, I’m not here for complicated. As soon as it gets to be too much for you, just say the word.” He reached out and grabbed my hand, squeezing it. “I want to have fun with you, make your life better while we’re together.” He gave me a smile, but not his typical thousand-watt smile; this one was more controlled, as if forced, as he continued talking. “You’re right. Let’s have fun today. Get drunk!”

Hmm, mixing alcohol with me and these two. A bad recipe.

“Lanie! You barely cut any material off of your shirt! You need to show that killer body of yours!” Ava screamed over the music.

At least it wasn’t me saying it to her. She heard it enough from me, the comments about the conservative way she dressed all the time. Her loose jeans and sweatshirts hid her curves. But I knew why.

“Xander knows what’s under here; that’s all that matters,” she replied. She motioned to the bit of belly that was showing from the midriff shirt she made.

“Ooh, is he the jealous type? Is that why?” Macie asked, genuinely curious. They didn’t know Xander well, nor much about what the two of them went through last year with her ex, Max. Lanie was pretty close-lipped about it with them, so I hadn’t talked about it much.

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