Page 43 of Surviving Lies

Why wasn’t I prepared for it when Gage showed up, right in front of me?

“Hi, Becca,” he said in his sultry voice. How was it that his voice carried over all the noise? “Everything OK over here?” He looked between me and Ty, his eyes staying passive.

Ty backed away, I knew suddenly more on edge than he’d been. I didn’t want this to take an ugly turn between the two of them.

I didn’t need to say anything, though. Ty spoke up before I could.

“Yep, all good, Gage. Bec, I’ll see ya later. I’ll tell Lanie to come look for you.”

I looked at Ty to ascertain his mood before he walked away. But he wasn’t looking at me. His eyes were on Gage. The testosterone was pungent between the two of them. Gage had flipped his cap forward, his eyes looking out from under the brim. It darkened his eyes, making his stare appear almost deathly. Ty gave him a small grin and moved along.

“Gage.” I pulled him to look at me when I said his name. “What are you doing?” I was pissed. He was out of line.

“I was only making sure you were OK. Seemed like things were getting a bit heated over here,” he responded. But I knew that wasn’t it. He wanted to break up whatever it was he thought was going on between me and Ty.

“Or maybe you were a bit jealous watching me talk to him?”

Suddenly, Gage looked years younger than he was. The contrite look that overcame him, coupled with his clothes, suddenly made me realize maybe he wasn’t this sophisticated, grown-up man I thought he was. Maybe he had insecurities like the rest of us.

“I thought we just had a talk about everything going slow, and I’ve been watching you have a serious conversation with him in front of me. What the fuck, Becca?” He was angry but trying to keep his cool, his biting words coming through tight lips. “That doesn’t seem very slow to me.”

Well, it was withhimwe talked about things going slow; it had nothing to do with Ty. But I didn’t point that out to him.

“Oh, you mean when I walked right by you as you were being dry humped by three other girls? That time, is that the time you’re talking about?” I countered. I was not going down without a fight. He didn’t get to do this. “And not that it’s any of your business, but Ty and I went upstairs totalk.” My finger jabbed him in the chest for emphasis.

He grabbed a hold of my finger, working his hand into mine and bringing it to his side. I felt like my life was on repeat, because he dragged me to the stairs and up we went. He turned us into the first room we got to, the bathroom, and swung the door closed. Spinning me around and up against the door, his arms caged my head.

His eyes stared into mine as we both let out bated breaths. My pulse was rapid as his stare didn’t waver; there was a combination of angst from the argument and a bit of something else. His nose came close to mine, and he rubbed it along my cheek.

Fuck! What the hell was I doing? How in God’s name had I allowed myself to get into a situation where I was upstairs with two different guys within five minutes of each other?

“The wheels are turning in your head. Calm down,” he said. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be putting pressure like this on you.” He dropped his forehead to mine, his breaths regulating. “I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions.”

I wasn’t about to tell him about the kiss with Ty at this point; it wasn’t worth it. Nor was it his business. That was a truth I wasn’t willing to tell. I’d just continue hearing his apology.

“And those girls, they were nothing. Nothing like you, anyway.” His dark eyes were hooded when he pulled back. “I, uhm, don’t know what came over me, Becca. I really am sorry.” He had a sheepish look about him. “I feel like I stepped back in time, acting like I did when I was ...”

“My age,” I finished his sentence.

“I was nothing like you at your age. I was an immature asshole. Kind of how I acted today.” His arms were still surrounding my head, our faces close.

“Gage, listen. It’s OK; I get it. I was jealous when I saw you talking to those girls, so I can only imagine how you felt if you thought Ty and me were hooking up.” I held his face, needing him to hear my next words. “But if you don’t take me downstairs, like, now, everyone is going to think I not only hooked up with one but two guys!”

He had a silly grin on his face. “You’re jealous?”

“Oh my God, that’s all you got out of that? Please, let’s go downstairs, Gage.” I started pulling away and grabbed for the doorknob. He stilled my hand on the knob, and I turned to look at him, impatient. But he yanked me back and I fell into his arms.

“We can go downstairs if you promise me we’re good, and that we can see each other one night this week.” His boyish grin made me giggle as he bargained for my time.

“I think that can be arranged,” I said breathlessly as he pulled the door open behind us.

“Let’s get you back to your party,” he said as he guided me out the door and down the stairs. As we descended, he leaned into my ear and whispered, “The hard work on your halter top needs to be seen, and I’m glad to see it stayed up.” I turned to him on the last step to see his face. “I wasn’t planning on sharing you, Becca, but I also didn’t think it would bother me if I had to.”

He gestured with a raised eyebrow across the room.

At Ty.

Chapter 13

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