Page 54 of Surviving Lies

I snuggled in closer to her, thankful for her words of advice and her growing friendship.

“Well, you are the total package. Any guy would be lucky to have you,” I told her. And I meant it.

She guffawed. She actually guffawed.

“What?” I asked incredulously. “You sound like you don’t believe me.”

She didn’t answer but started sitting up, forcing me to pull away from her.

“Enough about me. Back to you. Ya know what you need to do, don’t you?” Ava asked.

“About what?” I asked, looking at her, awaiting her words of wisdom.

“Gage,” she said. “You need to fuck him.”

Chapter 16

Becca

“Hi, beautiful.” His voice always went straight to my nether regions. Like, straight between my legs. It never failed.

“Hi, Gage,” I said into the open door. My stomach did tiny flips when I saw him standing there. He came to the door to get me. Most guys just beeped. “Do you want to come in?” I moved to the side to let him in. “I just need a minute to get my stuff upstairs. Be right back. Macie and Ava are in the living room if you want to wait with them.”

He walked down the hall, and I took a second to watch him. This time, he had on a pair of gray sweatpants that clung tight to his ass. I hadn’t taken the opportunity to see how they looked on the other side. Did these guys not know what gray sweatpants do to us? Scratch that. I think they knew exactly what they do to us. He wore his long-sleeve shirt pushed up on his forearms, accentuating the veined muscles as his arms swayed at his side. I ran up the stairs two at a time, knowing that leaving him alone with Ava after our talk would be dangerous. As I bounded down the stairs, I could hear Gage’s deep rumble of a laugh. Rounding the corner of the hall, I found them all at the island. Gage looked up when I came in and gave me a wide smile.

“I got my wallet. Wasn’t sure what we’re doing tonight.”

He got up from the stool and stalked toward me in that way he does. My breath hitched as he got closer. He bent his mouth close to my ear before talking.

“My plan was to take you back to my place,” he whispered. “If that’s OK with you?”

I literally had to swallow around a lump in my throat and I was nervous it had been audible. Stealing a look at my roommates to see if they’d heard Gage’s plans for our night, I knew they had.

Macie’s eyes were wide with excitement for me while she tried to act nonchalant as she stepped down from her stool.

And Ava. The conspiratorial smile that came across her face as she walked past us up to her room was almost embarrassing. “Well, whatever you guys do, have fun. I’m heading up to do homework. I’m sure you will find something more exciting than that to do.” As she walked by, her finger jabbed me in the rib.

“I’m sure we will,” Gage responded. “See ya girls later.” But his eyes were on me. “Let’s get going.”

I wasn’t sure why he insisted on picking me up. He literally lived about three blocks from us. But he did. He pushed the door to his place open once he’d unlocked it, and he held it for me to enter first.

“After you,” he said.

I entered an alternate universe.

His townhouse appeared slightly different from the others in the neighborhood.

It didn’t have backpacks all over the entranceway or red solo cups scattered on the floors. There weren’t random bottles of half-drunk liquor left in various places around the room.

Rather, I felt as if I’d walked into a sleek NYC apartment. Somehow he made modern accessories work with the casual farmhouse furniture he picked out. The living room was a concoction of white and tan materials combined with silver metals in the lamps and chandeliers. It just ... worked.

“Oh my God, Gage. This place is gorgeous. And your couch is here!” I exclaimed. “It looks amazing. Did you design all of this? I never would have chosen these unique elements, but they work.” I meandered around the room, taking it all in, my hand dragging along shiny pieces on the sofa table.

He had a sofa table.

“Well, I helped pick out the stuff. I mean, you helped me, too. But my family sends in a company that puts it all together. It makes moving around as much as we do that much easier.” He had moved to his bar to pour himself a drink. “Would you like a drink, Becca?”

“No, thanks. I’m good.”

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