Page 21 of Liar
But it was better than the old me.
You know, the funniest thing happened as I walked to class. Not sure if I should say happened or what, but…maybe it was because of what happened last semester, because of everything that happened with her ex.
Anyway.
An uneasy feeling rose in my gut, and something nagged at me. I threw a look over my shoulder, feeling as if I wasn’t alone. Ha-ha, super funny, right? Well, I didn’t fucking mean it like that.
I felt like I was being watched.
Chapter Eight – Ash
How’s the drama with your boyfriends? read Kelsey’s text to me one Saturday morning. Declan was in the shower, and I was still in bed. My bed, for once, not his. Usually, on the nights we spent in the dorm room, we either slept in one bed or another. Very rarely was I ever alone in any bed anymore.
Shut. Up. I replied, grinning to myself. My phone’s brightness was all the way down, and I struggled to get up and start the day. Today Will had to take a trip to the Briggs house in Midpark. Will had to pay the bills and all that, since he was the master of the mansion now. Declan owned half of it, but he seemed content to let Will take the lead since he was older.
It was nice to be on speaking terms with Kelsey again. I hadn’t exactly told her everything—kept Ray to myself, along with the murder investigation he had dragged me into—but I did tell her all the drama with Sawyer and the others.
Every once in a while the police contacted me, asking if I’d heard anything from Ray or seen him, and every time I heard from them, I told them no. The last thing I wanted to do was call Markus back here; I didn’t want Travis to owe his family even more than he already did.
He’d told me his family already had plans for him for summer vacation, which frankly was a bummer. I’d been looking forward to spending my summer vacation with my boys, somewhere nice and warm, maybe. I didn’t like accepting charity if it wasn’t earned, but I wouldn’t be totally against a trip to the beach. Share a beach house or something. Kick my feet in the sand with the blue sky above me…maybe even get a tan.
Yeah, I was that desperate for some relaxation, I daydreamed about a tan.
Declan and I had plans with Will later today, but Travis would be on his way over. Will had been…acting a bit off lately. I knew he’d been through a lot, we all had, but I refused to let him wallow in his hatred for Sawyer. I wouldn’t let him become like Declan was last year, and I sure wouldn’t let him slip and drown in his anger.
No, I would keep my men afloat, and they, in turn, would keep me sane. An even exchange.
I was up and dressed by the time Declan got out of the bathroom, wearing nothing but jeans as he ran a towel over his hair, his muscles tensing. His abdomen had the faintest outline of abs, but he was nowhere near as defined as a certain someone else was.
Fuck.
No, I wasn’t supposed to think about Sawyer like that, and I sure as shit wasn’t supposed to compare him to any of my guys.
I texted Kelsey a few more times, finding it odd that she was up so early on a Saturday, as I brushed my teeth and did a bit of makeup. Maybe it was that Levi she’d been seeing. From what it sounded like, they were hot and cold—and they wouldn’t have it any other way. Could I ever be in a relationship that was like that? I didn’t know. I wasn’t the same as Kelsey. I needed steadiness.
I needed the opposite of Ray, actually. I needed calm and comfort, loving words with the occasional possessive hand. I needed daydreams, not nightmares and panic attacks.
Speaking of which, I hadn’t had one of those in a long time. It felt good to finally step out of Ray’s shadow, to breathe air I knew he wouldn’t touch.
My phone buzzed again, and I bent over the sink to spit out the toothpaste in my mouth, glancing at its screen. I assumed it was Kelsey, but I was wrong. So, so wrong. Another name hovered at the top of the glass, a name that shouldn’t have caused my heart to skip a beat.
Sawyer.
What the hell was he doing, texting me?
I put my toothbrush down, reaching for my phone and swiping it open, quickly reading his message—three times, actually—before the words sank in: Hey. Got any plans next Saturday?
Plans for next Saturday? As in a date? My mind immediately wandered there, but it shouldn’t have, because in another moment, another text popped up.
I want to cook you dinner. All of you.
Blinking, I stared at my phone in shock. All of us, meaning…
And yes, Ash, that means your boyfriends, too.
A grin spread on my face. For whatever reason, knowing Sawyer typed out the word boyfriends made me want to laugh. I bet he hated typing it, too. It gave me a sort of smug satisfaction, like, for once, I had a head over Sawyer. It was a feeling I could get high on, if I wasn’t careful.
Grabbing my phone, I left the bathroom. Declan was in the process of slipping on a shirt, and I practically pounced on him. “Guess what,” I said, angling my head up towards him, resting my chin on his chest.
