Page 56 of Liar
Right after Travis brought it up, I’d done a bit of research into Beacon Hills. It was definitely a place for the rich, with log cabins the size of huge houses and even private access to the giant lake resting in the middle of the retreat. Nature walks, even ziplining—this place had a bit of everything.
Not saying I wanted to zipline through the treetops, but I wouldn’t be opposed to it. My last getaway at a cabin had been…well, one of the worst days of my life. This time, I wanted everyone to have fun. I wanted to laugh, to play around, to love. I wanted to be able to be carefree and stress-free, and I really hoped that wasn’t too much to ask.
Declan entered the dorm room a few minutes later. “I picked us up some dinner,” he said, setting his backpack on his desk and unzipping it, pulling out two footlong sandwiches. “Hope you don’t mind.” He tossed me a tiny grin, those cute dimples making an appearance again.
God, I could seriously stare at those dimples all day.
“Ooh, gimme!” I sounded like a child, but I didn’t care. Random food was the best gift ever. I mean, the only thing that could’ve made it better would’ve been chicken nuggets. When Declan stepped over the suitcases and handed me the one he’d bought for me, I grinned. “Thank you, good sir. What did I ever do to deserve you?”
Declan let out a laugh. “I…can’t answer that question.”
He sat on his bed, turning on the TV for background noise as we ate. “Will is coming over tonight, I think.” Declan spoke with his mouth full, and sauce fell from his mouth. He’d gotten a meatball sub, heated up of course, so his sandwich’s heat had rubbed off on my footlong turkey.
I wasn’t complaining, though. Like I said, food equaled greatness.
“Probably to make sure I pack that bathing suit he bought me,” I said after swallowing. Granted, it wasn’t his money. It was the Briggs money, but now that Dean Briggs was gone, technically it was all Will’s and Declan’s.
“You know my brother doesn’t care about the money.”
Yeah, I knew that, which was why I jokingly said it. I also knew the reason why Will was coming over tonight—tonight would be the last night he’d have me alone, truly alone, for a little over a week.
As alone as I could be with Declan here, but it was clear the brothers didn’t mind sharing.
Hmm. Wonder if they could share me…
There was that time in the woods by their house. That was hot. I wouldn’t mind a little voyeurism, or if one of them wanted to join in while I was with the other… Again, I needed to stress how difficult it was to not be horny all of the time, with four sexy as hell boyfriends who would bend over backward just to make me happy.
“You’re lucky you have a brother that cares so much about you,” I told him. The television set played some old sitcom from ten years ago. It was too early for any new shows to be on, too early for the nightly news.
“Hey, I know it’s not the same, but you have more than one boyfriend who cares about you,” he reminded me. “Not every girl can say that.” A subtle joke, followed up by those damned dimples.
I looked at him, really looked at him. Declan had come into himself these last few months. He was bolder, stronger, worlds more confident than the closed-off boy he was when I first met him. This was who he was: passionate, caring, gentle. The best kind of lover a girl could have, frankly.
“Yeah, I guess I am pretty lucky,” I remarked, taking another bite of my sandwich. “Kind of wish we didn’t have to go through all that shit to get here, though.” I refused to let old memories surface; I’d been doing better. I would not fall back into that bottomless pit of despair.
“I can agree with that.”
By the time Will arrived, dinner had long settled in my stomach. Declan was at his desk, watching some video on YouTube with his headphones on, and I had to get up and answer the door. He’d given Declan a key to his place, but we weren’t allowed to make copies of ours, since we lived on campus. Every time we had to manually let him in, because we’d learned our lesson when it came to locked doors.
Locks wouldn’t keep everyone out, but they would slow them down, at least.
Will slipped off his shoes, joining me on my bed. He immediately pulled me onto his lap, and I let him, losing myself in the warm, steady way his arms curled around me. If there was one guy I knew I could depend on, it was Will. He was older than Declan, Sawyer, and Travis. Not by much, but I did think it mattered.
He was…probably the sanest out of my group, which was almost startling to think. Will held a quiet confidence the others simply didn’t have. A smoothness that maybe stemmed from how much he cared about Declan, how badly he just wanted to protect his younger brother. I bet it killed him every day he was away while Declan was being bullied.
“Are you ready for tomorrow?” I asked, my face against his chest. We reclined back, extending our legs. Never had I felt more comfortable in someone else’s arms. Will put me at ease.
“Of course,” he answered without a second thought, arms tightening around me, “more time I get to spend with you. Have we decided car arrangements yet?”
There was no way the five of us could shove ourselves into one car, so we’d have to take two. I figured I’d split my time between them. Ride with two of them on the way down, and the other two on the way up. I assumed Will and Declan would ride together, while Sawyer and Travis would make up the other car.
“I’m riding with you and Declan tomorrow,” I told him, causing him to smile.
His smiles were rare, but how earth-shattering they were.
“Good,” he spoke, reaching to give me a soft kiss. Just a quick peck, but I angled my face upward, pressing my mouth against his again, harder. I ran my tongue along his lower lip, and I was met with a low grown, along with a rumbling of his chest. When our mouths parted this time, Will managed to whisper, “Ash…”
A warning. A word of warning that if I continued to kiss him like this, we’d be doing other things soon enough.
