Page 7 of Liar
I waited in my dorm room for a few moments, hoping that Sawyer had left before heading out and going to meet Will and Declan. Will had to get an apartment just off campus, since the school year was already in full-swing. That was fine though, because it meant privacy. He could’ve stayed in their house, but…Will didn’t want to live in that house alone. The house, I thought, only reminded him of his father. I couldn’t blame him for not wanting to be there more than he had to be.
It was okay. The place was literally right off campus, just two streets away, in the opposite direction as Sawyer’s house. And Will’s place was an actual apartment, not a house, surrounded by other apartments. It’d be a nice change of scenery.
As I walked to the apartment building, I swore at myself in my head. Shouldn’t have hugged him. Shouldn’t have touched him at all. Feeling his strong body against mine was…there were no words for it.
Bad, bad Ash. Keep yourself in check. Remember the fact that you are in three relationships right now. Yeah, three. You already have enough to deal with. The absolute last thing I needed right now was more dicks in the picture.
That’s what I told myself, anyway. Whether it was true was anyone’s guess.
Sawyer…I’d always felt something for him. I’d always liked him, even though I shouldn’t. Even when I hated his guts for the shit he pulled, I still crushed on him. Fuck. I should’ve known things wouldn’t be easy this semester. With Sawyer being back, things were on track to be complicated as hell.
I headed into the front doors of the apartment complex, heading straight to the elevator and hitting the third-floor button. All the while, I wrestled with my thoughts as the elevator took me up, trying to push down the emotions warring inside.
Damn. I’d have to tell them about it. If I kept my little meeting with Sawyer to myself, that was too much like lying. Too much like cheating. There would be no more lies between my guys and me, for the sake of my sanity. The good, the bad, everything had to be out in the open.
Hadn’t confronted Declan about his cutting yet, but I just hadn’t found the right time.
My feet took me to the door, and my fingers curled into a fist. I knocked.
It wasn’t but a moment later when the door opened, a dimpled, smiling Declan answering it. He wore light jeans that fit his slim frame, a white t-shirt without a single speck of a stain on it. His brown hair was shaggy and messy, his chocolatey eyes warming my gut up immediately. Such a kind, loving stare. I couldn’t even remember the times when we were just friends.
“Hey,” I said, immediately giddy as I stepped inside the apartment.
Will must’ve been in his bedroom in the back, because I didn’t see him when I walked in. The door was in the kitchen, the living room area directly to the left, where a hall sat. Just one bedroom and one bathroom, and a closet where the washing machine and dryer were. Everything in the place screamed modern and updated; it was a pretty place. I’d never be able to afford a place like this.
They had the heat cranked up in this place, and I worked to take off my hoodie. Declan took it from me, and then I had to untie my shoes. Felt weird walking around in shoes when Declan wasn’t. I bet Will wasn’t, either. I left my sneakers near the door, on a small rug, where two sets of shoes already were.
“Wow,” I said, glancing around the place as Declan went to hang my hoodie on the metal hanger screwed to the wall near the door. “You guys have been busy, huh?” I’d seen Declan early this morning, when my mom dropped me off. Pretending like we weren’t together even though we were was one of the hardest things I’d ever had to do. He left to come here while I unpacked and had to get my books.
Will…this would be the first time I’d seen Will in a while.
I saw no boxes in the living room or the kitchen; everything looked put away, like Will had been living here longer than the last twenty-four hours. He’d had to break his lease at his old place, but it was a necessary evil for him to come to Hillcrest.
“Oh, yeah, you know. Unpacking. So much fun,” Declan spoke with a smile, coming up behind me and wrapping his arms around me. He wore long sleeves, hiding the scar on his right wrist.
I closed my eyes and let out a sigh. Declan’s arms were firm in how they held me, comforting and warm. He tore off my beanie, tossing it to where our shoes sat before he buried his face in my hair. With my back against his lean chest, it was all too easy to lose myself in his presence.
“I bet,” I mused, grinning to myself. “I, for one, love packing and unpacking.”
“Only monsters love packing and unpacking,” he whispered, kissing my cheek before releasing me.
After he let me go, I gave him a wink before sauntering down the hall. I found Will in his bedroom. His bedroom was not nearly as clean and unpacked as the rest of the apartment was. His clothes still sat in boxes, and it looked like he was currently trying to hang some pictures on the wall.
He wore sleeves too, but unlike his brother, he had them pushed up to his elbows, allowing me to see the veins throbbing in those toned arms as he lifted a hammer and pounded a nail into the wall above his bed. His hair was a bit lighter than Declan’s, a bit shorter, to boot. Will was a handsome guy, anyone with eyes would notice.
I was glad he was here, at Hillcrest now. After everything that happened last semester, it didn’t feel right to have us at separate campuses. We needed to be together, all of us.
Sawyer…
No. I wouldn’t think about him right now.
Right now it was time to greet Will.
I waited until Will set down the hammer behind him, reaching for the canvas picture leaning near him on his bed. A black and white buffalo head. Simple, and definitely not something I’d ever see in the Briggs’s mansion in Midpark, but somehow it suited him. Different, but tough.
Moving to the side of the bed, I crawled on, reaching for the hammer. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a man look so sexy while using a hammer,” I remarked. Boxes of clothes sat on the floor near the open closet. His bed was a queen, so there was plenty of room for the both of us…and even Declan.
Will took his time lowering himself to the bed, no longer standing on it. He flipped to face me, giving me a small smile as he leaned closer to me, kissing me first before saying, “Only when using a hammer?”
