Page 16 of A Lesson in Deceit
GRAYSON
Not at all.
If I knew my boyfriend at all, he was right there making sure Grayson said all the right things.
I’m sure your night would have been very dull with me there.
GRAYSON
I think you underestimate how much we both enjoy your company.
Even though he wasn’t here to say that in front of me, something about that particular statement felt odd. Not in a bad way, but different than all the other times Grayson had jokingly flirted with me out in the open.
GRAYSON
Alas I suppose I’ll entertain your boyfriend without you.
You both are ridiculously needy and should acquire more friends.
GRAYSON
I resent that, gorgeous. This is River
I let out a sharp laugh, covering my mouth and looking over to make sure Corrin didn’t wake up.
Goodnight, I still need to call my mom. Just pretend I’m there and I’m sure you’ll make it through.
GRAYSON
Believe me, trouble, we do.
I rubbed my hand down my face, swiping through my apps to get back to calling my mom. I would give her the rundown on how I was and my classes. I would let her know I missed her. Once I was off the phone, I would pull up the school map and the school administration, setting up a plan on how I was going to get this done.
Before I hit the call button, I went to my photos. I found my favorite picture of me and my dad and lightly traced his face with the tip of my finger, careful not to swipe the picture away. We had taken a tiny mini in-state family trip to the San Diego Zoo. My mom had gotten car sick, so she’d stayed in the hotel room while my dad and I explored the animals. I had a snack in hand, and he had asked one of the staff members to take a picture for us, whispering to me:mom will be so jealous of us.
After that trip, I had begged my parents to let me have a lion cub as a pet, which was immediately turned down. I rallied and then asked for a dog. Mom had said no, but my dad was always on the fence. He ultimately sided with his wife. I think that was what made my mom more open to letting Beau into our family, although I hadn’t given her much of a choice anyway.
My dad should have come home to me and mom. He should be here, right now, doing the job he loved. The feeling that always motivated me to keep going was raging and my only option was to feed it, hoping it worked out in the end.
6
River
“Did you send the girlfriend a good morning text?” Grayson inquired, biting into his breakfast burrito he’d woken up early to go pick up. It was from our favorite local place that was highly underrated.
I dipped my hand inside the greasy brown bag and pulled out the one he’d gotten me, nodding. “Of course I did.”
“If you would have been more persistent, she would have slept here last night, and we couldallbe headed to school on the first day.” He wagged his burrito in my direction, as if he was scolding me.
“She wants to get accustomed to campus life. Who am I to stop her, hmm?”
Grayson shoved the rest of his food in his mouth. “You can be quite persuasive when you want.”
I smirked over at him. “True. We both know you just wanted her here so you could attempt to jump into my bed and cuddle with us.” I started to open my mouth, about to take a bite of my burrito when I noticed him leaning against my kitchen counter, crossing his arms over his chest.
His deep brown eyes sparkled with that flirty mischief that I knew so well. We had been best friends for as long as I could remember and at some point, during high school, our relationship shifted. Grayson had always been so open about his bisexuality, and I’d admired him for it. I did have the inkling for a fleeting moment that I was bisexual, and I’d kissed him, which shocked both of us one night while we hung out.
He didn’t push me away, but he’d simply asked me how I felt about it. I had enjoyed it but knew there was still something gnawing at me. Simply saying that I was bisexual wasn’t accurate, and I would be lying to myself if I thought otherwise. I’d still been struggling, trying to figure myself out, and Grayson had been the one to remind me that I didn’t need to label myself if I didn’t know or if I wasn’t ready.
