Page 22 of A Lesson in Deceit
River patted the place next to him, scooting over. “We ordered for you.”
“Did you now?”
Grayson nodded. “Turkey club, no tomatoes, provolone cheese, and extra pickles.”
I squinted over at him.
He rolled his eyes, realizing he had forgotten something. “Oh right, we also got you a strawberry milkshake. Apologies if you thought we merely forgot,trouble.”
River placed his arm behind my neck, letting his fingers roam over my shoulder. “Riley is probably the least problematic human in existence.”
“Ah, thanks babe. I appreciate the sentiment.” I kissed his cheek.
Grayson stretched, raising his arms above his head. “Never said she was the bad kind of trouble. She’s probably the best kind.” He winked at me and I shot a glance over at River who smirked and rolled his eyes.
“Is this give Riley flirty compliments day? I’m not complaining, but I don’t know how much more of this love fest I can take.” I asked, smiling up at the waitress when she handed me my milkshake. She lingered a little longer than I would have liked, eyeing River like I wasn’t here before she turned to leave. He paid her no mind as he usually did whenever he caught theeye of an interested individual. I had lost count of how many people had openly propositioned him when I was two feet away.
“What made you late anyway?” River’s question had me pulling my eyes away from the waitress and back to him.
“Uh…I ran into your brother.” I shifted so my legs were thrown over his and my upper body was so close to him that I could smell his body wash.
Grayson choked on his water. “Excuse me?”
“My brother?” River’s eyes widened. “How did that happen?”
I let out a humorless laugh. “Let me preface by saying, he’s teaching my psychology class.”
River ran a finger over his bottom lip. “That makes sense, since he was bitching about teaching an undergrad course last night. I’m pretty sure I’ll never hear the end of this.” He balled his hand into a fist, laying his cheek against it. “Oh, man, how was your first class with mean Professor St. James?”
I pulled my milkshake closer to me, taking a long pull from the straw. “He was just the sweetest and a real teddy bear.” The sarcasm rolled off my tongue.
“And you ran into him later?” Grayson questioned.
I bit my bottom lip. “Yeah, I was minding my own business and he just assumed I was doing something wrong.” It wasn’t a lie. I hadn’t been doing anything against school policy. I couldn’t exactly tell them the specifics, not that even I knew what that was or what I was looking for, but that wasn’t the point.
“Did he say something to upset you?” River had turned my face so that I was looking directly at him. His fingers held my chin tight and his deep green eyes told me that his next action depended heavily on what I said next.
“Nothing I couldn’t handle. He’s just a trip, that’s all.”
He leaned in, tilting my chin up a little higher so he could brush his lips against mine. His next words were said right at my lips. “Would you like me to help you forget all about thattonight?” His other hand traveled up my leg and cupped my ass. “That little interaction will be a very distant memory when I’m buried inside of you.”
He pecked my lips, moving his kisses to my cheek and then down my neck. It took everything in me to stifle my moan. I looked over to see Grayson with his elbows on the table, fingers interlocked, and his head placed right on top, watching us with this look of appreciation on his face.
River moved his hand to my thigh, walking his fingers to the place between my legs. There was an odd war going on inside of me that was going to tell him to stop, but then there was another part of me—if I was being honest, it was the much bigger part—that wanted to see how long Grayson would sit there and watch. I couldn’t wrap my mind around why I wished there wasn’t a table between us, so that he could get closer.
The sound of a plate hitting the table had me practically jumping out of River’s embrace. The waitress was back with a less than pleasant look on her face. “Anything else?” Her voice was tight as if she was counting the seconds until she could be away from our public display of affection.
We shook our heads, and she was gone before I could even blink. I inhaled the smell of my sandwich, my stomach making a mean rumbling sound.
“Regardless of his sexy offer, you’re hanging out tonight,” Grayson said, swiping one of his fries through some ketchup and popping it into his mouth.
“Am I now?” I responded, playfully.
River took a sip of his drink. “Yes, Riley. We are going to relax after the first day of classes and watch movies, eat those tiny pretzels you like, and then I’m taking you to my room and fucking you until you can’t think straight and coming on my cock like a good girl.”
10
Riley
