Page 55 of Sweet Little Lies
It’s from Dodi, the guy I met at the bar the night of Alex’s going away party. The guy that gave me the heebie-jeebies. It says:Got what you need.
My brow furrows, because it’s just an odd text. Lance’s thumbs fly with a quick response, which I don’t see because I’ve taken a short step back from him.
A million questions run through my mind, but I don’t know if I should ask them. Maybe I completely misread Dodi and disliked him without giving him much more than a cursory glance. Maybe I was projecting my own uneasiness that night onto the way I caught him staring at me a few times.
Whatever the case, I decide I’ll bring it up casually, just as Lance turns around to see me standing behind him.
“Hey baby. I didn’t know you were there,” he says with a smile, slipping his phone in his back pocket and picking me up like I weigh nothing. “God I’ve missed you.”
He kisses me solidly on the lips and my toes tingle from the perfect way his mouth fits to mine. I giggle a little and sling my arms around his neck as he continues to pepper kisses all over my face.
“It’s only been a day since I saw you.”
He growls into my ear. “That’s one day too long for me.”
Setting me down on my feet, he takes my bag from my shoulder and hoists it up on his, lacing his fingers through mine as we casually stroll down the hall of the building. Other students and faculty filter through the corridor, some giving us smiles and glances, others nodding their heads at Lance because they know who he is.
In fact, his face is plastered on huge banners, along with his other teammates, littering the exterior building facades in preparation for the basketball season to start. The excitement for this year’s potential is palpable, and although we’re cocooned and sheltered on school grounds from the general public, I’ve seen and read articles online about Lance and his team.
Just recently I mentioned to Lance that I saw something related to his heroics this summer when he saved Alvaro. He laughed and shrugged it off as if it meant nothing, but added, “At least they picked up on something virtuous. Good thing they didn’t dig deeper.”
At the time I thought it was such an odd comment because I couldn’t possibly understand what dirt they would find on him. He’s the perfect boyfriend, student and ball player.
Unless he’s hiding something from me.
I shake it off, but the general uneasiness remains.
