Page 15 of The Lies You Love
I hand my card to the waitress and she takes it, eager to flee the shitshow unfolding.
“Are we spilling secrets then?” I ask Auden, who blushes even further. “Should I tell the table how you are in bed?”
“No!” she snaps, eyes flaring.
Ramsey licks her lips. “Go on. Tell them,” she says to her friend.
My breaths come quicker. It needs to be defused. This is an out-of-body experience I myself brought to the table. “Can I talk to you outside?” I ask, letting my gaze plead with Auden.
“Anything you can say to her, you can say to both of us,” Ramsey interjects.
I take my card from the waitress and sign the receipt, tipping generously in hopes they let us back in the next time we show up. Standing, I offer my chair to Ramsey.
“I haven’t touched the burger,” I say. “There aren’t any condiments on it yet.”
Ramsey eyes me suspiciously. I know she likes burgers, and she hates ketchup like a psychopath.
I go on, “This is Griffin. He’s single and thinks you’re hot.” Another point in my column, I’m giving her someone she can use. “I’d like to talk to Auden alone for a moment.” She’s eyeing my meal and I know she’s hungry. She looks at Griffin, and yes, she’s hungry in both ways.
“It’s fine,” Auden says. “Eat. I want to talk to him alone.”
Ramsey looks peeved she’s been bested, but she sits in my chair.
“Don’t go far,” Ramsey barks after her friend. Auden rolls her eyes.
When Auden heads to the front, I grab her arm and lead her toward the side door instead. Grey is probably just arriving or is already watching from the full wall of windows in the front. When we get outside under the cover of horns and the bustle of a thriving city, I spin on her, cornering her against the brick wall and a dumpster.
“What the fuck are you thinking?”
She winces away from my tone. “You couldn’t even wave? Was last night that bad that you can’t introduce me to your friends?”
I exhale. “You can’t be serious. You told my friends I was below average in every way and you’re asking if I thought last night was bad?” I grit my teeth. “Let me ask you the same thing. Was it that bad?”
Auden looks away, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. From the side, she looks like some sort of surreal goddess, her small nose upturned just a bit on the tip and her full lips pillowing out from her chin. Her eyelashes flutter closed. She looks exhausted and beautiful. A combination that is only violently attractive because I know exactly why she’s tired and it makes my cock stiffen against the waistband of my jeans.
“You know nothing about last night was bad, and I’m just hurt you left.”
I look at her incredulously. “You left me first.”
“Because I have a life. A job. I didn’t want to wake you.” Auden turns to look at me and I’m stilled by the emotion I see in her eyes.
“You said you only do one-night stands because you want to avoid feelings and heartbreak.”
She nods shyly, clutching her purse to her side like I’m a robber. “What of it?”
“Tell me what you want from me? If you really believed that, wanted that, you wouldn’t have told your friend about last night. You wouldn’t have lied to my friends about the sex being bad. Last night would have been last night and today would have been a fresh start. You’re looking at me like you want to fuck me, and I know you do, so don’t lie. You’re hurt I didn’t introduce you to my friends, so this isn’t a one-night stand, Auden. What do you want?”
She swallows hard, and her thin, creamy neck beckons me. To kiss it, lick it, and every other inch of exposed skin—right here in this alley. I shouldn’t want her this way, this badly, because every second I’m in her presence I get even more tangled in this dangerous web.
“I guess I want another one-night stand,” she whispers.
I chuckle, shaking my head. “That’s what we’re calling it?”
“What would you call it?” she counters, bottom lip shaking, eyes filled with lust.
I grip the sides of her face and give in to my hunger. “A mess,” I growl.
Pressing my mouth against hers, I let myself take what I want. A mouth, I remind myself. It could be any mouth. This is just for a month. I can do this.
