Sweet Little Lies (Dirty Little Lies Duet 2)

“What do you mean?” she asks, nibbling on a bite of cheese.

“You’re the last thing I expected. The one thing I shouldn’t have. The only thing I currently want.”

My comment pleases her. The way she bites her bottom lip into her mouth gives her away, and it does weird shit to me. I want to please her. Fuck, I want to do anything and everything to keep that rosy flush on her face.

“I’m glad you took a chance on me.”

My head tilts back and I shake with laughter. “I don’t think I had a choice, little bird. You’re very persuasive. A man can only take so much before he breaks.”

I bask in her smile and her rosy cheeks and baby blue eyes. I get lost in her mouth, watching her nibble on more cheese, and silently admit I enjoy having her in my home.

We continue with small conversation until time gets away from us.

“Shit, I gotta go. I have my roommate. And my dad, he’s gonna wake up soon.” She hops off my barstool, but I don’t make a move. If I touch her, I won’t trust myself to let her go. “Will I get to see you again while I’m home?”

My mood sours. I’ll be tied up all weekend with fucking work. “No,” is all I reply with. If I say any more, I’ll find myself explaining—and I don’t explain myself to anyone.

The disappointment in her eyes tears at my gut, but I keep a blank face. I drain my glass, needing distance. Needing time to figure out where my own damn head is at.

“Time to go,” I say, throwing dirt on the mood. I walk her to the door, refraining from kissing her. I know she wants me to, but it’s against my rules—the rules I’m not even following since I’ve already kissed those suckable lips more than I should have.

She doesn’t push the issue and leaves. As I watch her drive away, I think about how I can make this work long-term. All conclusions lead to me six feet under if it goes bad. It’s an impossible task without gutting my best friend. I’d end up in pieces at the bottom of a lake.HazelI jog up the stairs, avoiding Professor Geller’s stare for showing up to his lecture ten minutes late. Evan’s waving hand catches my attention. I squeeze through the row for the seat he saved.

“Hey, beautiful. How’s it goin’? Didn’t see you yet, so thought I’d save you from front row hell. Professor Gellar spits.”

My nose scrunches. “Ew.” I sit down and jam my backpack under the seat.

“Yeah, imagine having to learn the hard way.” He smiles wide, his perfect white teeth on display. I know Evan and I had an awkward start to our friendship with his unexpected advance at the party earlier in the semester. But I feel like a bit of a jerk for never returning to say goodbye after taking Gabriel’s call. He really seems to be a great guy, not to mention being easy on the eyes.

The instructor begins, and I pull out my notebook to take notes. Three minutes in, a folded piece of paper slides onto my desk. I peek at Evan, who’s pretending he’s way too into the lecture and didn’t just slip me the note. I roll my eyes, and I open it.

I think he just spit on the girl in green.

I look up at the front of the class, finding a girl in a green dress wiping at her notebook. My head whips to Evan, and I mouth, “No way!” He shrugs and goes back to pretending he’s taking notes. I laugh when I steal a peek at his notebook and see he’s drawing comic book characters.

Class carries on when another note lands on my desk. I smirk, opening it.

I think Professor Geller’s fly is open.

My eyes fly up to the front. Sure enough, it is. A chuckle slips from my lips. I cover my mouth and duck down. Stealing a peek at Evan, I shake my head. Oh my god, how embarrassing. Gathering myself, I try to focus on what he’s talking about, but another note lands on my desk. I turn to Evan and mouth, “Stop.” But I still open it.

You’re super hot when you laugh.

Rolling my eyes, I crumble up the note and throw it at him. He leans into me. “What? It’s true. Go out with me.”

“No,” I whisper, trying to pay attention to the front of class.

Evan leans farther over. “Why not? Do you have a boyfriend?”

No, I actually have a Master. I chuckle to myself, thinking how ridiculously crazy that sounds.

I’ve known Gabriel most of my life. I’ve always felt this pull toward him. It wasn’t always sexual, but as soon as I grew boobs and knew what sex was, I started categorizing them together. Gabriel just breathes sex. Power. All the things I would read about it in my mom’s silly romance novels. To learn his proclivities for sex wasn’t shocking. What worried me was being someone who could please him. He certainly was a control freak. I’ve eavesdropped on him and my dad’s conversations enough to know how ruthless he is. He’s cutthroat in every sense of the word. Sometimes I wondered if he had the bodies of his enemies buried in his backyard.