Beautiful Lies (Dark Secret Society 2)

“Sully, come on.” She patted my leg again. “We can’t stay in here all morning.”

“We can,” I mumbled.

“Sully…”

I remained silent.

“Sully…”

I pulled the blanket over my ear.

“Sully…”

“Go back to sleep until we get our next marching orders from the Elders,” I said.

“Come on,” she prodded, this time shoving my leg and sounding much less perky. “Get your hungover ass out of bed and come with me. If you don’t… I swear to God, I’ll walk out that door alone and risk ending this entire Initiation for us both. I’m not one to sit on my butt and do nothing.” She yanked the blanket and sheet off me with zero warning.

Her gasp would have made me laugh if I wasn’t so annoyed at having the bedding pulled away from my naked body. Clearly embarrassed as her face turned pink, she quickly turned her back to me.

“Get used to seeing me naked, Barbie. I sleep in the buff.”

She snapped her head over her shoulder and glared at me. “Don’t call me that.”

I shrugged as I kicked my legs off the side of the bed and stretched my arms above my head knowing any chance of going back to sleep was futile. “What would you like me to call you? I don’t even think I know your name.”

Jesus Christ. I fucked this woman and knew absolutely nothing about her other than she was an annoying morning person.

“Portia Collins,” she said as she walked over to the closet again. “I’m not your Barbie. I’m not your sweetie; I’m not your baby or darling, or any other demeaning pet name. Call me Portia or nothing at all.”

“Barbie suits you,” I said as I strode—unashamed of my nudity—toward her.

“Yeah, well… Asshole suits you too, but you don’t see me calling you that.”

She yanked a t-shirt off a hanger and then threw it in my direction. I could see my lack of clothing unsettled her. She avoided looking down at my cock which was on full display due to morning wood. She dug around in the nearby dresser and found a pair of gym shorts that were then thrown my way.

“Come on, get dressed. Your pudgy gut will thank me for the morning run,” she said with a smirk and a raise of an eyebrow.

I instantly tightened my stomach muscles. Pudgy? I had a fucking six pack and she knew it. But damn her for knocking me down a notch and making me feel slightly guilty for my heavy drinking and body neglect as of late. And it wasn’t like I could counter insult because this Portia girl was damn near perfect. Her body was tight, toned and curvy in all the right places. But seeing her dedication this morning to keep it that way, told me I had a long 109 days ahead of me.

“A quick run, and that’s it,” I agreed as I got dressed under watchful and impatient eyes.

“If that’s all you got in you,” she said with a shrug.

It was too early to banter with her. The morning cobwebs were thick, and my head still pounded. We could at least agree on one thing… fresh air was needed. This room already felt too small with the two of us in it.

We were out the door and running side by side down the avenue of oaks far quicker than my body was ready. Bourbon still oozed from my pores, and my pudgy gut threatened to puke what booze was still inside of it. This was about the last thing I wanted to do but giving Little Miss Fitness Queen the upper hand wasn’t an option either.

“Are we going to discuss last night, or just pretend I wasn’t balls deep inside of you?” I began, concentrating on not huffing and puffing after each word.

“You really can be an ass, you know,” she said, not sounding winded in the slightest. She even picked up the pace, which I begrudgingly matched.

“Why? Because I say it like it is?”

“Fine. What do you want to discuss?” she asked.

“I want to make sure you’re strong enough to handle this Initiation,” I said, ignoring the burning in my lungs.

“Are you?” she countered.

“I know what The Order of the Silver Ghost is all about. I don’t think you do. You have no idea what’s in store for us.”

“I didn’t come here thinking this was going to be some fairy tale. I sure as hell am not getting a Prince Charming, and I know it’s going to be ugly and hard. But my eye is on the prize, and I have no doubt I’m strong enough to do whatever it takes.”

“Why would you even put yourself through all this?” I asked as my legs seemed to wobble beneath me.

“Why would you?” she countered again.

“I have my reasons,” I said, not wanting to discuss my family or my sister. It was none of her business really, and her knowing had no importance on whether we passed the Trials or not.