Simple Lies Read online

  My lips crushed against hers, moving fast and ferociously. My carnal desire took over and I had to make her mine in every sense of the meaning. I pushed her back so I could stand, and then I quickly brought my lips back down on hers as I pulled her through the sea of people, towards the bathrooms. Once inside, I locked the door behind us, and then slammed her against the closest wall. My lips touched every exposed inch of her skin above her breasts. Everything inside of me was telling me to just rip her clothing from her body, but I knew we would eventually have to leave the confines of this restroom, and I wouldn’t allow others to see her like that.

  As my lips sought out hers, my hand fell to her exposed thigh, as I slid it up her tiny scrap of a skirt. As my fingers grazed the thin fabric of her panties, I could feel just how wet I was making her, and it made me painfully hard. I pushed her hands above her head, holding them in place so she couldn’t get away from me. Before she could protest, I ripped the thin silk from her body, and secretly stashed them in my pocket. My thumb circled her wet hardened nub, and with every touch, her body would shudder beneath me. Small moans escaped between her lips as I let my tongue trace her lower lip, before pulling it into my mouth and biting it, gently.

  I slid one finger at a time in and out of her, and before I knew it, her walls were tightening around them. Before she could succumb to the pleasure that was threatening to take over, I quickly removed my fingers, and while looking directly into her beautiful blue eyes, I stuck them into my mouth and sucked the remnants of her wetness from them. As I was busy enjoying the taste of her, she was busy making quick work of unbuttoning my pants. As she unbuttoned the top button, my erection sprang free and I couldn’t help but smile as she looked down at what was about to fill her.

  When she glanced up, urgency had taken over her expression, and I for one, wasn’t the type to deny a woman what she craved. I reached down, pulling her up to wrap her legs tightly around my waist before I slowly started to lower her onto my hardened length. Her insides stretched to fit around my girth, and our breathing matched one another’s as we adjusted to the feeling. When she was full of nothing but me, I gripped her ass and began to move her up and down my cock, starting out slow, but quickly working up to earth shattering speeds. She bounced on my cock over and over, and it took everything inside of me not to cum right then and there. I didn’t want to be that guy, so I tried to slow her to a more bearable pace.

  With a few more pumps inside her, I could feel her walls tightening around me, and there was no way I could hold on any longer. I slipped in and out of her a few more times, and then we both rode out the wave of ecstasy together. My head fell to her shoulder in exhaustion, and I could feel every ounce of me pouring inside of her. That was also the moment I realized I hadn’t put on a condom.

  “Fuck.” I whispered.

  “What?” She breathed.

  Our breathing was erratic, and I was finding it hard to catch my breath long enough to explain to her what was going on, so I just held up a finger telling her to give me a second. I lowered her to the ground as slowly as I could, trying not to hurt her. Once I fully pulled out of her, I made my way over to the sink and grabbed her a few paper towels to clean herself up with. She smiled at the small gesture, and I smiled in return. I wiped myself up and pulled my pants on before turning to her. I was about to open my mouth and tell her, but I stopped in awe. Even with her just fucked hair, skewed makeup, and shirt pulled to the side, she still managed to look absolutely radiant.

  She cleared her throat, and I realized that I was just standing there staring at her like a pervert. “Sorry. Hey, I forgot to put on a condom in all the…well…you know.” She let out a small laugh, and I laughed along with her, not expecting this reaction at all.

  “It’s okay. I’m on the pill.”

  “Oh, thank god.” I pushed my hands back through my hair, and started to walk back towards her. Something about her was pulling me to her. I couldn’t explain it, but I needed to be near her. I lightly pressed my lips against her cheek, and then pulled back to look into her eyes. “So…can I get your number?”

  I could see her hesitation again, but she still said yes.

  I helped her get herself together, and then I walked her back out into the bar. I could tell it was getting close to closing time, because the crowd had started to thin out a bit. “You want me to give you a ride home?”

  “No, that’s okay. I’m just gonna catch a cab. I’m close anyway. I’ll see ya.” She pressed a chaste kiss to my cheek, and then she was gone. And just like that, my night had turned into one I wouldn’t soon forget.

  FIVE

  Hadley

  “Turn it off.” I clamped my pillow over my head as the high-pitched distinct ringing of a cell phone, pierced my eardrums. When it continued, I proceeded to shout louder. “OH.MY.GOD. MAKE IT STOP!” I sat up, ready to begin my assault on my roommate with my pillow in hand, but immediately dropped the pillow and clutched my head as the pounding hit my brain full force. That was also the exact moment I realized my roommate wasn’t even here, and it was my phone that was ringing so obnoxiously.

  I rolled my eyes at the annoying sound, but instantly regretted doing so. It would seem that my eyes, along with every other fiber of my being, was painstakingly hung over. I reached for my phone, and begrudgingly answered it.

  “Hello?” I croaked out before reaching for a half empty bottle of water on my nightstand, and emptying the rest of its contents into my mouth.

  “Hadley?” Concern laced Ryan’s words, and I was suddenly very much alert, as flashes of last night crept into my thoughts.

  “Ryan?”

  “You sound…odd. You okay?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine.” I lied. “What’s going on? Why are you calling so early?”

  “Hads, it’s almost noon.”

  I pulled the phone away from my ear in disbelief and checked the time. Sure as shit, it was five til. “Oh.” Was all I managed to respond.

  “Are you sure you’re okay?”

  As much as I didn’t feel like lying to him, I really didn’t feel like dealing with the barrage of questions that he was throwing at me while already dealing with a heard of tap-dancing elephants, so I caved. “I went out with PJ last night, and I drank far more alcohol than one should consume in one night.”

  “You went out with PJ last night?” I could hear the disapproval in his tone.

  Here we go. “That’s what I said.” I didn’t mean for it to sound snarky, but my head was killing me, and his tone of voice was really starting to grate on my nerves.

  “Why are you being such a…”

  “Say it, Ryan. I know you want to.” Ryan was never fond of me drinking, and he was even less fond of PJ. I wasn’t quite sure why he didn’t like PJ, and he never really gave me a good answer, but every time we hung out with her, or I said I was going to hang out with her, he got an attitude. It was irritating, even more so now that we weren’t together. “Look, Ryan you broke up with me, not the other way around, so you don’t get a say so in anything I do or who I hang out with. Why are you calling me?” Judging by the brief moment of silence on the other end, I could tell he wasn’t expecting my harsh response.

  “I was wondering if you wanted to get together for lunch or coffee, or something. I just want to talk to you.”

  I rummaged through my nightstand drawer for some painkillers to try and get rid of this intense hangover, but I stopped as soon as he stopped speaking. As much as I wanted to meet up with him, I knew that I would just fall right back into our same pattern all over again. I grabbed the bottle, grabbed four small brown pills, and downed them with the new bottle of water I pulled from the mini fridge. I was stalling, and I knew he knew it.

  “Yeah…I guess we could meet for coffee. You cool with going to Joe’s?”

  “Yeah. I’ll see ya in fifteen?”

  “Sure.” I hung up the phone and frantically started making myself presentable, or at least as presentable as I could manage with a h
angover the size of Texas.

  I pulled on my favorite pair of jeans and a tight white t-shirt, and then walked over to the mirror to assess the situation that was going on with my face and hair. I cringed as I looked at the mountain of ratted hair that sat on top of my head and the smeared mascara below my eyes. I quickly grabbed my brush and a Q-tip and went to work at making myself look the opposite of how I felt. A few minutes later, I slipped my feet into my flip-flops, grabbed my aviator sunglasses, and headed out.

  The sun and humidity hit me like a slap to the face, and I instantly regretted agreeing to this meeting. Joe’s was only a short walk from campus, and I was silently praying that I would make it there before he did. Unfortunately, I wasn’t that lucky today. As soon as I turned the corner, his gorgeous self came into clear view. He was wearing my favorite baby blue t-shirt of his, it was just tight enough to show off all his hard work that he had been putting in at the gym, but not too tight to where he looked like a douche. Add in a pair of black cargo shorts, and a pair of flip-flops, and damn he looked good. As I made my way closer to him, I wiped away the imaginary drool from the corner of my mouth, and plastered a fake wide smile on just as he stood to hug me.

  “Hey Hads. You look good…for being hung over.” He laughed.

  “Thanks.” I sarcastically retorted as I hugged him back. I turned towards the door to go get myself a cup of coffee, but Ryan held up an extra cup that was sitting in front of him.

  “Three sugars, one cream.”

  God bless the man for knowing how I take my coffee, especially on a day like today. I smiled, and took a seat across from him. I set my phone and keys down on the table in front of me, and reached for the mouth watering cup of coffee. I sipped on it like it was the only cup of water left on the entire planet, savoring every last drop. When I finally looked up at him, he was staring at me with an amused look on his face.

  “What?”

  “Nothing, just admiring you. Is that okay with you?” His sarcasm was not lost on me.

  “I suppose.” Honestly, I just wanted to know why he wanted to meet up in the first place. “Ryan, it’s not that I don’t want to see you, but I guess I’m just confused as to why you wanted to meet up.”

  “I was wrong…about everything. I want you back. I’m miserable without you, Hads.”

  I ran my fingers through my hair as I tried to digest all that he was saying without getting pissed off, unfortunately for him…it wasn’t working. “Let me see if I understand. You break up with me a few weeks ago, stating that we are, wait…let me see if I can get it right, oh that’s right, “going in different directions”.” I made air quotes for emphasis. “Whatever the hell that means, and now you’re telling me that you had this sudden epiphany that you want me back, and I’m supposed to just take you back…no questions asked?”

  “Well when you put it like that.” He scowled into his cup of coffee.

  “When I put it like what? That’s exactly what happened, is it not?”

  “No, it is, but you don’t understand. I love you Hadley. I’m telling you I was wrong. I’m under a lot of pressure from my parents, you know that. And it all just started to be…too much.”

  I shook my head in disbelief. “I do know that, but I also know that when things get tough, you don’t just walk away. We had talked about marriage, Ryan. Spending the rest of our lives together. Do you even understand what that means? Because to me, that means you work through the bad times together, it doesn’t mean you just give up when the going gets tough.”

  Ryan reached for my hand from across the table, and as much as I wanted to pull it away…I didn’t. The warmth of his hand cradling mine felt unbelievable, and it had me yearning for what we used to have. As much as my mind was telling me to fight this, to tell him that he couldn’t just have me whenever it was convenient for him, and that I needed more from him, my heart was swooning…all over again.

  “I’m sorry, Hadley. I know things have been crazy and that I’ve been acting insane, but as soon as I make partner, everything will settle down. I promise.”

  “You can’t promise that, Ryan.”

  “I can, because I love you, and I’m willing to do whatever it takes to make this work.”

  I sat there looking into his mesmerizing emerald green eyes, and all worry and doubt began to fade away. Everything that happened last night slipped away, and all I wanted to do was be with the amazing man in front of me.

  “I can see you’re mind working overtime. Is that a good sign?” A wicked smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as he suddenly looked full of hope.

  “Fine.” I muttered.

  “I’m sorry, what was that?” He laughed.

  “I said fine, but I’m serious Ryan. I won’t let you take me for granted anymore, because if you don’t want to take the time to treat me the way I should be treated, then I’ll find someone who can. And…”

  “Oh no, this doesn’t sound like a good and.”

  “And we are not officially back together. I think we should take things slow this time.” I sat back waiting for his answer, and expecting the worst reaction.”

  “Are you serious right now? We’ve been together for forever, how are we supposed to go back, when we’re supposed to be moving forward? This wasn’t the answer I was expecting…at all.”

  “It may not be the answer you were expecting, but this is my answer. We can start dating again. Maybe for once, you could try to win me over.” I winked at him in a playful manner, but he wasn’t having it. “Look, Ryan this is all I’m willing to offer right now. I’m in school, and I refuse to go back to you controlling everything I do. The only way this is going to work, is if you can show me that you really do want me.” I was just about to get up and walk away, knowing that he was about three seconds away from saying that there was no way in hell that he was willing to do this. But I guess that would be my answer then.

  “Deal.” He said it so fast, I wasn’t even sure I heard him right.

  “Wait…what?” I shook my head in disbelief.

  “I said…deal.” He leaned forward, pressing his lips softly against mine. Instinctively my hand went to the back of his head, pulling him closer to my mouth, and letting his lips consume me. I didn’t know how I ever thought I could be without him, but then suddenly memories of my tryst with my perfect stranger began flashing through my mind like an old movie. I couldn’t help but notice the difference in their kisses, and how different they both made me feel. I kissed Ryan harder, trying to kiss the memory away, but it was useless. That’s when I knew, it was going to take much more than just wishing the thoughts away for me to get over what could possibly be the best sex of my life.

  SIX

  Declan

  “So just how hot was she?”

  Braxton was seriously on my last nerve, and if he asked me one more question about my “conquest”, his words not mine, I was gonna turn around and sock him. “She was hot, Braxton. What else do you want me to say?” I was honestly surprised I was even awake at the moment, given the fact that after our little tryst in the bathroom, I managed to stay and close the bar down with some of the other fighters who showed up after their fights were over. One drink turned into two, then two turned to three, and so on, and by the time we all knew it, we were walkin’ out just as the sun was coming up.

  “Dude, what did you say her name was again?”

  I was running on the treadmill, and I almost tripped over my own two feet when I heard his question. I didn’t want to add fuel to the already raging inferno, so I just shook my head in mock annoyance and kept running. To be honest, I wasn’t exactly sure how I had managed to not get her name. Names really didn’t matter though, especially when you have no intention of seeing that person every again. But then I remembered that she gave me her phone number. Pulling out the crumpled up napkin from my front pocket, I noticed that she hadn’t written a name above it. What a guy move.

  I pulled my cell phone out of my other pocket and dialed the numbe
r that was neatly scrolled across the white bar napkin. Although, I had a distinct feeling that the number would prove to be a fake one.

  “Hello, thank you for calling Chinese Gardens. Will this be for carry out or delivery?”

  Are you fuckin’ serious? I quickly ended the call and looked down at my phone in disbelief. There was no way. I’d never had any girl give me a fake number. I mean, I’d definitely given out my fair share of them, but not once had someone ever done it to me. Now I understood how all those girls felt when I never spoke to them again, and then when I would see them again, pretend that I had no idea who they were. In all actuality, I really and truly just couldn’t remember their names.

  I thought about dialing the number again to make sure that I hadn’t dialed wrong, but in the end, I knew I hadn’t. I threw the crumpled up napkin onto the floor, shoved my phone back into my pocket, and then turned up the speed on the treadmill. I pushed my ear buds into my ears, and tuned out the rest of the world with my eclectic mix of music. Oh well, it was her loss. But somehow, I couldn’t help but feel as though it was my loss too.

  Forty-five minutes later, I finally decided I had had enough, and was done for the day. I wiped my face down with a towel as I searched for Braxton, and almost ran right into a tiny brunette in my haze. The minute my arm bumped into her, I could see her start to fall to the ground. My arms instinctively shot out to catch her from falling, just as I had done last night.

  “I’m so sorry. Are you okay?” I helped her into a standing position, and then stood back, waiting for an answer.

  “No worries, really. I’m okay. Thank you though.” Her voice was small just like her, and it made me smile.

  “Glad you’re okay. I’ve gotta go.” I walked past her, heading towards the locker rooms, when I heard her shout something in my direction. So I stopped and turned. “What was that?” I shouted back.

  “My name, its Tiffany.” She waved. “I’m sure I’ll see you around.