Two Truths & a Lime (The Love Game Book 3)

by Elizabeth Hayley

  “I know. But I sounded the alarm, so they’re all coming back. Everyone except Aamee was at the pizza place down the street, so they’ll be here soon.”

  “Where was Aamee?”

  “She said she was doing some research.”

  I wondered what sort of research she was doing, but I figured it was best not to ask.

  “Why did you call them?” Drew asked. “There’s nothing they can do.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Well, I guess I don’t know. But it’s not their problem. I’ll figure it out.”

  Brody smiled. “You’re adorable when you’re noble.”

  “Shut up,” Drew shot back, though his lips lifted into a smile.

  A knock sounded at the door, and Brody hustled over to open it. “Hey, guys,” he said when he opened it.

  The “Scooby Gang,” as Brody had called them, filed inside and made themselves comfortable.

  “So what’s up?” Carter, who held a pizza box on his lap, asked. He opened the lid of the box and removed a slice. Noticing us all staring at him as he took a huge bite, he said with a full mouth, “Want some?”

  “No thanks,” I replied.

  Carter just shrugged as he continued chomping away.

  “So, not that I don’t love hanging around your apartment for hours on end, but why are we here?” Xander asked as he leaned back into the sofa.

  “Like you had better things to do?” Aniyah muttered.

  “Is that jealousy I hear?” Xander teased.

  “No. It was a simple statement of fact.”

  “Whatever you say, sweetheart.”

  “Call me that again,” Aniyah warned. “I dare you.”

  Xander opened his mouth, but Toby leaned over the back of the couch and put his hand over Xander’s mouth. “Please don’t. I’m not up for watching a murder today.”

  Xander smirked but stayed quiet.

  “I want to wait for Aamee before I get into what’s going on,” Brody explained. “But the short of it is, Drew needs a place to live.”

  “Why?” Toby asked.

  Brody sighed. “Because I need Veronica to move in here and be my wife.”

  “Are you fucking kidding me?”

  All of us whipped our attention to the doorway. There stood Aamee, clearly seething with anger.

  “You really need to get better about locking the door,” I whispered to my brother.

  He ignored me and took a couple ill-advised steps toward Aamee. “Babe, it’s not how it sounds.”

  Unfortunately for him, it was exactly how it sounded.

  D R E W

  If I’d ever expected someone’s head to rotate three-hundred-sixty degrees, it was then.

  Aamee looked ready to levitate off the floor and call upon the four corners to strike Brody down. I just hoped the rest of us wouldn’t be collateral damage.

  I moved a step closer to Sophia in case I needed to protect her from the explosion.

  “Start. Talking,” Aamee gritted out, unknowingly repeating Mr. Mason’s words from when he’d met Veronica.

  “My dad was here, and Veronica came back because she forgot her bag and she said we were married and my dad got mad so now we’re married.” Brody said the entire story as one long sentence. “Or no, wait, we’re not married, but we’re going to be. I mean, not actually married. We’re just gonna pretend to be. But only for the summer,” he added quickly, clearly hoping the terminal date would lessen Aamee’s fury a little.

  Every word that came out of Brody’s mouth made Aamee’s glare intensify, which seemed to make Brody dig himself in deeper.

  “She needs a place to live, so I told her she can live here for free. And I can have a wife to get investment money from my dad. So Drew and I can be together. Work! Work together.”

  It was an endless cycle of idiocy that was painful to watch.

  Brody deflated. “Can someone else talk now?”

  I cleared my throat. “It’s not as bad as he made it sound.”

  Aamee didn’t look convinced.

  “Maybe you should sit down,” I told her, which she thankfully did. I then went on to relay the whole messy story.

  Aamee sat silently and absorbed every word. She’d calmed considerably, but it seemed like the deceptive kind of calm—more the kind that’s quietly gathering strength to perform untold horrors than one that was rational.

  “Dude,” Carter said when I was finished. “Your lives are fucking nuts. Have you ever thought about making a reality show? You could do a play off your business and call it Life Bites.”

  “Ooh, that’s a great name,” Toby said.

  “Thanks.” Carter preened at the compliment.

  I turned to Brody. “This is who you called. Just…really let that sink in.”

  Brody shrugged.

  “So let me get this straight,” Aamee said. Her legs were crossed and her hands clasped on top of her knee. “You’re moving a strange girl into your apartment so she can pretend to be your wife and you can financially support her. And you want my help with this plan?”

  “Maybe not help so much as support.” Brody’s voice lost confidence at the end, and his words came out like a question.

  “Oh yeah, absolutely,” Aamee said as she nodded. “I’ll totally support my boyfriend shacking up for the summer with a smoke show. No problem.”

  “Great,” Brody said, breathing a sigh of relief.

  Aniyah leaned forward in her chair. “I think she’s being sarcastic.”

  “Oh.”

  The disappointment on Brody’s face made me want to hug him.

  “Where are you going to stay?” Aamee asked me.

  “I’m not totally sure. My parents’ probably.”

  “Hmm” was Aamee’s only reply, but she looked thoughtful.

  “You can stay with me,” Carter offered. “One of my roommates is going home for the summer.”

  “I dunno, man. Even though your place is off campus, it’s still technically campus housing. I don’t want to make any more waves with the school.”

  “Yeah, but summers are pretty low-key. We could probably get away with it.”

  The “probably” wasn’t reassuring. I was twenty-five years old. It was time for me to stop couch-hopping and start getting my shit together. And as much as moving home didn’t feel like it would help me do that, at least I wouldn’t have to hide the fact that I was staying there.

  “Can you not afford to rent a place?” Aamee asked.

  “I can,” I replied, and it was true.

  Nite Bites had been bringing in pretty steady income for the last couple of months, and living with Brody and Sophia had allowed me to squirrel away a bit of money. Not a lot, but enough for first- and last-month’s rent. And now that I was healed enough to work again, even if we decided to shut Nite Bites down, I could easily go back to Rafferty’s.

  “But I’d need a roommate,” I said, “and I’ve fallen out of touch with a lot of my friends since pretending to be Brody and the accident.”

  It was weird to think about the people I’d hung out with before all this. That seemed like another person’s life—another person’s friends. I wasn’t sure what I’d even have in common with my old crowd anymore.

  I’d always been a bit of a loner, not wanting to get sucked into a lot of the drama and bullshit people I used to run around with did. Getting back in touch with any of them didn’t really feel like it would help me move forward.

  Aamee stood up and brushed invisible lint off her clothes. “Okay, it’s settled, then.”

  “Uh, what’s settled?” Sophia asked.

  “Drew and I will find an apartment and move in together for the summer.”

  “What now?” Sophia asked.

  Aamee looked at us like she didn’t have a concern in the world. “I don’t start my job at my mom’s company until the fall. I wanted to enjoy my last summer before becoming a corporate drone. But with Long Island Lolita moving in with Brody, I’d rather stay in t
own.”

  “I think she’s from Brooklyn,” Brody unhelpfully offered.

  “I know,” said Aamee primly. “I scoped out her social media as soon as I left here. The mistake was intentional.”

  “That was what you were researching?” Brody asked.

  Aamee ignored him. “So it makes perfect sense. I won’t need to move in until after graduation, but we should start looking right away. And if we find a place with immediate availability, Drew could move in anytime, and you guys can all stop squatting in this apartment.”

  “We’re not squatting,” Sophia said irritably. “And I can move back into the sorority house to give you guys some space.”

  “You’re serious?” I asked Aamee. “I mean, we don’t know each other that well.”

  “I’ve practically lived with strangers my entire college career. This is nothing new to me.”

  “Wait,” Sophia said, turning her attention to me. “You’re really considering this?”

  I shoved my hands into my pockets. “It’s the best option.”

  Sophia clearly wanted to argue, but she didn’t say a word. I figured I’d be hearing all about what was on her mind later.

  When Sophia didn’t say anything else, Aamee smiled widely. “Then it’s settled.”

  “Hold on a second,” Brody interjected. “I’m not sure this is a good idea.”

  Aamee lifted one carefully plucked eyebrow. “And what makes you think I’m asking your opinion? Did you ask my opinion before offering to let a woman move in here? No. So you don’t get any input now.”

  Brody looked chastised, but he also had a determined set to his jaw. “Can we go somewhere…else? To talk.” His tone made it clear he wasn’t really asking.

  Aamee swept her purse off the coffee table like she didn’t have a care in the world. “Sure.”

  They started toward the door, but when Brody went to walk past me, I reached out and gently grabbed his arm.

  When he looked at me, I said, “You know you can trust me, right?”

  I could understand that it wouldn’t be optimal to have any guy living with his girlfriend, but I couldn’t deny that it stung a little that Brody seemed to have reservations about Aamee living with me. I’d never betray him or Sophia by messing around with Aamee. Not to mention the fact that that girl scared the shit out of me.

  Brody gave me a small smile. “I know, man. I just have some things to make clear to her.”

  I nodded once, his words making me relax a little.

  He and Aamee left, and everyone else followed soon after. Sophia and I thanked them all for coming. It was truly amazing of them all to drop everything and help us out every time we’d needed them.

  When the door closed behind the last person, Sophia turned the lock before spinning around and slumping against the door. “We need to talk.”

  Were there any words more dreaded than those? I doubted it.

  Chapter Four

  S O P H I A

  Drew’s face paled, and he looked like he was about to bolt.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked him, slightly alarmed by his expression.

  “I’m a little nervous about this talk. I know you probably don’t love the idea of me living with Aamee.”

  I let out a brittle laugh. “That’s an understatement. You deciding to live with my archnemesis without discussing it with me first is definitely not my favorite part of today.”

  He closed the distance between us in an instant, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me close. I loved being nestled against Drew’s solid chest, especially now that he wasn’t battered and broken anymore. He was strong and sturdy like he’d been when we’d first met.

  I looked up to see his warm brown eyes focused on me. I drifted a hand up to rub along his square jaw, a hint of dark stubble scratching against my palm.

  God, did I love this man.

  “I’m sorry,” he said. “Today was such a good day, and then it got all fucked up.”

  “That’s not your fault,” I reassured him.

  “No, but I didn’t make it any better by saying I’d move in with Aamee. Though…she’s not really your archnemesis anymore. She was clutch at your hearing.”

  I sighed and buried my face in Drew’s chest. Part of me kind of hated how helpful Aamee had been in the student panel’s decision to let me stay in school. Feeling like I owed her something—even if it was just my respect—was a nightmare.

  “I know,” I finally mumbled.

  “And I’m not at all into her. Not to mention I’d never do anything to betray you or Brody. You know that, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “So…it’s okay?”

  I looked back up at him. “What if I say it’s not?” I had to know, even if the answer had the potential to hurt me.

  He shrugged as if his answer was no big deal. Like my heart hadn’t stopped beating until he responded.

  “Then I move back in with my parents. It won’t be the end of the world.”

  A breath of air whooshed out of me as I clung to him. “Okay, you can live with the Antichrist.”

  “Do you mean Aamee, or is that a pet name for my mom?”

  An abrupt laugh shot out of me. “Aamee.”

  He settled his chin on my head and hugged me tighter. “Thank you.”

  “Don’t thank me yet. I have requirements.”

  “Oh yeah? And what would those be?”

  “You have to report back on any and all juicy gossip about Aamee.”

  I felt more than heard his chuckle as his chest rumbled beneath my ear.

  “Done. What else?”

  “You have to get a picture of her without makeup on.”

  “That’s…maybe a little creepy.”

  “Sacrifices must be made.”

  He laughed again. “I’ll see what I can do.”

  “Fair enough.”

  “That it?”

  I drew my face back a bit so I could look at him. “Don’t forget about me.”

  His eyebrows knitted together in confusion. “Why would I do that?”

  I hated how insecure this was going to make me sound, but I also needed to put it out there. Sometimes a little reassurance could go a long way.

  “We’ve lived together the entire time we’ve been dating. I don’t want our relationship to fizzle now that we’re not around each other all the time. Like out of sight, out of mind.”

  Drew brought one of his large hands up to cup my cheek. “It isn’t possible for me to forget about you. I think about you all the time, and we live together. You’ll be even more on my mind when I don’t have the luxury of seeing you as often.”

  “Promise?”

  He brought our foreheads together. “Promise.”

  We stood like that for a moment, just enjoying sharing each other’s space.

  But then a smirk spread across his lips. “I could show you if you want.”

  “Show me what?” I asked a little breathlessly because the look on his face gave me an idea of what he meant.

  “How obsessed I am with you.” His hands drifted down my back and cupped my ass, giving it a firm squeeze. “How impossible it would be to ever forget about you.” He shifted closer, pressing the bulge in his jeans against my belly. “How much you mean to me.”

  His lips descended on mine.

  The kiss was immediately out of control and consuming. It was a claiming kiss—one meant to leave an impression.

  When I needed to pull away so I could take a breath, I whispered, “Yeah, you better show me.”

  “My pleasure,” he replied with a lascivious grin before pulling me toward the bedroom.

  I was fairly certain it would be my pleasure too.

  Chapter Five

  D R E W

  I should’ve known better than to go apartment hunting with Aamee.

  I was a smart guy, but she must’ve caught me in a moment of weakness when she’d asked me to check out a few places with her. I should’ve just told her my bud
get and left the rest of it to her. The whole scenario was beyond strange to begin with. Tack on a blond Kardashian wannabe in heels and some sort of wide-brimmed hat, and it was downright insane.

  This was the third place we’d seen, and though all of them would’ve been fine with me, Aamee hadn’t loved any of them.

  “We need a pool,” she said. “Don’t any of these places have pools?”

  “I don’t know. You’re the one who saw these places online. I’m just along for the ride.”

  “Well, you’ll be living there too. Don’t you care?”

  “I care,” I said. “Just not…that much. As long as the place is big enough for the two of us, relatively close to Rafferty’s, and isn’t infested with rats, I’m probably on board with it.”

  “Wow, that’s… I’m not sure what Sophia sees in you.”

  I laughed loudly as I pulled the door open to the next apartment building for her. “Interesting comment from someone dating a guy whose idea of dressing up means putting on shoes.”

  “Brody’s a perfect gentleman.” She adjusted her hat as we entered, and she smirked a little. “Most of the time.”

  “Where’d you get that thing anyway? You look like you’re going to the Kentucky Derby, not shopping for an apartment.”

  She paused and looked at me with the same disgust she probably would’ve given me had I accused her of drinking someone else’s blood. “I’d never go to a horse race.”

  We followed signs toward the sales office through the lobby of the building, and for once, Aamee looked impressed. She’d pulled her oversize sunglasses down low enough on her nose that I could see her eyes for the first time today. At the other apartments, she hadn’t bothered to take them off once, as if removing them might ruin whatever mystery she was trying to maintain.

  To me, she appeared ridiculous.

  But now her eyes were practically sparkling from the small recessed lights and the two decorative chandeliers that were positioned in the lobby. Then she saw the small coffee bar, complete with a self-serve Starbucks machine for lattes and espresso.

  “This is it!” she declared. “This is the place.”