Page 31 of Secrets and Lies
“Since when are you an outdoor person?” I pull the door open and hold it for him so he can go in first.
“I’m not.” He lets out a soft chuckle. “But we didn’t exactly spend a lot of our time outdoors unless it was in the hot tub or on the beach.”
“Sounds relaxing,” I say, unable to keep the wistfulness out of my voice.
“It was.” He shoots me a quick look as we walk down the hall and toward the western stairwell together. “I was a good friend and actually checked your stories,” he says, his tone carefully casual. “It looks like you had a busy week.”
I smile, but it feels forced. “Yeah, it definitely was. I need a vacation from my vacation.”
He gives me another look as we reach the door to the stairwell. “Is everything okay?”
“Of course,” I say quickly and pull open the door.
He follows me into the stairwell. “Are you sure? Last time we talked, you were taking McKenna on a romantic getaway, then I see a week of stories where you’re at the clubs every night with her friends. And I can’t really explain it, but there’s something different about you. You seem…”
“Different?” I offer, trying not to sound too sarcastic. It’s not his fault I’m in a bad mood.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” he presses as we climb the stairs together.
“I’m fine,” I tell him, my chest tight at how easily the lie slips out. “I’m just tired from traveling.”
“What happened to your plan to get away, just the two of you?”
“No clue. I got a text just before lunch on Friday that she needed to talk to me, and when I met up with her, she said she wanted to change our plans because there were all these events she wanted to go to, and I basically got steamrolled into agreeing.”
“Was it at least fun?” he asks dubiously.
“It was…busy.”
“That’s a diplomatic answer.”
“It’s the short answer,” I nod at the door to my floor as we step onto the landing in front of it. “Otherwise we’ll be in here for a while.”
“I want the real answer later,” he says as we pause. “After the meeting tonight.”
“Deal.”
“See ya.” He gives me a quick upnod.
“Later.” I pull open the door to my floor as he continues up the stairs.
A sense of familiarity and relief washes over me as I step into my room, and I drop my bag on the floor as my door swings shut with a loudbang.
Leaving my bag and suitcase where they are, I trudge over to the small couch in the corner of my room and sink down on it.
The fact that I feel more relaxed and at ease now that I’m back in my dorm room than I did during my entire vacation isn’t lost on me, and I let out a heavy sigh as I try to muster up the willto put my bags away so I don’t end up leaving them sitting in the corner for days.
I have no idea why McKenna changed our plans, but I’m really not mad that she did.
It would have been nice to have a low-key break and chill for a week, but it’s not like jetting around and going to clubs and events is some sort of hardship. And I got time to relax while she and her friends were off doing stuff during the day.
It wasn’t the vacation I wanted, but it was still a vacation, and complaining that I didn’t get to relax the way I wanted isn’t going to help anything.
And as much as I hate to admit it, maybe it wasn’t a bad thing that we didn’t spend much time together. I hoped that I’d get my head back in order after a week away from school, but seeing Damon and Xave kissing earlier was proof that didn’t happen, and I was fooling myself when I thought I’d put my bisexuality away again.
I’ll never admit this to anyone, but I had a thing for Damon when we first met. It’s why I hung around him like an overeager puppy, but those feelings faded once I actually got to know him, and I haven’t felt anything but platonic love for him since.
I don’t want Damon, not like that, but seeing him and Xave together made me realize that I want what he has.
