One Tiny Lie A Novel

so.
    “Irish,” he finally offers in a flat tone. I notice his jaw is clenched. This is probably as comfortable for him as it is for me. His regretful night—the girl he wants to forget happened—is standing in his house.
    “Wait a minute . . .” Connor’s hand slips out of mine. Oh . . .here we go  . . . A finger points toward me as Connor’s head cocks to the side. He stares wide-eyed at his roommate. “ This is the girl who dared you to get that tattoo?”
    I close my eyes and take several deep breaths, silently saying goodbye to any chance I might have had with Connor. When I open them again, the two of them are staring at me.
    “Well, how about that!” Connor throws an arm around my shoulders and squeezes me to him. “You’re famous around here!”
    I feel the color drain from my face. “Famous?” I manage to squeak out. As what? The robot-dancing, face-sucking virginal boozehound? I turn around to find that Grant and Reagan have snuck up behind us. I throw a set of extra-sharp daggers directly at Reagan’s face for setting up this ambush. Her mouth clamps on her drink as she quickly ducks behind Grant.
    I turn back to face the guy I want to impress and the guy I want to forget, and I silently wonder how today could possibly get worse.
    “Ashton. Babe—we’ve got to get going if I’m going to get to the airport in time.” I hear the voice before the blond appears through another entrance into the room with her purse and coat slung over her arm. Leaning over the back of his chair, she lays a long kiss on his lips.
    Connor leans toward me in ignorant bliss. “That’s Ashton’s girlfriend, Dana.”

CHAPTER EIGHT
    Man Whore
    I’ve given up on talking by this point. I know that whatever comes out of my mouth will be idiotic gibberish because I tend to speak that way when I’m nervous or shocked or upset. Right now, standing here, watching Ashton and his girlfriend kissing, the perfect storm of all three brews inside me.
    Dana pulls away from Ashton at the sound of her name. “Hi, Reagan! Hi . . .”
    “This is Livie,” Connor says.
    She offers me a warm smile. “Hi, Livie. It’s nice to meet you.”
    I try to smile back. I think that I succeed. I’m not sure; it could have looked more like the sneer of a rabid animal. I’m too busy trying to calm the screaming inside of my head.
    That asshole cheated on her. With me!
    My eyes dart to his face, to see that he’s staring at me with a strange expression. It’s not his usual arrogance. It’s not guilt, which it should be. No, I know exactly what it is. Desperation. He’s pleading with me not to say anything. He doesn’t want his girlfriend to find out. It all makes sense now. This is why he wants to keep what happened between us quiet. But then . . .why would I be famous ?
    I sneak a peek at Connor to see him smiling at me. It’s a warm smile, not the amused smile of a guy who knows that I messed around with his roommate and am now being introduced to said roommate’s unsuspecting girlfriend. Either he doesn’t think there’s anything wrong with what happened—making him a complete ass and so not the nice guy that I thought he was—or he doesn’t know.
    I don’t get it. But everyone is staring at me, waiting for me to respond to Dana. I swallow and then do my best to force out a pleasant, “Hi, Dana. Nice to meet you too.” It must have sounded passable, because she smiles and nods before she grabs hold of Ashton’s arm and yanks at it. “’Kay, seriously, Ash. Get that gorgeous butt up so we can go or I’ll be late.”
    He complies, sliding out of his chair with ease to tower over her. Her loose curls spill back as she tilts her head back to gaze at him. The way that her eyes sparkle—like Kacey’s do when Trent is in the room—I can tell that Dana is head-over-heels in love with him.
    I want to be anywhere but in this room with this sweet, unsuspecting girl and her lecherous boyfriend right now. “Connor, where’s your bathroom?” I ask, trying to keep my voice steady.
    With a nod to the left, he says, “There’s one through that doorway, around the corner. First right.”
    “Oh, I’d give that one an hour,” Grant warns from behind us. “Ty was in there. It’s not suitable for ladies. Or most humans.”
    “It’s that damn chili your mama made!” Ty bellows from the kitchen.
    Shaking his head at his roommate, Connor says, “Third door to the right, upstairs. You want me to show