Love and Lies Read Free

Hey,” I said with a smile.
    Logan laid his head against the back of the couch and looked at me with a wide grin. “There you are.”
    Three cups sat on the table in front of them. I gestured at them. “One of those mine?”
    “ Yep, your favorite. Just the way you like it.” Logan looked at me, then Eric, and back to me. “This okay?” he asked.
    “ Of course. So which one is mine?” I asked.
    Logan pointed to the cup to the right of his. I took it and sat in the plush chair next to the couch. It was a big red, oversized chair that coffee houses and bookstores loved to use nowadays. As comfortable as they were, I always had a problem getting out of them. My height may have had something to do with that, considering that when I sat all the way back my feet didn’t even touch the ground. Sucked being barely over five feet.
    “ How are classes so far?” Logan asked.
    “ Fine. I mean, I’ve only had two since I’m not crazy like some people I know.” I winked at him. “What possessed you to register for an eight o’clock Monday morning class anyway? Starting at nine was hard enough for me.”
    “ Obviously. Professor J. isn’t going to put up with your shit this year, if this morning was any indication.”
    I waved him off. “Yeah, yeah. He’ll deal with it. Remember, I know how to work him. A little toss of the hair and a quick grin, and the man is putty in my hands.”
    A gruff chuckle from next to Logan reminded me Eric was there. I’d forgotten about him for just a minute.
    “Hey. Eric, right?” Okay, okay. I knew the guy’s name. Heck, I’d been thinking about him nonstop for the last hour. Didn’t mean I wanted to let him know that little tidbit though.
    “Yeah. It’s Eric.”
    His smirk said enough—he knew I hadn’t forgotten his name.
    I shrugged. “I thought so. How are you liking it here?”
    “ It’s good. Better now.”
    The way he lowered his chin and looked at me made my skin heat. Good grief, a look seemed to be all it took for him to get my body to wake up and pay attention. This was bad. Very bad. I didn’t want to react to him, not with the unease I felt. Leave it to me to have conflicting desire .
    Logan turned toward me and mouthed, “What’s wrong, Carissa?”
    I shook my head, clearing away the sudden fuzziness. “What? Oh, nothing’s wrong.”
    “ Really?”
    “ Yep. Really, I’m fine, Logan. Promise.” I tried to hide my lie behind a sip of coffee. Fortunately, my best friend picked the exact right moment to show up.
    “ Baby girl. How did I know I’d find you here?” Alec’s sweet voice rose over the crowd of people now filling the café. His soft hands grasped my shoulders. Alec’s touch calmed me, grounded me.
    “ Because you knew I had a break and figured I needed a pick me up?” I looked over my shoulder to his smiling face. His eyes twinkled with mischief. That was Alec, my troublemaker. The playboy of the three of us.
    “ Well, well. Who is this fine-looking man?” He nodded in Eric’s direction.
    When the new guy didn’t flinch at Alec’s obvious flirting , he earned a point in his favor.
    “ I’m Eric.”
    “ And where are you from, Eric?” Alec walked over and squeezed himself in between Eric and the armrest of the couch.
    “ New York City.”
    Alec’s eyes went wide, his jaw dropped slightly. Yeah, I’d been just as surprised. Except, unlike my best friend, I didn’t say anything. He, on the other hand, would dig deeper. It was one of the reasons I loved the guy. Alec had no problem grilling people for information. He was as extroverted as they came.
    “ Well, well, well. What a coincidence. Baby girl and I are from the Big Apple as well. Interesting that you seem to have befriended her and Logan. At least, I assume Logan is the reason you found your way into our little group.”
    I couldn’t help but laugh when Eric cleared his throat and looked to Logan, uncertainty in his eyes. He wasn’t sure how to answer, that much was