Cheater (Curious Liaisons, #1)(51)

“Y-you and Lucas are g-getting married?” she shrieked. Loudly.

Oh no.

I wished I could blame Austin and Thatch and the stupid wine at his house, but this was all me.

All me and my stupid need to save Lucas from his parents’ wrath and possibly mend my own parents’ hearts in the process.

I quickly tried to think of a way I could lie my way out of it.

“Kayla, calm down.”

“CALM DOWN?”

“I mean, what I mean is, you don’t know all the details, and—”

“He cheated on me!” she wailed. “With our SISTER!”

Hah! Wondered what she’d do if she knew he always cheated on everyone. Would that make her feel better or worse? Decisions, decisions.

“Kayla.” I wondered if the day could get any gnarlier. “Look, I can explain—why don’t we meet for dinner tonight?”

Not only did I have absolutely no money, but now I’d have to sit across from my amazing sister and make her believe that I was in love with her ex-fiancé and that he’d turned over a new leaf—though none of it was actually true.

Liar. My heart thudded.

I had adored him once. Past tense. And even then it was a high school crush.

This. This is why they always tell you during all those health-class talks to never have sex. Men only complicated things. One minute you’re a happy single female living in downtown Seattle, the next, you’re lying to your family and planning a fake engagement while behind their back you’re hoping to date the doctor who saw your parts! Ugh, ever since seeing Satan again I was going insane.

“Avery?” She sniffled. “Are you still there?”

“Yeah.” Unfortunately. “Tonight, dinner, it’ll be great.”

“Okay.”

Thank God Kayla was reasonable. Sort of. She was the nice daughter, the one who never did anything wrong and looked weird in red lipstick. She was the girl next door.

Perfect.

“Seven?” At least she wasn’t yelling anymore. Or crying.

“Great.” Shaking, I hung up and looked up to see a gorgeous redhead who could have been someone in my family. She grinned down at me and announced, “I’m Chelsea.” Her shoulders bounced up and down as if she had so much energy it was impossible for her to be still. “You know, Lucas Thorn’s Wednesday.”

I glared. “Of course you are.” Did everyone have to full-name him? It just reminded me of everything I wanted to forget.

She didn’t seem to mind that I was pissed.

In fact, I was 99 percent sure that if I peered around the desk, I’d see a rainbow shooting out of her ass while little unicorns danced next to her in a circle singing “Kumbaya.”

“You can just wait in his office,” I said in a flat tone.

Her perfect straight teeth nearly sparkled as she scampered on her feet and marched into his office without me needing to point the way.

She’d been there before.

In his office.

How many times, I wondered, had he bent her over that desk. I leaned back in my chair and watched as she comfortably sat on the leather couch and pulled out her cell.

She moved out of view, so I leaned back farther.

“Something interesting, I hope?” Lucas’s voice made my feet jerk up, causing my chair to fall backward.

Make that two embarrassing situations in one day.

I was on a serious roll when it came to Lucas Thorn.

Ah, now I was doing it too. Full-naming him.

Feet in the air, I let out an “oomph” before managing to get on my hands and knees and then look up at the most perfect male specimen God had ever cursed.

“Thorn.” I cursed his name. As per usual. And grabbed his outstretched hand as he helped me to my wobbly feet.

With a smirk, he thrust a paper bag against my chest and leaned in. “I got you a milk shake too.”

“Brings all the boys to the yard,” I joked, riffing on the song.

“Funny because word on the street is that your yard’s been closed . . .”

I gulped. “Chelsea’s nice.”

His smile faded, and he took a step back. “Yeah, yeah, she is.”

“She’s in your office. On your couch. Texting Barney.”

“Huh?”

“She’s superpeppy and kind of loud.”

“You would be too if I was about to rip your clothes from your body.”

My mouth dropped open.

So did his.

And then he ran a hand down his neck. “Sorry, that was uncalled for.”

“Nooooo,” I teased. “I’m just going to sit here and eat and not watch you cheat on your Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, alright?”

“Right.” He didn’t move.

I ignored him and started pulling the food from the bag.

I knew Lucas well enough to be aware that he wanted to say something else, but I couldn’t handle any more conversation.

When Chelsea left an hour later, her hair didn’t look mussed, and her skirt was on straight. I’d expected it to be backward or at least ripped.

I couldn’t help it—my eyes greedily searched for any part of her that looked like Lucas had marked it. But I got nothing.

I was still staring when the elevator doors closed.