Page 56 of Lie With Me
“We’re going to finish this discussion once we see what they want. Jackson is gonna be on my shit list if he keeps interrupting us.” Tripp is an ooey gooey cinnamon roll most of the time, but in the bedroom—and on rare occasions outside of it—the authoritativetone that drips from between his lips is like honeyed nectar, and I gulp it down as though it’s my favorite drink.
He winds his arm around my shoulders as we enter the Desires hall, pulling me close to bury his nose in my hair because he hates the thick scent of the roses. “Maybe after my clients, we can come back here and try something new,” I whisper as Ginny’s old guard stops in front of the room she’s in.
“I’m beginning to think I should just book you exclusively like he did for her.” Tripp nods to the door, alluding to our friends.
When we walk into the room, I’m surprised to see them both wearing little to nothing. Jackson has on a pair of silk drawstring pajama pants, and Ginny is wearing an intricate piece of navy lingerie. Raising my hand to cover Tripp’s eyes, I tell them, “Uh, I don’t know what we just walked into, but I don’t think we want to be a part of it.”
“Liar,” Jackson says from his place on the loveseat, where he’s sipping a drink.
“We just found out on the way over here, and I wanted you to be the first to know. Tripp, we would have told you tomorrow, but since you’re already here, this is just an added bonus,” Ginny exclaims excitedly.
“Know what? And, Jackson, can you please put a shirt on? Your naked chest is very distracting,” I mutter, holding my other hand up to put a barrier between my eyes and his skin.
Tripp pulls my hand away from his eyes andglares at his best friend. “Why are you guys asking her to meet you in a room like this, half-dressed?”
Jackson laughs. “Don’t be jealous that your fake girlfriend is ogling me.”
“Shut the fuck up, Jackson,” we both tell him simultaneously.
“Oh, come on. Ginny told me what you said about me before we got serious. She also told me you helped train her to work here, and she knows I put that tidbit of information away in my spank bank,” he quips.
Tripp looks at me, more interested than pissed now, and asks, “Seriously?”
My friend looks momentarily mortified before crossing the room to smack her fiancé on the arm. “Why would you tell them I told you that? They don’t need to know we talk about those kinds of things!”
“You talk about being okay with Jackson jerking off to thoughts of you two together?” Tripp asks her as he points a finger between her and me.
With a gasp, I fix Ginny with an incredulous look, “When we talked about sharing, it was a joke! Not for real!”
“Tripp wouldn’t share you,” Jackson challenges, raising a brow in Tripp’s direction.
“Oh, like you’d share Ginny?” Tripp counters. He moves slightly in front of me, partly shielding me from Jackson’s view.
I don’t know what’s going on, but there’s a tension between them I’m not sure I like, and I findmyself wanting to come to Tripp’s defense. “Tripp and I have had multiple nights here with other people involved.”
Jackson looks surprised and, for once, doesn’t have a smartass comeback.
Mission accomplished.
“I feel like I should be disturbed by where this conversation is headed, but strangely, I’m not. Look, we’ll make this quick, and then you can go—unless you and Trippdowant to join us?” Ginny intervenes with a flourish of her hand toward the bed. She’s being extremely nonchalant for a woman whose fiancé is joking about being intimate with her best friend.
All of us look at her with shock, and Jackson snaps, “Tripp’s not gonna see you naked! Fuck that.”
“I mean, her outfit isn’t exactly leaving anything to the imagination,” Tripp says under his breath.
“What the fuck has gotten into you, Ginny?” I feel like I’m trapped in the Twilight Zone. Nothing about this whole ordeal seems normal, and I’m half worried they’ve eaten some bad food and gone delirious.
“I’m pregnant! And horny as hell, literallyeverythingis a turn-on. I got turned on by the pickle I ate earlier,” she explains as she throws her arms out and then places her hands on her belly.
“Igot turned on by the way you were eating that pickle,” Jackson mumbles as he gets up from the loveseat to wrap an arm around her.
A rush of excitement runs through me at hernews. “You’re pregnant?! Ginny, that’s amazing! Congratulations!”
Surging forward, I pull her into a hug as we squeal and jump up and down like we’re high schoolers who just found out our favorite boy band is coming to town. Tripp and Jackson also do their version of a man hug as Tripp tells him, “Congratulations, man. Damn, you’re gonna be a dad.”
All the negative energy from earlier evaporates as they move to the bar cart to pour a celebratory drink.
“It’s still early, so, you know, things might happen, but that’s okay. We didn’t think it would happen this fast. I’m just thankful I’ll still fit into my dress for the wedding,” Ginny tells me as she rubs her belly.