Believing Lies Read online

  Something sparkly on the other side of the toilet seat caught my attention. Why did Sophie bedazzle her toilet? I want to bedazzle something. I could bedazzle a tracksuit. Hell yeah! I’d look awesome in a bedazzled tracksuit. Wait a second . . . Bedazzled tracksuits are ugly. Why am I thinking about bedazzling anything . . . ? Right, Sophie bedazzled her toilet seat. I rolled my eyes and giggled. What a stupid thing to do. My blurry vision cleared a bit, and I suddenly noticed it was my finger that was sparkly. Hold the phone. That’s not a bedazzled toilet seat. That’s . . . I stared at my beautiful engagement ring. Through my drunken stupor, the fog temporarily cleared enough for Trenton’s betrayal to hit me all over again like a sledgehammer to the gut. Fat teardrops rolled from my eyes into the toilet water. He flushed our happiness down the toilet. Cheesy? Yes. But the tequila thought it was fitting, and in homage, I dropped my engagement ring into the water and flushed. Feeling emotionally better after freeing my finger from what I drunkenly dubbed “The Ring of Lies,” I slid my body from the toilet and attempted to stand up. The stupid floor didn’t like that idea and began to wobble under my feet. The room started to resemble a Tilt-a-Whirl. Since escape was evidently going to be impossible, I curled up on the bathroom floor and passed out cold.

  ***

  I opened my eyes to find my face on a teal bathroom rug, which smelled a tad funky. My legs were numb from lying on the cool tiled floor, and my mouth tasted as if something had crawled into it and died. I started to sit up, only to immediately lay back down when the vertigo hit. I closed my eyes and let out a long, low groan. Since the noise that came out of my throat sounded like it came from a zombie, then maybe that horrid taste in my mouth was brains.

  God awful snoring was coming from somewhere near me. It took almost all of my strength to push myself off of the floor and stand up. After the bathroom stopped swaying, I full out began to laugh at the sight of Sophie in the bathtub. The night before started to come back to me little by little, and I remembered her getting into the tub and singing “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” while using her shampoo bottle as a pretend oar. At least we hadn’t been stupid enough to put any water in the tub in the state we were in.

  I prayed Sophie had ibuprofen because my head was throbbing. I rummaged around in her cabinet and hit the jackpot. I put the pills in my mouth and drank water directly from the faucet to wash them down. My reflection in the mirror was a truly scary sight. I looked like death ran over twice. God only knew what was crusting pieces of my hair together, my mascara was everywhere but on my eyelashes, and I had small indentations all over my right cheek from the rug. I splashed some water on my face and grabbed a hand towel to dry myself. Better. I picked up the ibuprofen bottle again and put a couple pills in my hand for Sophie.

  I bent down to the bathtub and started to gently shake her. “Wake up, hookerbot. Time to crawl into a real bed.” My throat felt extremely raw, and my voice was scratchy.

  One of her eyes opened long enough to look at me before closing again. “Go away, or I’ll slice your ass with a razor blade,” she croaked out. Gee, this should be fun. I shook her again until she opened her eyes fully. “What do you want?”

  I didn’t answer and just opened her hand and put the pills in her palm. I cringed when she swallowed them without any water. “You’re going to be really sore from sleeping in there. Come on. You’ll thank me later . . . Now, upsie-daisy.” I used what was left of my feeble strength to help pull her out of the tub. We stumbled together to her room, bumping into the wall a couple of times. We didn’t even bother changing our clothes before we both crashed face first onto her bed and fell back asleep.

  Chapter Six

  I hid away in the safety of my bed, burrowing in the blankets and only leaving when I absolutely had to. Even though five days had passed, I wasn’t strong enough to face the world yet. Most of my time was spent sleeping, but my body could only sleep for so many hours a day before I had no choice but to wake up. Then I would waste hours just staring out the window.

  My phone was still off because I wanted to call Trenton so badly. It took everything in me to not dial his number and tell him that I forgave him, still loved him, and was coming home. The only reason I didn’t was because it would be a lie . . . Not the loving him part, because I still did, but I didn’t forgive him, and I was never going home to him. I wanted to hate him, but as much as I hated what he did, I couldn’t hate Trenton himself. I believed he still did love me, but I could never trust him again, so whether he loved me or not didn’t change a thing.

  I closed my eyes and was trying to force myself back to sleep when Sophie stormed into my room. “Okay, ho-bag, enough is enough!” I quickly pulled the covers over my head and groaned just as Sophie landed next to me with a thud. “Get your ass out of bed and join the living again,” she scolded, ripping back the covers and giving my ponytail a sharp pull.

  “What the fuck! That hurt!” I screamed, rubbing my tender scalp.

  “Good,” she said smugly. “Glad to know you can still feel something besides self-pity.”

  I glared at her in disbelief. “You have no idea what I feel,” I snapped back defensively.

  “I know that I want my cousin back and not this shell of a person. I’m going to get you out of this funk by any means possible.”

  My days of solitude were at an end because Tough Love Sophie was now on the scene, and that version of Sophie could be a real bitch. Previous experiences with her alter-ego told me to do as she commanded, so I begrudgingly sat up.

  “Let me take a shower, and then you can get on with the little boot camp I know you have planned for me,” I whined, then slowly left the comfort and security of the bed and walked to the door. Before leaving the room, I turned back to her. “Go get something from your closet for me to wear.” She smiled triumphantly.

  I was shaving my legs and enjoying my ridiculously long, scalding-hot shower in peace when the bathroom door flung open, and Sophie barged in. So much for privacy, or knocking for that matter.

  “You’ve been in here for over thirty minutes, so wrap it up already,” she chided. “Clothes are on your bed.”

  “I’m just finishing up. What’s on the schedule for today, Sergeant?” I asked from behind the shower curtain.

  “Don’t give me that Sergeant crap.” I could imagine her eyes narrowing. “Five days in bed is a long enough pity-party.” She pulled back the curtain, and I was so startled that I nicked my leg with the razor. “We’re starting with an early lunch. I ordered a pizza, which should be here any minute, and then you and I are going to the beach.” Her eyes lowered to my bikini area, and she added, “Make sure to shave extra well.”

  “Shut the curtain, creeper! I’ll be done in a minute.” I grabbed the handheld shower head and sprayed her directly in the face. She quickly closed the curtain, and I could hear her laughing as she left the bathroom.

  Since we were going to the beach, I didn’t need to do my hair or makeup after I finished my shower. A cobalt blue string bikini and a short white cotton sundress were waiting for me on my bed. I was tying the biking strap around my neck when I heard Sophie yell that the pizza was here. I finished dressing and went to the kitchen. The pepperoni pizza on the counter looked absolutely delicious.

  Sophie was dressed in a jean skirt and black cami, and I could tell by the straps around her neck that she had her white bikini with little cherries on under her clothes. We sat down and finished off the entire pizza within fifteen minutes. I cleaned up while she packed our beach bag. It was time for me to go to the beach, whether I was ready or not. Maybe this was a good idea after all. I had to admit she was right so far; it did feel nice to be showered, dressed, and full of food. I slipped on a pair of Sophie’s flip-flops, and we left the apartment.

  We took the elevator down to the resident parking lot. I was caught off guard when I saw my car was next to Sophie’s white Jeep Wrangler. Since I had parked on the street five days ago, I couldn’t fathom how my car got down here. A reside
nt tag was hanging from the rearview mirror, which meant she must have registered my vehicle with the complex. Just another reminder of how drastically my life had changed.

  “How did you move my car? Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad it’s not on the street, but you don’t know how to drive it.”

  She looked slightly guilty, which was never a good sign. “You remember Conner’s friend, Adam, right?”

  Our lunch together came flashing back and brought a small smile to my lips. “Adam drove my car?”

  “I was going to try to move it for you, but I thought I might ruin the clutch. Adam and Conner were hanging out with me, watching the Brewers game a few days ago, and I asked if one of them would mind doing it. Adam was pumped to drive it as soon as I told him what type of car to look for.” She hesitated. “He was gone for about twenty minutes, and Conner and I were worried something happened to him or your car, but he came back looking like the cat that caught the canary. He couldn’t resist a little joyride.” She rolled her eyes. “Boys.”

  “He took my Mustang for a joyride? He’s lucky I don’t kill him!” I flexed my fingers and took a mental breath. Actually, it was nice of him to even offer to move it for me since I hadn’t been motivated enough to do it myself. I must’ve been sleeping when they were over because I hadn’t heard them at all. “On second thought, never mind. I’m just glad my car got underground in one piece. That’s all that matters.”

  “Good. Let’s go swimming.”

  I hopped into the passenger side of her Wrangler. The top and doors were off, so I quickly threw my hair into a ponytail to keep it from whipping in my face while we were driving. We pulled out, and Sophie blared the radio the whole way, singing along with every song. I even joined in on a few. Whenever the song turned slow or sad, she changed the channel. She was always thinking of me.

  Once we got to the beach, we found a spot in the sand near the water and laid down our towels. We stripped down to our bikinis and sprayed on sunblock. Sophie began digging through her oversized beach bag, grabbed something, and immediately put it behind her back before I could tell what it was.

  “I have a present for you,” she chimed and gave me a mega-watt smile.

  Intrigued, I raised one eye brow. “Uh-oh, presents from you can be dangerous . . . Okay. I’m ready. What’s my present?” I put out my hand and was rewarded with a plastic package that had a picture of a black circle inner tube designed like a car tire. “Hell yes!” I gave her a quick hug before ripping open the package. I began to blow up my tube while she unwrapped the packaging on her matching one.

  Once both of our tubes were inflated, we waded into the water and sat in them, letting our legs and arms hang off the sides. It felt as if we were ten years old again. Sophie was spinning around in her tube, her head back and eyes shut, while absorbing the warmth of the golden sunrays. In that moment, I just knew everything would eventually be okay. I’d lost the man I was in love with, the man who was supposed to be my husband, and I would still be hurt for a long time, but Sophie proved to me today that my life would go on. I could experience happiness again because I had her to help me along the way. To some people, it may seem odd to rely on your cousin so much for your happiness, but we shared an unbreakable bond. Since we were little, she had always been—and would always continue to be—there for me through thick and thin. Just as I had always been—and would always be—there for her too. She meant more to me than any other person in the world.

  Despite the beautiful, perfect summer weather, the beach wasn’t overly busy. There were a group of guys playing Frisbee, some teenage girls sunbathing, a few people on a blanket playing cards and drinking beer, and a handful of scattered parents watching their little kids making sand castles and splashing in the shallow water. Nobody else was in the lake past the point where you could no longer touch the bottom, providing us with the illusion of isolation.

  As we floated in the cool water, our initial small talk slowly turned more serious. We came to the conclusion that it was time for me to officially move out of Trenton’s. I knew it needed to happen but was dreading it regardless. Sophie promised she would come with me, which calmed my anxiety a tad.

  “You really have no choice, Sienna. You especially need your clothes. You can’t live out of my closet forever.” We both knew that was a lie. Her closet had enough clothes to outfit a small army. But I did need to get my stuff, if only to finalize the ending of our relationship. “I can ask Conner if he will help us move the boxes and your dresser,” Sophie offered. “Plus, he has a pickup truck, which would be way better than trying to just use my Jeep or your car. You don’t have any other furniture besides the dresser, right?”

  “Right. Almost everything at the apartment is Trenton’s.” I contemplated her offer to ask Conner to help. “Do you think Conner would mind? I’m sure he doesn’t want to be in the middle of my drama.”

  “I think he’ll be okay with helping. I’ll give him a call when we get back to shore. I told him I was taking you to the beach today, and he was happy to hear I was getting you out of your room. I know you two don’t really know each other much, but he had a similar experience in the beginning of school last year. They weren’t engaged or anything, but he loved her, and she cheated on him with another guy in his frat. He told me that when Adam transferred here, he was glad to get out of the frat house and eventually quit the fraternity completely.” She paused. “So anyway, he knows what it’s like.”

  “He seems like a really nice guy. I’m sorry to hear he got shit on too.”

  Sophie gave me a regretful look, which I thought had to do with our conversation about Conner, but I was wrong. She’d saved the big bomb for last. “Your mom came over yesterday.”

  I winced. “And . . . ?”

  “She was irate that I wouldn’t let her in the building.”

  My eyes popped. “You refused to let her in? Oh my God, this is going to be bad.”

  She let out a dry laugh. “Oh, it was. But I didn’t want her to fuck with you. She reprimanded me through the intercom for, and I quote, ‘being cruel and selfish enough to keep her away from her only child.’”

  “She can be so dramatic.”

  “Trenton apparently called her when he realized he hit a dead end with your phone being off. He tried my phone three days ago, and after a few minutes of me spewing every swear word I could think of, I hung up on him. He hasn’t tried my phone since. He must have turned to her as a last resort.” Sophie took a second before continuing. “Your mom said all men make mistakes and it’s not uncommon for men to, get this, ‘sow their oats’ before marriage.” She used finger quotes to empathize how ridiculous she found the phrase. “I don’t know where your mom gets that shit from. Long story short, I told her to get lost and said you would call her by Saturday, so you have two more days. Sorry.”

  “Nothing for you to be sorry about . . . Did you really have this whole conversation through the intercom?”

  “As I said, I wasn’t going to let her come up and fuck with you.”

  I laughed. “You rock. You know that, right?”

  “Hell yes, I do.”

  My mother’s opinion of the situation stung, but I wouldn’t let myself dwell on it. Today wasn’t about negative thoughts. I’d had enough of those lately and probably would have plenty more in the days to come.

  “Thanks for taking care of my mother. I’ll call her by Saturday. But first I’ll call Trenton to make arrangements to move my things out.” A ton of weight dropped from my shoulders. I could totally do this. I had to. “Enough of this craziness for now, we’re here to enjoy ourselves,” I said, then mustered a halfhearted smile. I was ready for a change of subject before the depression snuck up on me again and ruined our afternoon. “So you seem to really like Conner, huh?”

  Her face glowed with happiness. “I really do.” She suddenly frowned, seemingly ashamed. “But I feel bad discussing my new relationship when you’re dealing with a breakup.”

  My shoulders slu
mped at her admission. “Please don’t feel bad. I want you to be nothing but happy. I’m glad you met Conner.” I smiled, this time sincerely.

  “Hey, sexy!” I heard a man’s voice yell from the shore.

  In an instant, I was splashed with water as Sophie almost flipped over in her tube, but she righted herself just in time to stay afloat. She gasped. “No way. Speak of the devil, and he shall appear. Look.” I looked where she was pointing and saw two guys standing at the edge of the water—Conner and Adam.

  My stomach did an involuntary, tiny backflip at the sight of Adam. As hard as I tried, I couldn’t deny that I was entranced by the sight of him standing there in nothing but army-green swim trunks and a pair of aviator sunglasses.

  My head whipped back to Sophie. Now that my eyes were no longer on the beautiful man on the beach, I was pissed. “I thought today was about you and me, not setting me up on a double date. I’m not ready for that, and you know it.” I kept my voice low enough to not make a scene.

  She put her hands in the air as if I was pointing a gun at her. “I swear I didn’t know.” I peered at her skeptically. “I promise you. As I said, I told Conner we were coming here, but I never invited him to come along. I have no idea why he would even think it was a good idea to show up with Adam.” She looked truly remorseful. “I’m sorry, honey. I’ll go explain to Conner that you’re not ready for additional company yet.”

  “Wait,” I huffed out. “I’ll just look weak and pathetic if you send them away now. Plus, I know you’d like to spend time with Conner. I can put on my big girl panties for the rest of today.”