Epic Lies (Epic Fail Book 2)

by Trudy Stiles

  “You and me. We’re lying every single day,” she says and presses her back into my chest. She’s right. We’ve been hiding our relationship from everyone, especially Garrett.

  “We’ll tell him, eventually.” I say. I cup her breasts and flick her nipples. She gasps and reaches behind her and between my legs, stroking me roughly. I spin her around and lift her so I can enter her quickly. I plunge into her as I press her back into the shower wall, our bodies move together perfectly.

  “I like it the way it is,” she pants and bites her lip. “I like hiding and sneaking around with you. It’s hot.” She grabs onto my shoulders and pulls me toward her, as if she’s trying to control my pace. I drive deeper into her and squeeze her ass. She wants it hard, and she wants it quick. I follow her cues and thrust faster. She bites my neck and moans. “God, Dax.” One of her hands leaves my shoulder, and I feel it move down my abs near where our bodies are joined. She helps guide my length into her deeper, and then moves her hand between her legs, speeding up her own climax. She quivers around me, and I explode inside of her.

  I gently ease her off of me and hold her close until her feet are firmly planted on the shower floor. Her eyes are heavy and seductive. “You always know what I want, baby.” She kisses me deeply, but I feel disconnected. I can’t get her words out of my head.

  “You want to keep us a secret?” I ask in disbelief. She finishes rinsing and turns the water off.

  “I think it’s best for everyone, don’t you think?” she says and brushes past me. She wraps a towel around herself and leaves the bathroom.

  “I’m sick of hiding out, Natalia. That’s all we do.”

  “Hiding out is fun. What we just did was fantastic. Last night was amazing!” she yells from the bedroom.

  I grab a towel and dry myself quickly, tucking it around my hips and follow her voice.

  “I’m in love with you, and I want everyone to know.” Her face freezes, and she looks sad. I’ve never told her this, and I’m surprised by my own admission.

  “It just can’t be like that, Dax.” She dresses quickly and pulls her hair into a bun. I’m tense and worried where this conversation is leading us. She waves her hands between us. “This, right here, will destroy too many relationships. We are a secret that shouldn’t be let out. Your band means more to you than life. They’re your brothers. I’m just temporary.”

  “What the hell? Temporary? You’re talking crazy! Do you not feel what I feel? Is this not real?” I yell and storm toward her. She stands firm and raises her hand.

  “Don’t do this, Dax. We have a good thing, you and me. This is a good thing. Why mess it up by bringing other people into our private lives?” Her voice softens to her familiar purr. “Don’t you want me all to yourself?”

  “That’s besides the point. You know I love having you here with me as much as possible, but hiding and lying to everyone is something I didn’t agree to long term. Garrett will have to deal with this out in the open. He’s a big boy. He can handle it.”

  She looks down at her feet and shakes her head. Her phone rings from behind me, and I swipe it off of the dresser. As I hand it to her, I see the Caller ID. “Who’s Edward?” I ask as she snatches the phone from my hands and silences the ring.

  She slides the phone into her back pocket and walks past me. She turns and makes eye contact with me before she leaves the room. She looks sad and guilty. My chest tightens as her lips begin to move, and I suddenly realize that she’s been lying to me for months.

  “He’s my husband.”

  Giselle

  Past

  Age 21

  THE SUN WARMS MY CHEST as Mia snores on the blanket next to me. She’s completely hung over, and if I have to admit, so am I. We graduated from college last week, and our summer vacation has begun. I have six weeks off before I start my new job as an entry-level marketing associate.

  She rolls over and opens her eyes. “I love it here,” she murmurs.

  “Me too,” I say. I reach for my tank and pull it over my head. The spot between my boobs feels sunburned. “Shit, I didn’t put on enough sunscreen.” I grab the bottle off of the blanket and rub some onto my chest, shoulders, and arms.

  “When are you parents coming down?” she asks.

  We’re at our summer rental, which we started early this season. My parents knew I’d have some time between school and work, so they signed the lease starting on May 1st.

  “They’ll be here next weekend.”

  “So, we have the place to ourselves until then?” She smiles and stretches. “I’m going back to sleep.” She rolls over and is out within minutes.

  I prop myself up on my elbows so I can look out at the waves. A few surfers waiting for the next big swell and a few people are scattered throughout the beach. I’m going to suggest we start our summer rental before Memorial Day every year from now on. This is awesome. Plus, the bars aren’t yet filled with meatheads, and there’s no wait at any of the local restaurants. We truly do have this place to ourselves.

  “This is heaven,” I say to a sleeping Mia, and watch as one of the surfers attempts to catch a wave. He rides a small swell in and abandons it half-way. His friends are shaking their heads, mocking him for jumping the gun. They’ve been out there for about an hour just floating and waiting. The water is still cold for this time of year, and they’re all wearing their wetsuits. Before Mia fell asleep, she was rating them on their looks and presentation. She likes ‘Tall Guy’ who fills out his wetsuit very nicely, according to her. She plans to talk to him when they finally come in, and I’m on alert to wake her up as soon as that happens.

  My phone rings from my beach bag, and I reach in to find it. When I pull it out, I smile. “Hi, Mom,” I say.

  “Giselle, how are you? Your father and I were beginning to get worried, we haven’t heard from you in a few days.” She feigns worry, but I can hear the smile in her voice.

  “We’re good. You don’t have to worry about us.”

  “What have you been doing?” she asks.

  “Right now, we’re on the beach. It’s an absolutely perfect day, you should see it.”

  “Your father has been keeping up on the weather on his phone,” she says, and I hear my father’s voice in the background. “It’s going to rain between four and five, and then it will be nice the rest of the week. There’s a quick clipper coming from the west.” He can’t help himself. I laugh.

  “Did you hear that, honey?” my mother asks.

  “Yes, I heard.”

  “You still have a few more hours on the beach before the rain comes,” she says. “Are you two eating okay? Do you have enough food?”

  “Yes, we ate at that Italian place on Ocean Avenue last night. It was amazing.”

  “Oh? They changed owners last year. Your father will be happy. You know how much he loves his chicken parmesan.”

  Their lives literally revolve around weather, traffic, and food. In that order.

  “Are you girls behaving yourselves?” she asks, and I know what she really means: is Mia behaving herself?

  “Yes, we are.” Mia was a little out of control last night, but no more than usual. None of my mother’s business, that’s for sure.

  “Oh good.”

  “See you and Dad on Saturday,” I say, attempting to end the call.

  “Wait, I wanted to let you know something came for you today. It was delivered just a few minutes ago.”

  “Yeah? What is it?” My curiosity spikes. I have no idea what it could be.

  “It’s a huge bouquet of flowers. The biggest arrangement I’ve ever seen,” she says, excited.

  “Really? Who is it from?” Now, I’m really curious.

  “Do you want me to open the card?” she asks, and I’m surprised she already hasn’t. She’s nosy like that.

  “Yes!”

  “Okay, hold on.” I hear an envelope being torn open and paper being unfolded.

  “It’s from Derek,” she says and I hold my breath.


  “Really?” I ask. I haven’t spoken to him in almost two years, although he’s attempted to apologize more than once for what he did to me sophomore year. I saw him at graduation, but avoided him.

  “Do you want me to read you the note?” I’m sure she’s already skimmed it, but this could be awkward. I never told her why we broke up.

  “Yes, please.” I hold my breath, my pulse races.

  “Giselle, happy graduation. You’ll always be the one that got away. I miss you.”

  I exhale.

  “Did you hear me?” my mother asks.

  “Yes, thanks.”

  “Are you okay? You know, your father and I always liked Derek. I wonder what he’s doing now?”

  Probably cheating on his current girlfriend.

  “I have no idea,” I say.

  “What happened with him? If you don’t mind me asking,” my mother asks.

  “Nothing. It was a long time ago.”

  “But, these flowers. They are gorgeous Giselle. You should see them. I’ll take a picture with my phone and send it to you. Better yet, if they’re still alive when we come down this weekend, I’ll bring them.”

  “No. That’s okay. I don’t need them here.”

  “Are you sure? They would look great in the front room in that large picture window.”

  “I’m sure they’ll be dead by then,” I hope. “Don’t bother, okay?”

  “I’ll just have to keep them on the dining room table then,” she says, attempting to make me feel guilty.

  “That’s fine with me,” I say. Then, they’ll definitely be dead by the time I get home in a few weeks.

  “See you Saturday. Tell Mia we said ‘Hi,’” she says.

  I hang up and toss my phone back into my bag. “Is your mom worried that I’m still a bad influence on you?” Mia groggily jokes.

  “She only said that once, and to be fair, you were a bad influence on me that summer,” I joke. We didn’t get arrested after our antics, but my parents had to come pick us up at the police station in Belmar one night. It wasn’t fun, and my mother had a long talk with the both of us about drinking responsibly, even if we were underage.

  “Oh my God. I’m still so lucky she never told my mother about what happened.” Even though Mia lives in Vermont, our families have become extremely close, our parents even going on vacations together. Last winter, they met in New York City and took a cruise to the Caribbean. She’s like the sister I never had. And like the cousin that I lost.

  “Yeah, that was a hell of a night. We’re lucky we didn’t get arrested.”

  “So, what did your mom want?” she asks.

  “To tell me Derek sent me flowers.”

  She sits up straight, eyes wide. “What?”

  “Yeah. I have no idea what that’s about.”

  “Tell me.”

  “The card said something like ‘I was the one that got away,’” I tell her.

  “Oh. My. God. I knew he was still in love with you. I knew it!” She seems proud of herself.

  “Stop it. Seriously. That was over years ago.”

  “He made a really bad decision, but I know how much he loved you.”

  “So, a chick just accidentally fell on his dick, kind of bad decision?” I laugh. “No, what he did was worse than a bad decision. He betrayed me. Lied to me. Fuck him.”

  She shakes her head. “What a shame. You would have made beautiful babies together,” she laughs, and I slap her arm.

  There’s a lot of commotion happening behind us on the boardwalk, and we both turn around. There’s a group of guys and a camera crew following them.

  “Ooh, I wonder who that is?” Mia says, and we both crane our necks to see.

  They stop about a hundred yards away, their backs to us. A short woman starts to arrange the group of guys while the camera man directs the shot. A bunch of girls runs past us on the boardwalk, and they’re screaming. “Alex! Garrett! Oh My God!”

  “Holy shit. That’s Epic Fail,” Mia says and stands up, shielding her eyes from the sun. A large bodyguard stops the screaming groupies in their tracks as the band poses for more pictures. One climbs the railing behind him and stands tall, his arms outstretched as if he’s flying in the air. Laughter emanates from the group.

  “How do you know?” I ask her.

  “Garrett? Alex? Don’t you know their names?” she asks as if I should know everything about them.

  “No, not really,” I say. I do like their music, though.

  “We should go over there,” she says.

  “No way, I’m not getting caught up in that mess. I’ll stay right here and watch your surfer dudes, thank you very much.” I place my arms next to my sides and put my head back down onto the blanket. “Maybe I’ll even take a nap.”

  “You’re no fun,” she says. “There’s a group of hot rock stars just over there, and you want to sit here and stare out at those boring surfers.”

  Suddenly they’re boring. I laugh, “You’re a nut.”

  Tall Guy rides a wave in, and she perks up. “I’ll be right back,” she says, wrapping her sarong around her hips. She runs toward the water and Tall Guy.

  I shake my head and smile. She’ll never change, and I love her.

  I watch as the band and their crew walk down the boardwalk, toward where I’m sitting. A section of the boardwalk juts out to a gazebo, and the photographer sets up some lights and his camera underneath. They do another group shot and then several individual shots of each of them. One of them sits on the bench, facing the water, facing me. He kicks his legs out in front of him, the sea air blowing through his hair. He watches the waves, and I look at the photographer. Do I need to move? I think I may be in the shot.

  I stand up and pull my blanket over a few feet to my right, looking back to make sure they know I’m getting out of the picture. The photographer waves his hand as if to thank me and nods his head. The guy on the bench is looking in my direction. He’s about fifty yards away, so it’s hard to tell exactly what he’s looking at. I sink back down onto the sand, so I’m not in his line of vision anymore. They must have him purposely gazing out over the beach, to get a soulful, brooding shot. He seems to still be looking at me when I recline back down onto the blanket. The photographer scales the railing of the boardwalk and leans over as far as he can, getting a shot of him from a different angle.

  After about ten minutes, the photographer and his assistant begin to pack up their gear. The guy is still sitting on the bench, and he slowly raises his hand in the air, waving at me. Me?

  I tentatively wave back.

  A dozen more screaming girls rush the group on the boardwalk, and their bodyguard ushers the band away. He turns his head and waves one last time.

  That was weird.

  Mia’s racing back to where I’m sitting. “Dude, was he just waving at you?” she asks, out of breath.

  “No, I don’t think so.”

  “It sure looked like it. Oh my God!”

  “Whatever,” I say, laughing.

  “Mark and his friends are having a party tonight. And we’re invited!” she says, changing the subject.

  “Mark?” I ask.

  “Tall Guy. Mark.”

  “Oh,” I chuckle. “Glad he has a name.”

  I lay back down on the blanket. “I’m not in the mood for a party tonight,” I huff.

  “Is it because of Derek? Don’t let him harsh your vibe,” she says as she morphs into her surfer lingo. It happens every summer. By August, she’s learned at least a dozen new vocabulary words–surfer style.

  “I just don’t want to be reminded of that crappy time in my life, Mia.”

  “Then erase it!” she says.

  “You know it’s not easy for me. I’m afraid of what will happen the next time I open my heart to someone. I don’t think I can handle it anymore.”

  “I believe in my heart you’ll find that person. He’s out there for you. He’s the perfect guy, and he’ll never stray. He’ll treat you like his
princess; it’ll be like a real-life fairytale,” she says, pulling me into a hug.

  The surfers start to walk our way. The groupies chase after the band.

  “You never know what’s right in front of you,” she says, kissing my cheek.

  Dax

  Present

  A WARM, NAKED BODY is pulled firmly against my chest, and I smile. Giselle smells like the perfect mix of baby lotion and coconut oil, and I have no idea how I even know what they smell like. It’s hot, sexy, and amazing. I pull her against me tighter, and she begins to stir.

  “Hey,” I whisper into her hair. “Are you awake?” I press my length against her back, letting her know that I definitely am.

  “No,” she says, and I hear the smile in her voice. “I’m sound asleep.” She fakes a yawn.

  I kiss the back of her neck, where my nose has been nuzzled for the past hour. I woke up a while ago and just laid here with her in my arms, listening to her soft breathing. I replayed the events of the last few days, and I realize what a colossal jerk I’ve been. I was even a jerk when we were back home. She didn’t ask anything of me and is genuinely worried about this being nothing. I can tell she’s preparing herself for me to leave Mexico and never speak to her again. She’s guarding her heart, and I feel bad. I want her to know I’m not like that. I’m not going to use her and toss her to the curb. I need to show her exactly what I want and keep doing it to her, over and over again. I’ve been restraining myself from waking her up, but I need to be inside her, now.

  “I hope you don’t mind if I take advantage of you while you sleep,” I grin. I slide my hand from her stomach up to her breasts, slowly teasing her nipples. She tenses against me and gasps.

  “Who are you again?” she asks, joking.

  “You’ll remember in a minute,” I say, parting her legs with my knee. Her leg is draped over the top of mine. I grab a condom and quickly slide it over me. She inhales deeply, and reaches behind her, helping guide me in to her warmth. I move slowly against her back, going as deep as I can. Her breathing quickens in tune with mine. From this angle, I’m able to easily reach the front of her, so I do and begin massaging her little bundle of nerves as I continue slowly pumping into her. She moans loudly and places her hand on top of mine, slowing my pace. “Too fast,” she exhales. “Like this.” I let her show me how slow she wants me to touch her, her hand pressing softly on top of mine. This has got to be the hottest thing ever. Fuck.