Two truths and a lime, p.1
Two Truths & a Lime, page 1
Two Truths & a Lime
The Love Game: Book Three
Elizabeth Hayley
This book is a publication of Waterhouse Press.
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not assume any responsibility for third-party websites or their content.
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Copyright © 2020 Waterhouse Press, LLC
Original Cover Design by Wicked by Design
Cover Redesign by Waterhouse Press
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All Rights Reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic format without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Acknowledgments
Start Reading The Love Lessons Series With
Book One of the Love Lessons Series
Also by Elizabeth Hayley
About Elizabeth Hayley
To 2021🤞
Chapter One
S O P H I A
“Brody.”
I smacked my brother on the shoulder when he didn’t look my way. Though I hadn’t exactly looked his way either. My entire focus had settled on the woman—Veronica, apparently—who was sitting on Brody’s couch claiming to be his wife.
“Can you answer me, please?” I asked. “Who is she? How do you know her?”
He finally turned toward me, but his girlfriend stormed past both of us, causing his attention to shift to Veronica again.
“Did you just fucking say you’re his wife?” Aamee asked as she approached Veronica like a Rottweiler might an intruder. And to be fair, Veronica was an intruder. She still hadn’t explained how she’d gotten into Brody’s apartment, though she’d insinuated that it had been stupid of Brody to even ask.
Was she in the mob or something?
“I’m his wife,” Veronica said again.
Our friend Carter practically laughed. “Might as well rip the wife meeting your new girlfriend Band-Aid right off.”
“Dude,” Drew warned in a harsh whisper. “Don’t make it worse.”
“Come on, you gotta admit this is entertaining. Right, Code?” Carter hit Cody on the chest with the back of his hand. Guess he figured if anyone would find this situation humorous, it was Drew’s younger brother.
“No, she’s not my wife!” Brody said to all of us before facing Veronica again. “You’re not my wife! Please tell my girlfriend I’m not married!”
All of us stared at Veronica, and when she didn’t say anything, Brody spoke again.
“I’m not married, am I?”
Veronica’s severe expression softened before she broke out into full laughter.
“No. God, I’m kidding. How can you not be sure you’re not married? I thought I might fool your friends, but I didn’t think you’d fall for it.”
At Veronica’s words, Brody’s entire body seemed to slacken to a point where a toddler probably could’ve pushed him over. Rubbing a hand over his face, he took a seat in a nearby chair.
“I don’t know. I was drunk a lot of the time. Who knows what I would’ve agreed to.”
“Such a sweet talker,” Veronica replied.
“Can you please stop?” Brody said.
“I think we should go.” The suggestion came from our friend Aniyah, who was already grabbing Carter’s arm.
“Fine,” Carter said. “But call me later and let me know what happened.” The directive was given to Drew, but thankfully he had enough common sense not to make any promises.
Somehow once they and Cody, who’d followed everyone else’s lead, were all out of the apartment, the atmosphere seemed more tense, as if the intimacy of the moment caused all of us to be hyperaware of every movement and sound.
Brody might not have been married, which was a relief to all of us—though probably no one more so than Brody—but there was still the question of why Veronica was here and how they knew each other.
Aamee had stayed because, yeah, no way she was leaving her boyfriend with a woman who’d claimed to be his wife a few minutes ago.
She moved over to Brody and took a seat on his lap, putting her arm around him like she was marking her territory. Either that or she was trying to make it more difficult for him to get up and run away should he suddenly decide to.
“Brody,” Aamee said as calmly as she could probably manage at the moment. The fact that Brody was still physically able to conceive children and Veronica still had hair on her head spoke volumes for Aamee’s self-restraint. “Can you please explain why this strange…dark-haired creature is in your apartment claiming to be your wife?”
Brody sighed loudly before dropping his head back against the back of the chair and staring up at the ceiling.
“She was kidding. And I have no idea how Vee got in here or why she’s here.”
“His door was unlocked,” Veronica said to Aamee. “And I honestly had no idea he had a girlfriend. We met when Brody was traveling, but there’s nothing between us now.”
Vee sounded like she was attempting to sound reassuring, though she had to be worried Brody and Aamee had been together when Vee had her tryst with Brody.
“Thank you, Vee,” Aamee said like she was trying to spit the name out of her mouth. “But I’d like to hear that from my boyfriend.”
Carter was right; this was definitely entertaining.
“Vee’s telling the truth. I met her when I was in New York. It was months ago. We haven’t spoken since. I swear.”
“Which is why I dropped by,” Vee explained. “I knew he went to school here, and he gave me his address in case I was ever in the area.”
“He actually doesn’t go to school here anymore,” I corrected her. “Or anywhere, actually. It’s probably good you’re not really married to him.”
“You’re not helping,” Brody shot at me through gritted teeth.
“Let me guess,” Vee said. “Your sister?”
“The one and only,” Brody said, tossing his hand carelessly toward me.
“You told her about me?” I tried to act bothered by the fact that he’d clearly told this woman about me, but I couldn’t help but be flattered.
Brody and I hadn’t been close until the last couple of months. We hadn’t even really spoken much until I showed up at his apartment last semester looking for a place to stay on campus after Aamee’d kicked me out of the sorority house for some archaic rule I’d broken.
Having to cover for Brody while he was hopping from country to country like he was on some sort of large-scale pub crawl while I lived with the stranger who was impersonating him didn’t help our relationship any.
I tried not to think about what a clusterfuck last semester had been, but then again, it had indirectly led me to Drew, so it was hard to hate Brody completely. Or Aamee for that matter.
“Whatever,” Brody said. “I may have mentioned you a few times. I don’t really remember.”
I hadn’t even known that Brody was in New York for any length of time, let alone for long enough to have…whatever it was he’d had with Veronica. I just assumed he’d gone straight to Europe since that seemed to be where he’d spent most of the semester.
Brody put his arms around Aamee and pulled her close to him. “So…what are you here for, Veronica?” He sounded more curious than angry. Though that curiosity could easily transform depending on Veronica’s answer.
“Honestly just saying hi. I was in the neighborhood. I’m starting an internship in the city soon, so I need to find a small place. Hey, do you have any of that red blend we used to drink?”
Veronica was already up and headed for the kitchen, presumably to look for wine. She scanned the countertops before opening a few of the upper cabinets.
“Just make yourself at home,” Brody called sarcastically.
Empty-handed, Veronica made her way back to the living room. Pulling her black hair up into a messy bun on her way, she said, “Sorry. I should at least properly introduce myself before I go through your boyfriend’s kitchen like I live here.” She gave Aamee a sweet smile and extended her hand. “I’m Veronica, but most of my friends call me Vee.”
“I gathered that much,” Aamee said.
When Aamee didn’t shake Vee’s hand after an uncomfortable amount of time, Vee turned to me. “Pleasure to meet you, Sophia.”
“You as well. And this is my boyfriend, Drew. He lives here with B
Drew and Vee shook hands.
“Do you go to Lazarus too, Drew?”
“No. Well, not anymore. I kind of took some classes last semester. Not sure how much Brody told you.”
Veronica’s eyes lit up, and her finger went back and forth between Drew and Brody. “Oh my God! Yes! I see the resemblance now. So how was it living Brody Mason’s life for a few months?”
“Uh…interesting, I guess. I think that’s the first time I’ve ever been asked that.”
“Don’t be modest,” Brody said. “It’s great being me.”
The rest of us rolled our eyes or shook our heads, including Veronica. Maybe if she lived around here, she’d fit in with us better than I initially thought.
“Do any of you have any suggestions for good neighborhoods to look for an apartment?” she asked. “I’m not picky. I just need something close to public transit and relatively inexpensive. A place right around here would be perfect, but everything I’ve seen so far is a fortune.”
“No, sorry. This area’s pricey,” Aamee said, smiling in a way that made it clear she was not sorry about having to deliver the information. “You should probably find a different city to do your internship in.”
Veronica laughed, but she didn’t seem intimidated by Aamee in the least. She looked to be a few years older than Aamee and struck me as more cultured in a way that probably came from books and traveling, despite probably not having the money Aamee had.
“It’s not the cheapest place to live,” I added, “but you can find something decent. It might not be that close to the city, though, depending on how much you want to spend. My friend Taylor and I are looking for an apartment for the summer too. We can probably send you some ideas if you don’t mind a studio or something.”
“Yeah, anything would be great. I grew up with three brothers in a small place in Brooklyn. Doesn’t need to be big. This internship’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but if I can’t find a place to stay that’s reasonable, I might have to pass it up.”
“Great, good luck with that,” Aamee said with a toothy smile that was as sarcastic as her words.
Drew grabbed my hand and squeezed. “This is super awkward,” he whispered, though I was sure everyone in the room could hear. I’m not sure if that made it more awkward or less.
I whispered back, “Yeah, we probably should’ve left with the rest of them.”
“I think Veronica should be the one who leaves,” Aamee snapped.
“Aamee,” Brody began, before he seemed to realize his mistake and shut his mouth.
“I’m going,” Vee said with a smile much more genuine than Aamee’s.
I couldn’t help but like her, though I wasn’t sure why since I barely knew much more about her than her name.
D R E W
“Drew, get out here!” Brody didn’t give much time for me to respond before he called me again. “Drew! You awake?”
I was now. The morning had wiped me out, more emotionally than physically, but I’d needed a nap either way.
“Yeah, coming.”
I made it out to the living room a few seconds later to see Mr. Mason sitting on the couch next to Brody. Sophia was on the chair sitting quietly, not nearly as excited as Brody seemed. And Aamee was nowhere to be found. She must’ve left at some point while I was asleep.
“Drew, listen to this,” Brody said. “Tell him.”
“Nice to see you again, Mr. Mason.” I reached my hand out to his.
He shook it, though he didn’t exactly seem thrilled about it. Then he gestured to the other chair.
“Have a seat, Drew.”
I did as I was told, like I was a teenager about to be chastised by the principal for cutting class or smoking in the bathroom. Mr. Mason came across as intimidating whether he wanted to or not. He didn’t wear the judgment on his face like a mask; it was his face.
Sophia could probably sense my discomfort because she gave me a reassuring smile.
“He wants to give us some money for a real business,” Brody announced. He was like a kid who’d been told a secret he never had any chance of keeping. “He was impressed by what we did with Nite Bites!”
“Could you let me speak for a minute, Brody?”
Brody made an event out of pressing his lips together and pretending to zip them shut.
When Mr. Mason seemed satisfied that he’d get the floor, he continued. “For once my son is telling the truth. Though ‘impressed’ may be too strong a word. You did break a few rules—and possibly laws,” he added, “in the process. And you almost got Sophia kicked out of school. But you showed…potential. I told Brody that not many people could start up a business like yours with very few resources and take it as far as the two of you did.”
“See? Told you,” Brody chimed in, clearly unable to contain his excitement.
Mr. Mason shot Brody a look of warning. “I wanted to talk to Brody about this first anyway,” he explained. “So in a way it worked out that you were sleeping…during the day.”
It would’ve been useless to remind him that I was still recovering from my accident and everyday activities still took a lot out of me, so I let him speak uninterrupted. Besides, I’d already allowed myself to take interest in what Mr. Mason was going to tell me—though not close to the level Brody was displaying. He was practically vibrating in his seat.
“Admittedly, I don’t know much about you, Drew, but I do know my son. To put it mildly, he’s never shown much drive, his work ethic is severely lacking, and his follow-through is typically weak.”
Somehow Brody managed to appear shocked. “I thought you were gonna put it mildly.”
“I did.”
That almost made me laugh, but I managed to stifle it.
“Had you guys told me about Nite Bites before you began it, I would’ve said it was destined to fail. You had no plan and no experience. On paper it should’ve flopped. But business isn’t all about projections. You need something special to make a business successful. I’m not sure what that ‘something special’ is when it comes to the two of you, but your ingenuity and passion do impress me, especially considering those traits are coming from a lying moocher and an uneducated invalid.”
“Told you he was impressed!” Brody said.
Another sharp glance from Mr. Mason had Brody calm again.
“The bottom line is I’ve never seen my son so motivated or accomplished, and I’d like to see more of that. I’d like to discuss the possibility of investing in a business if the two of you are willing to run one. As I told Brody, I think Nite Bites has run its course. I’m not sure it can sustain the success it’s had long-term, so I asked Brody if he had any other business ideas he’d like to pursue. He didn’t have much to offer, which wasn’t exactly surprising, so I wanted to ask you as well. You and Brody seem to make a pretty good team. Is there a certain type of business you’d be interested in?”
This was an unexpected opportunity, to say the least. And I didn’t want to make the same mistake Brody did. Nite Bites was one thing, but I’d never been in a place to consider owning a real business. And if I was interpreting Mr. Mason’s backhanded compliment correctly, he was willing to invest in us if we had an idea he wanted to invest in.
“I’ve worked at Rafferty’s since I was old enough to get a job. Cleaning, busing tables, that kind of thing. And I’ve been bartending there for a few years. It’s a good job and decent money when I can work enough hours.”
Mr. Mason already knew this, and he looked less than thrilled to be hearing it again.
“But it’s kind of a dream of mine to have my own place someday,” I added.
