Sins of Sisterhood

12. One night, Two lies

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#Rule 12: Honesty is overrated. Play your cards close, but your lies closer.

"Oh, I'm a liar, I'm whatever you said
There's a fire in you that gets me all upset"

Amy Shark – 'I'm a liar'

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"You have a condom on your back."

I blinked.

Processing.

Or trying to, anyway.

Cade was leaned in close, mouth just inches from my ear, with that infuriatingly smug smile of his. To anyone watching, he might've probably looked like he was about to kiss me. And okay, fine, it's not like he couldn't pull off the look—one corner of his mouth curved, like he'd already won some twisted argument we hadn't even started yet. Which only made this moment both surreal and slightly mortifying.

And that was when his words fully registered.

I felt my entire face freeze as I jolted back, my mouth gaping. "A condom? Like… actually on my back?"

I must have looked completely horrified—or more accurately, torn between shock and that slow, sinking realization that my face was doing exactly what Cade wanted it to. 

Cade's smug grin grew by about a mile.

"That's the reaction I expected. Which is exactly why I know it's true." he whispered, practically vibrating with self-satisfaction.

I narrowed my eyes. "Does that mean you're lying?"

"I thought lying was the new game." he murmured, eyes still fixed on me with that irritatingly knowing gaze, like he'd caught me red-handed at something criminal.

"You're an ass," I shot back, folding my arms and feeling the heat rise up my cheeks. Here I was, half-dead from last night's festivities, my brain firing on maybe one neuron, and he just had to get clever. "You think that proves anything? Since when is catching me off-guard the same thing as proof?"

He leaned in again, his voice low enough that only I could hear.

"Thing is, you're good, Eris. Better than most. Four years of friendship," he let the words sink in, letting them hang for effect. "I'm well aware you're a world-class liar. But even you have little tells."

I looked down, trying to shake off the nagging sense that he was reading me like one of his textbooks."Alright, Sherlock, what exactly do you think you know?"

He gave me a half-smile, that damn knowing look never leaving his face.

"First, you're still in yesterday's clothes," he said, eyes flicking over me like he'd been cataloging every detail for hours. "And don't forget, you texted me that you went home for 'family things.' which clearly wasn't the case."

I swallowed, suddenly aware of just how obvious last night was becoming. "It was family stuff. It was—okay, technically, it was… fine, it wasn't family stuff."

He smirked. "And your reaction? No one freaks out over a phantom condom on their back unless they've had a night that justifies it."

I couldn't help it.

A laugh broke through, the tension lifting just a little. "Cade, sometimes you're too smart for your own good. Fine, I admit it... I'm sorry for lying to you."