Lie To Me

Lie To Me-Chapter 26

Pulling up to the place, I thanked the driver, and paid him before getting out. I turned toward the building simply titled "Dent's" and spotted Jeremy sitting at his usual table.

He looked up in time to see me watching, and raised his hand in a hello, his smile not quite reaching his eyes. Something was definitely wrong... Waving back, I took a deep breath and headed in. Here we go...

"Hey..." Sliding into the booth across from him, my stomach clenched at the awkwardness that seemed to fill the space between us. He hadn't given me a kiss hello, or even a hug. He hadn't even stood up when I'd come in...

"Hey." His response was cool, and even a little...sad?

"Jeremy, what's going on? You're not acting yourself, and I... I just don't know what happened. Did I do something wrong?"

Lifting a magazine from the seat next to him, he slapped it down on the table in front of me. "I don't know. Maybe you should tell me..."

I looked down and shuddered. It was a damn tabloid... Another damn tabloid. Looking over the cover, I spotted an old picture of Harry and I at a birthday party for one of the boys last year. We'd been dancing to "Baby got back," and decided to strike a pose for the camera. Needless to say, we'd been drinking...

But, why would they have put that picture up? It was so old!! Then I read the caption underneath it...

'The world's most well-known "Just Friends" couple is finally coming clean, and we have the pics to prove it!!'

My eyes shot up to Jeremy. "You can't seriously believe this can you?"

His mouth pulled flat as he took a deep breath and sighed. "Oh no, please. Take a look inside."

Shaking my head, I found the article, sharing a page with two pictures. One was of Harry kissing my head as we stood on the sidewalk Saturday. Okay, yeah... That did look somewhat intimate, but it was completely innocent!! And that was just hours before Jeremy had come over!! He'd met Harry since then. Seen how we are together. So, surely he couldn't fault me for that... Then I saw the other one. Smaller, and a tad grainier, was a picture of Harry and I sleeping on the couch, his head in my lap, and my body somewhat fallen over onto his.

What the hell?!?

"When was this?!?" I asked out loud, not really expecting an answer, but wondering just the same.

"Apparently, that was yesterday."

My forehead creased as I looked back at the picture. Who the hell took this? Nobody was with Harry and I while we were watching movies yesterday... And then it hit me. Gemma... I knew I had heard a camera shutter go off!!

Dropping the magazine, I grabbed for my phone, pulling up twitter and checking my notifications. And sure enough, there it was for all the world to see. Along with the caption, "Living the glamorous life"

Setting my phone down, I shook my head before meeting Jeremy's gaze.

"Okay. I get why you're upset. But, there is a really easy explanation for all of this. These stupid tabloids, which are a massive waste of time by the way, come up with these stories every time Harry and I are seen together. They are convinced that we're in some sort of secret relationship. But we're really not!! Jeremy, you have nothing to worry about!!"

'Aside from the fact that your girl occasionally shares a bed with her roommate, and just so happened to feel his dick this morning... Oh, and she can't stop thinking about it, too...' My subconscious oh so rudely reminds me... That bitch...

"Look, I get what you're saying. I do. But the evidence is pretty damning, Riley. I mean, the day after I had you screaming my name, he was sleeping with his damn head in your lap!! What the fuck is that about?!? And don't pull that 'he's like my brother' crap... I have a sister. And we've NEVER fallen asleep like that!!"

At this point, heads were starting to turn in our direction, and the waitress that had been heading to the table seemed to suddenly realize she forgot something in the kitchen...

"Jeremy, please don't yell at me. And it's true, Harry IS like a brother to me. But, he's also my best friend. He'd had a long night Saturday night, and he was exhausted, so he fell asleep while watching a movie. I passed out shortly thereafter. But there's nothing, and I repeat, NOTHING going on between us. I swear it!"

Okay, so in a teeny, tiny way that was a lie... Although nothing had physically happened between us, aside from an embarrassing morning, I was having thoughts about Harry that I'd never had before. Thoughts that both excited and disturbed me... But, thankfully, it wasn't a mutual thing, so I didn't have anything to worry about. I just had to convince my mind that there was nothing there.

Looking at my face, watching for any signs that I was lying, he took a deep breath. "Look, I'm sorry for yelling. But, I've seen it happen a million times. The rich asshole gets the girl, while the poor, hard-working guy gets his heart broken. I just don't want to come out if this looking like an idiot when it's all said and done..."

I blinked, trying to process everything he'd just said. Is that where his comment from the other night had come from? And was it his heart that had been broken? Was his heart in this, now? And what did he mean by 'done'? As in when we break up? Just how long was he expecting this to last if he's already thinking about the end?!?

Even with all of that floating around in my brain, my mouth decided to focus on the one part I should have left alone... The one part that would likely cause more problems...

"Harry is NOT an asshole!!"