A Love Song for Liars (Rivals #1) - Piper Lawson Page 0,25

may be seeing more of it. I’m grounded.” I lift my glass in a toast.

“Wait, what?” Pen’s screech echoes off the house as she grabs my arm.

“I decided to drop AP calc. My dad was not a fan.”

“You can’t drop calc.”

I explain my reasoning, and she finally concedes. “So, is this grounding thing the reason you went out and bought that fuck-hot bikini? To give your dad a heart attack?”

I look down at my bathing suit. That’s not how I would’ve described it, but now that she says it, I can see where she’s coming from. It’s red and cut high on my legs, makes my ass look great, and the magic top pushes everything up enough that it looks as if I have real, live boobs. Cleavage and everything. “I just felt like it.”

“What about the pool party?”

The memory has me shivering despite the sunshine. “Kellan hit on me, but when I passed, he turned pissy fast.”

Her face turns thunderous. “I’m going to shove his balls down his throat.”

“Too late. He had a black eye the whole week.” I nod toward the pool house.

She picks up the bottle of wine and fills her glass halfway. “Tyler Adams hit him. I should go away more often.”

I nearly drop my glass as Tyler and Brandon come around the side of the house. My throat goes dry, and it’s not from the champagne.

They’re both wearing shorts and nothing else, but it’s Tyler’s body that has me sitting up straighter.

His shoulders are broad and deliciously rounded, his pecs defined. Suddenly, I’m remembering how he looked playing at that party. How he smelled. How he felt, that body pressed against mine.

I hate how girls trip over themselves for musicians as if the fact that a guy can play a chord progression magically predicts his ability to get you off.

But from the second I walked in the door of the fraternity house and saw Tyler on that stage, I was lost.

They didn’t deserve him, didn’t even appreciate what he was giving them.

I did.

Thank goodness for padding because it’s way too hot out for my nipples to be getting hard under this bathing suit.

“Tyler hit who over who?” Brandon asks.

“Kellan Albright.” Pen pulls her sunglasses down her nose, then reaches for the sunscreen.

“That’s how I heard it.” Brandon cocks his head at my friend. “Doesn’t that defeat the purpose of tanning?”

“If I was trying to tan, yes. If I’m studying, no.”

Brandon smirks. “Doesn’t look like studying.”

“Do you want me to prove the fundamental theorem of calculus on this patio with my lipstick? Because bitch, I’ll do it.” His jaw goes slack, and she turns her attention to Tyler. “You’ve been looking out for my girl.”

“Someone’s got to,” Tyler answers.

Pen smirks. “Gasp, Adams.”

“Your girl knows exactly what she’s doing,” Brandon weighs in. “Lil’ sis was a serious cockblock last night.”

He grins at Tyler, who’s shooting him a death glare, before returning to Pen.

“It’s obvious the whole ‘come play our party’ thing was Trish’s excuse to get our boy on campus for a little extra-credit homework. Then you show up”—he nods at me— “and Ty’s gone all night.”

I take a sip of my drink. “Sorry.”

“Like fuck you are,” Brandon cackles.

It’s true. Learning that girl is Tyler’s tutor made me feel like he didn’t bail on me for someone else—not in January, not even this week.

Has Tyler slept with anyone since he moved here?

Maybe that’s why he’s so broody and repressed. The guy needs to get laid.

“You girls going to use the pool or just gawk at it?” Brandon grabs Pen’s glass, drains it despite her squeak of protest, then jumps—cup still in hand—into the pool.

I stare at Tyler over the rim of my glass, and his gaze warms on mine.

“Brandon’s right.” I rise, adjusting my swimsuit, then toss my hat on the patio and yank my hair up into a messy topknot. I brush past Tyler and cannonball into the water.

When I come up, I hear cheering from Brandon and squealing from Pen, who carefully steps over the edge into the shallow end.

Tyler’s the last one in, but I can’t take my eyes off him when he disappears below the surface or when he emerges once more, tossing his wet hair back with a grin that makes my stomach flip.

Last night with Tyler felt exhilarating.

We both have reasons to be weighed down, but hanging with him, like it was us against the world, was a rush I didn’t expect.

The news of his dad’s blackmail, or whatever you want