Page 3 of Holding Out for a Gyro
She flicked her eyes heavenward. “Okay, fine.”
“Remember: nothing but utter bullshit.”
Her sour expression melted into a wicked smirk. “And you’re sworn to complete, authentic truth.”
She squeezed my hand, then strolled past the guys as though on her way to order another drink and turned sharply around, her face transforming from idle curiosity to astonishment as she approached Chris-Daniel and exclaimed, “Oh my gosh. How long has it been?”
I stifled a laugh at the classichaven’t seen you in yearsgambit. Easy to pull off, and the stakes were low. She could always claim she’d made a mistake if he called her on it. More than likely he’d go along. Only an asshole would immediately rebuff a pretty girl claiming to be an old acquaintance.
“It’s Elizabeth. I was in your class with, uh—”
I held my breath waiting for him to bite, to mouth the easy lie, with the usual, “Oh, yeah, hey. How are you?” and a wrinkled forehead of confusion.
But then…
Holy shit, he dropped a name.
“Lizzy? Lizzy Graham?”
Oh my fuck. Had he just confused her with someone real? I wanted to scream, “Abort! Abort!” but before I could even round my lips into a vowel, she picked up the fuse and lit it. “That’s right! I can’t believe you remember me.”
His bright, church-boy smile dazzled. “Well, how could I forget? I can’t believe I didn’t recognize you right away.”
I groaned at the disaster in the making.
With guileless enthusiasm, he turned to introduce his very fine friend to Elizabeth. “This is my friend, Bas. Bas, Lizzy and I were close friends in middle school. Small world, huh?”
Whoever this Lizzy Graham was, Elizabeth was about to step into the role.
There was no way out but through, so I joined the fray. “Lizzy, were you going to introduce me to your friend?” I held out my hand to the blond. “Hi. I’m Chelsea Abbott.”
He was even hotter up close. Like magazine model pretty, and I shot a glance of pity at Elizabeth because she hadn’t signed up for this catastrophe.
The pretty boy reached out to clasp my hand. “Nice to meet you. I’m Evan Spurlock.”
The devil got into me, and I couldn’t help ratcheting up Elizabeth’s lie. “NottheEvan Spurlock.” He looked baffled, of course. I snickered as the blood drained from Elizabeth’s face and added, “Oh, I probably shouldn’t tell you this.” I locked eyes with Elizabeth, sadistic executioner persona on standby, and she blinked, horror and curiosity vying for dominance. “But ithasbeen a long time, right?”
And here was why I loved hanging with my copilot, Elizabeth. Despite the blush crawling up her cheeks, she gave in to curiosity as though transfixed by a flaming train car plunging off the cliff. “Go ahead.”
I licked my lips, enjoying her delicious anxiety. “Lizzy used totell me about a guy named Evan Spurlock she had a major crush on in high school.” I considered Evan a minute. “I can see why.”
Seriously, this was the boy Elizabeth would have created from clay and magic if she had the gift. He had integrity and beautiful offspring written all over him.
Elizabeth could go toe-to-toe with me when shenanigans were on the line. Through her mortification, she had the presence of mind to direct my attention to Evan’s right and engage my own agreed-upon dare. “Chelsea, have you met Bas?”
I cast my eyes at the Mediterranean morsel stretching his hand out to me in greeting and could’ve sworn I’d seen him somewhere before. “You look familiar. Have we met?”
Elizabeth’s eyes flashed accusations of cheating, but I wasn’t bullshitting. I couldn’t place where I’d seen that face before. Possibly in my dreams.
Bas accepted my outstretched hand and didn’t let it go. “I think I’d remember you.”
A flutter gripped my insides, and I breathed in to kill it. God, this was going to be a shit show.
Desperate to keep the conversation light, I asked him, “What kind of name is Bas? Is it short for Sebastian?”
“It’s Greek. My full name is Basil Demetri Stavros”—he pronounced Basil like it rhymed with dazzle—“just in case all this hadn’t given it away.” He dramatically gestured at his face. His skin, the color of golden beaches; his dark hair, thick and wavy; his aquiline nose; and his eyes like liquid moss. Eyes that went from amused to smoldering without warning.
My heart skipped a beat, and I inched back.Say something honest. I gulped. “I’ve always wanted to go to Greece.”
