Things Liars Fake (#ThreeLittleLies #3) by Sara Ney Page B

side of the room, trailing a hand lightly over the Star Wars comforter laid out over the twin bed, my fingertips gliding along the course cotton fabric.
    Darth Vader occupies the entire bed.
    “I wonder why your mom hasn’t redecorated in here. You’ve been moved out how long?” I ponder out loud, more to myself than anyone else.
    His voice filters into the room from the deep pit of his closet, loud enough to be heard over the chatter and laughter of his rambunctious family floating up the stairs and through the vents in the floorboards.
    “Uh, I moved out eight years ago?” Dexter sticks his head out, peering at me from behind the doorjamb, holding a tiny action figure towards me. “Hey, I know I said I didn’t have many of these, but check this out! I totally forgot about this collection! I wonder where the rest of them are…”
    I bounce on the bed, excited, extending my arms to take it. “Whoa! You have a Battlestar Galactica Cylon Centurion action figure! Where did you get that?”
    He holds it towards me, faltering mid-step. “Wait. You actually know what this is?”
    He looks suitably impressed.
    I roll my eyes. “Dexter. I was at StarGate alone on a Saturday night—of course I know what a Cylon Centurion is.” I grab at it, turning it this-way-and-that to examine it. “In perfect condition, too.”
    Dexter pauses in the doorway of the closet, pupils dilating, the figurine all but forgotten as he watches me, eyes blazing. “Shit Daphne, you’re kind of turning me on right now with all this geek talk.”
    “Is that so?” I lean back on his pillows, channeling my inner Tabitha, the Cylon still in my hand. “In that case… Did you know the starship that became the Blockade Runner in Star Wars: Episode four was the original design for the Millennium Falcon?”
    His nostrils flare and he takes a step closer.
    I press on, willing him towards me. “Did you know,” I start slowly. Very slowly, each word pronounced barely above a whisper. “That they still haven’t named Yoda’s species?”
    Oh my god, where is all this random trivia coming from?
    Dexter removes his glasses, setting them on a nearby dresser. Unwavering, the brown irises practically sizzle as he focuses every iota of his attention on me.
    I stare holes into those glasses.
    “Can you see without those?” I tease quietly as he stalks forward.
    He chuckles then, the sound low and deep against the silence of the bedroom. My teeth bite down on my lower lip to hide a shy smile. “ Can you?”
    His moves closer, closer still. “I see you , if that’s what you mean.”
    Swallowing my nerves, I murmur, “Did you know…”
    “Did I know what? Talk nerdy to me, Daphne.” He falls to the carpet, on his knees between my legs, running his hands up the length of my thighs. “Don’t stop.”
    Up and down, up and down my thighs his palms go.
    “D-did you k-know,” I gulp when he leans in, his delicious lips consuming the pulse in my neck. My heart beats wildly outside of my chest, and I struggle to catch my breath. “Throughout the course of the Battlestar Galactica series, Sheba never fires her laser pistol. Not even once.”
    “Actually, I did know that.” Dexter’s nose skims idly up the column of my neck, his lips trailing along behind.
    “You’re such a geek.” I breathe.
    “So are you.” Up and down, up and down my thighs his palms leisurely go.
    “Dexter, what are you waiting for?”
    A pause. “I don’t know.”
    A sigh. “Stop thinking and just do it .”
    “Know what? Call me a glutton for punishment, but I kind of want…” The question purrs next to my ear. “I kind of want to hear you say it.”
    That I can do.
    With a tiny nod and a tilted neck, I whisper into the room, “Kiss me.”
    Kiss me.
    He does.
    Large hands cupping my face, Dexter’s thumbs tenderly stroke my cheekbones before he lowers his mouth. Our lips connect with the very barest of contact before touching, a veritable shockwave ricocheting to