Page 22 of One Little Lie
I attempt to focus on her face, but I don’t need to see it. I can hear her tears, and I drop my head into my hands.
What did I do?
“He loved you first.” My words sound like an echo of my former self.
“But who loves me now?”
Words. I hear them all around me, but someone glued my eyes shut, and it sounds like we’re underwater. My head floats, and words echo, but I can’t open my eyes.
“But who loves me now?”
Soft hands hold my cheeks, and rain falls onto my face as the scent of cookies and sunshine flood my senses. Then my world goes blissfully black.
Chapter 7
Halton
“Maybe you’re not heart sick, maybe you’re just tired.”
Using my palms, I rub the sleep from my eyes. Rolling my head toward the sounds coming from the corner, I find GG propped up at the table again, and I shake my head.
“I’m pretty sure you aren’t supposed to enter a guest room whenever you feel like it. Especially not when they’re sleeping.”
“I didn’t come in through your room. I came to check on Rylan and saw the door.”
My gaze snaps to the thin wall separating our rooms. That’s when I notice the door lying on my floor, and I sit up in a panic, searching the room, but she’s not here.
“But who loves me now?”I don’t know where that thought comes from, but I get a chill of recognition and have a feeling it isn’t good.
I attempt to harden my face as I scrutinize GG, but she doesn’t give a shit. She shrugs her shoulders and rolls her eyes like a damn teenager. Shaking my head, I try to make sense of … well, of everything, but the last thing I remember is dropping the cookies at Rylan’s door and making a run for it.
I point my finger accusingly at GG. “There is some other fucking thing in that wine, GG. What is it?”
“Pfft. You’re a lightweight, Fibby.”
“GG, so help me … What the hell is in it?”
“I told ya, Fibby. Some herbs, and other such things. Nothin that’s gonna kill ya. It gets ya out of ya head, so you can live.”
“I’m living just fine,” I bellow. “Just fine.”
“Did ya know your left eye twitches just a hair when you’re lyin’?”
Pinching the bridge of my nose, I check to make sure I have clothes on this time before standing.
“The boys have ya all set up for the bachelor auction today. I thought I was gonna have to wake your ass up.”
Bile threatens the back of my throat. Colton got it in his head that the way to win over Burke Hollow and save GG’s mountain from predatory investors is to bring their summer festival, aptly named Summerfest, back to the classics. Kissing booth, dunk tank, bachelor auction, and other bull shit I want no part of. Since my plan to build homes on the mountain isn’t fully in motion yet, we’re forced to continue with Summerfest.
My gaze drifts to my watch, and I blanch. Two p.m.Holy shit. I don’t know that I’ve ever slept this late.
“No more wine, GG. You hear me? No more.”
“I see Rylan got her cookies,” she informs me while completely ignoring my decree.
My breath hitches, and I feel the flush creep across my cheeks as I sink back down onto the bed.
What did I do? Think, Halton. I dropped the cookies off and hid like a goddamn pussy. But what next? Everything is blank. I remember laying in bed, staring at the door. Is that it? “But who loves me now?”Why the hell do I keep hearing that line in my head. More importantly, why does it sound like Rylan? I rack my brain for even a glimpse into my rattled memory, but I’ve got nothing, and slowly, I breathe easier when no other memory comes.
