Page 66 of One Little Lie
Hatty’s words have me pulling my phone guiltily into my chest to hide the screen.
“Ah, yeah. Yup. All set with the car?”
The cock blocking car.
When I catch Hatty’s expression, I know we’re both thinking about it.
He eyes me, then my phone, and grins like he knows we’re talking about him. “All set, but if we’re going to hang out at the National to watch for Pacen, we should probably walk. There isn’t much to do there but eat and drink.”
The National, I learned, is the only hotel on the island, and they have the best view of the docks and, by proxy, the action on the island.
After our first morning where we had the “friends” talk, and then again when Cocky, the name I’m giving our car, interrupted us, things have been strained between us. Thankfully, someone thought to pack cards, and we’ve passed the time playing blackjack.
“Walking it is. Are you sure your hamstring is up to it?”
I can’t help but notice that his leg is still stiff, especially when he’s stretching those sexy muscles every damn morning.
“It’ll be fine. It’s only a quarter of a mile to the National if we take the path.”
He jumps off the platform, then turns and helps me down. Every time we do this—my body sliding down his—the air between us becomes thick, but he always glances away as soon as he can.
Maybe he isn’t into me?Could I be making this all up? Did I always make it up?
Hatty turns around when he realizes I’m not following him.
Just ask him, my heart screams, but when he opens his mouth, I shake my head and fall in step beside him.
“What’s on your mind, Rylan?”
“Hmm?”
I’m staring at the ground as we walk. It’s been a long time since I’ve questioned myself like this. The reason slams into me with the force of ten men, and I stop in my tracks. I let Matthew make all the decisions so I wouldn’t be wrong again. It was easier to let him direct my life and tell me how I felt about everything because then I couldn’t get hurt.
“Sweetheart?”
I hear his words, but the chaos inside of my head is louder.
“I’m okay,” I mumble and move forward.
I haven’t been living any better than Hatty has. Sure, I thought I loved Matthew, but now I know he never stood a chance, no matter how good a man he was. I never opened myself up, even a fraction of the way I have with Hatty. I let Matthew dictate every aspect of our lives because I wasn’t being me.
“I think I was lost.”
His shoulders tense, but he keeps walking. “When?”
“All these years. The time I spent with Matthew.” Hatty clears his throat beside me but doesn’t speak. “What type of camera do I prefer?”
He stares at me like I’ve lost my mind, but I know I haven’t. I’ve just found myself.
“Ah, Rylan. It’s been a long time. You could like anything now,” he says apologetically.
“No. You know me, Hatty. Answer the question.”
Sticking his hands in his back pockets, he kicks at a rock in the road. He seems so young like this, and this is the Hatty my heart knows. Not the hardened man, drowning in fear and lies, but the boy who knows me better than I know myself.
“You probably like the ease of digital because it’s instant gratification, but you’ll always be an old school film girl. You like the process of controlling the lighting before the shot is taken, not using filters after the fact. You like watching the portraits come to life in the darkroom and manipulating them into your vision.”
He pauses, and I see his cheeks tinge pink beneath the scruff that is moving to full-on beard territory.
