Page 41 of One Little Lie
I open the running app on my watch, hop down, and turn in a circle. Making sure I sync the GPS, I mark my current position so I can find my way back and take off toward the road that runs along the coastline.
I hope a few miles will be enough to clear my head.
Chapter 14
Halton
I’m just over a small hill when I stop the golf cart and glance back at the lean-to. I shouldn’t have gotten so close to her or left the way I did. My brain doesn’t seem to work when she’s around.
Craning my neck, so the structure comes into view, I nearly swallow my tongue when Rylan rips off her shirt. I can’t blink, and I can’t turn away, even though I know I should. First, I’m a creepy stalker, and now I’m a creepy Peeping Tom. There’re two things I never thought I’d be.
She turns her back to me and falls out of view. I’m sure she thought no one could see her. The lean-to faces the ocean for Christ’s sake, but the road veers enough to the right that I can see everything. Rylan pops back up and drops her pants. I can almost feel the silky skin of her ass on my fingertips, and my cock stands at attention, painfully pressing against the zipper of my shorts.
Shaking my head, I’m relieved to see she’s put on some sort of crop top, but fuck me. If she’s going to wear shit like that every day, I’ll need to run ten miles just to function.
Forcing my gaze forward, I hit the accelerator before I do something incredibly stupid.
The ride to the dock doesn’t take long, but strapping all our shit into an open golf cart takes almost an hour.What the hell did they pack in here?
I’m about to head back when I see a small grab n’go stand. Knowing it will take a few hours to set up camp, I jog across the street. While I’m staring at the coffee menu, a thought occurs to me.Does Rylan still like hers with more cream than coffee?The realization that I no longer know something so simple hurts. There was a time when I knew everything about her. Everything from the first time she got her period to when there was a spider in her room.
You don’t have that right anymore, Halton. You burned that bridge a long time ago.
“What can I get for you, young man?”
“May I have two large, iced coffees, please? One black, and one with extra cream.”
“Anything else?” the older gentleman asks.
“Ah, yeah. Maybe two BLTs, please.”
“You got it.”
He attempts to make small talk that I’m sure most vacationers enjoy, but I can’t stop thinking about Rylan and how we’re practically strangers now. Aside from what I can glean from Instagram, I don’t know her. And that causes the acidic sensation to form in my throat again.
Walking back to the golf cart with a lot less enthusiasm, I place the coffees in the cup holders and slowly take the winding road back to camp. I can’t make any sharp turns or go too fast, or all our shit will end up on the side of the road.
The closer I get to camp, the higher my anxiety rises. I have to sleep next to her, for lord only knows how many days, and I can’t touch her under any circumstances.Why, hello, blue ball city! What a fucking nightmare it is to be here.
As I pull into the “driveway”—and I use that term loosely—the Atlantic Ocean comes into view, and I pause. It’s beautiful here.
Not as beautiful as your gal.
How the hell I can hear GG’s voice in my head right now is beyond me. Maybe her truth wine is more potent than I thought.
That makes me chuckle, and I go in search of Rylan to give her the cream with a splash of coffee. Only, she’s not in the lean-to. I scan our surroundings but don’t see her. Knowing she must be in the outhouse, I set the coffees down and head in that direction in case there isn’t any toilet paper.Girls need toilet paper, right?Except, as I get closer, I notice the door is wide open, and I pick up my pace.
“Rylan?”
Silence.
Fear takes hold, and I run to the other side of the lean-to where the ‘shower’ is, but that’s empty, too.
“Rylan?” I yell, a little hysterically. “Rylan?” I try again but get no response. I’ve never felt a true sense of dread until now. It sits heavy and ferocious in my gut.
I don’t even realize I’m running until I take a flying leap into the lean-to.Maybe she left a note. I scan the space frantically, searching for anything that will give me a clue to where she’s gone. When I spot her phone on top of her clothes, I sink to my knees.
Calm down. Take deep breaths. She’s probably just gone for a walk.
