Page 54 of One Little Lie
I cock my head as I watch him. “Is there something you can do about the first time?”
Sadness punches me in the gut with his expression.
“Nothing that wouldn’t hurt everyone I love even more.” He shakes his head, and I see the moment he shuts down. “I’ll be right back.”
Tears threaten as he exits the lean-to, and I rub my eyes with my palms. I should be happy he’s opening up, but it’s so cryptic I don’t have a clue what any of it means. His hot and cold attitude is giving me whiplash.
Less than two minutes later, Hatty scares the shit out of me when he jumps into the shelter. “Good. You didn’t move.”
“Jesus, Hatty. I didn’t have a chance. Did you even pee?”
“Of course. Let’s go.” He trudges over and lifts me over his shoulder like a rag doll.
“What the hell are you doing? I can walk. You don’t need all this weight on your injury.”
He smacks my ass so hard I know I’ll have a handprint there.
“What the hell, Halton?”
Smack.
“For crying out loud, stop spanking me,” I screech.
“I will stop when you stop thinking you’re fat, and when you stop calling me fucking Halton.”
“It’s yourname.”
“Not for you, it’s not. Hold this.”
He hands me an umbrella, and I open it as he pulls back the tarp. Seconds later, he plops me down in the most foul-smelling bathroom I’ve ever been in.
“Yeah, it’s a permanent porta-John,” he says with a scrunched nose. “Try not to breathe too much in here.”
I think I might actually growl at him as the door shuts. Then I almost throw up, so I push the door open again.
“Hatty?” I bark, and he pokes his head around the corner.
“What? Don’t you have to go?”
“Yes, actually, I have to shit. But I cannot sit in here with the door closed. You’re going to have to hold it open for me.”
He stares at me blankly as rain pours down around him.
“You want me to stand here and listen to you shit?”
“Oh, please. When you were ten, you called me into the bathroom to see the massive dump you took. This is payback.”
“Rylan, that’s when you were a-a tom-boy.”
Crossing my arms, I stare him down. “I’m still the same person, Hatty.”
His gaze roams slowly down my body, and I feel the flush creep over every inch. He swallows an audible gulp before raising his gaze to mine again.
“You are most definitely not the same tom-boy.”
I drop my arms to my sides with balled-up fists. “Hatty. Hold the door open. The longer you argue with me, the longer you’re going to stand in the rain.”
“For fuck’s sake, Verity. Jesus. Fine. Just, don’t, ah, I don’t know, grunt or anything.”
