Page 32 of The Lies You Love
I give him a look. “No. It was all me. Not to toot my own horn or anything.”
He laughs, taking it as the joke I intended. “If you leave her to her devices much longer, she might be going home with him instead, and that’s a much shorter ride to his house than yours. I made no promises of exclusivity, just that I’d get you a date.”
“You’re okay on your own?”
I furrow my brows. “Of course. I’m going to enjoy my drink next to the bonfire.” I grin widely and point to the gas fire pit. No one is there and chairs surround one side with a sofa on the other. “I’m sure Beck will be here soon.”
Griffin saunters off, overconfident swagger sealing his doomed fate. Ramsey won’t see him again after tonight. Not after she’s literally jumped into a whole new pool of men. I take a seat and drain my drink. The negative thoughts come. Beck is standing me up. He doesn’t want me anymore. I’m not good enough. I’m frail, weak, and not worth his time. Staring up at the stars, I fight off the wayward thoughts. Beckett likes me. More than likes me. Why do I feel like I’m slipping back into my bad habits? The sudden urge to troll the party to find another man arrives, and I shake off the thought. Self-sabotaging. An Auden specialty. Whenever life seems to be heading in the right direction, I do something to tank it.
“Do you want to see something cool?”
A man extends his hand to me. Is this a sign? Is it time to sabotage? Groaning, I take his hand without pause. “It depends on what you define as cool,” I counter. “This whole property is cool, so I’m sure you’re not lying.” I release his hand as soon as I’m standing. I rub the skin where his hand brushes against because it feels wrong.
“I’m Ronnie,” he says, narrowing his eyes as he sizes me up.
“Annie,” I return, nearly choking on the word. “Nice to meet you.”
Ronnie points. Past the long path that leads up to the mansion, off to the side, to the tree line. “Just inside the trees is another patio. There’s another cabin in a clearing. It’s very pretty.”
I clear my throat, but I don’t stop following him across the lawn of perfectly manicured grass. “There are probably houses all over this property. It goes on forever.”
“One hundred acres, but only a fraction of that is cleared and has structures on it.”
Oh no. “Are you related to the owner of this property too?”
He turns, grinning. Ronnie shakes his head. “Just a friend, well his realtor, and also his friend. I could tell you every cool hidden spot here.”
Realtor. This guy must be loaded. When the recession hit, the housing market also took a nosedive, but it was the first industry to recover fully.
“It’s just through this copse,” Ronnie says, misreading my hesitation.
When we step off the grass into the trees, I get the feeling. The one that forces my stomach to flip and the hairs on the back of my neck to stand. My heart, the heart, flutters faster, and a chill creeps across every inch of exposed skin. When I stop walking, it’s not because I decided to, it’s because my body literally shuts down. Ronnie turns around, and the moon cutting through the dense trees casts fragmented shadows on his face and across his white button-up shirt. “We’re almost there,” he says. “What’s the matter?” The grin he turns on creeps me out.
“You know what, I think I’m going to head back to the party now. My boyfriend should be there now.” All it took was what? One small moment of contemplation about being worthy of Beck and now I’m standing in the woods, almost completely hidden from view with a stranger. “He was running late.”
I slip my hand into my skirt pocket and fish out my phone. It shakes and falls from my hand. Dirt slides across the screen and gets into my shoe. My face heats as I stoop to pick up the phone. As long as that takes, he’s closed the distance between us. “This is where you hand me your phone.”
This can’t be happening. It can’t. I invited it this time. There isn’t a Walker to save me. I’m alone. There’s something freeing about knowing it’s all on me. Sink or swim. Fail or pass. “Tell me what you want,” I say, trying to control my rapid breathing.
“I’m thinking you won’t go quietly.” His breath smells like hard liquor.
Swallowing down the lump in my throat, I nod. “To the cabin?” I ask, trying to keep my tone even. He doesn’t know I’ve had time to think about this. All the things I could have done differently when I was attacked in college. Ronnie cocks his head as he studies my face. “To the cabin,” he says. I walk in front of him now, and he’s not lying. There is a cabin, and it’s beautiful, but I’m counting my steps, keeping my breaths even. I spin to face him once my feet are on the cement foundation. Kicking one foot up, hoping it looks nonchalant, I take off the heeled loafer and dump the dirt out of it. He’s watching me carefully, and I repeat the gesture with the other shoe. “Don’t want to get the cabin dirty,” I explain.
“You’re a little too excited,” he remarks, scowling.
“Look at you,” I choke out. “Why wouldn’t I be excited?” He steps forward. I need him a bit closer. “Do you have the keys to the cabin?” I nod toward the door to the left. I’m holding the thick-soled designer shoes, wearing my thigh-high socks, and I’m praying I don’t faint. “Let’s go in.”
I lick my lips, my gaze everywhere, seeking my escape. Ronnie closes the gap and is finally within hitting distance. I whack him over the head with one shoe, then the other, and knee him in the crotch as hard as I can. I don’t know if he’s hurt, but he’s definitely disoriented enough to double over, so I do what I couldn’t do all those years ago—run.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Beck
“Grey, I cannot help you deal with this right now,” I rush out. “You know this isn’t the way it’s supposed to be, bro. This is your shift. You don’t need me to help you watch Ramsey. We do not need each other. We are one-hundred-percent capable by ourselves.”
“This party is crawling with fucking Rifts, dude. Not only that, most of these people have rap sheets and scary ones. This isn’t a place she should be at all. Ever. There have to be people from her old life here.” Grey is panicked. “I don’t even know how or when she got invited to this. She’s doing things off radar. How did she get this by me?” He paces in the woods. “When? When would she have a chance?”
My mind is racing. I helped Grey for the first hour of the party because he was fucking pissed Ramsey was out here. He heard a conversation between Ramsey and Auden, and now he knows without a shadow of a doubt I’m fucking Auden. It’s not against any laws, but I still had to remind him of that at least a dozen times. He’s pissed. Now I’ll be in his reports, and he doesn’t think I’ll be able to balance knowing her in real life and protecting her during my month shifts. Basically, he’s angry things changed when we had a solid streak going.
