Page 78 of All Your Lies

“Why?” She frowns.

“I never got to experience it, so I’m curious.”

A pained expression crosses her face before it softens. “Right, I’m sorry,” she murmurs as she pushes away from the wall and glides in the surrounding water. “I liked it for what it was. I was able to play make-believe and feel freedom as I’ve never felt before. Then everything got shitty. The freedom I once felt turned into more of a prison sentence.” She winces over at me. “Sorry, not the right choice of words.”

“It’s okay.”

“It all just became so disappointing. Marco had a lot to do with that. And I think—no, I know, if you would have been there with us, the outcome would have been different.”

“How so?”

“You were always the protector, the listener, the fixer. Rosie might not have left if you had been there. Although I’m happy she found love in the chaos,” she says with a smile. “I never thanked you for that.”

“You just did.”

“What’s the first thing you did when you got out?” she asks as she flips to her back and lets the water take her.

My smile broadens as I observe her. “You really want to know?”

“Now I’m not so sure.”

“After having the best lobster of my life, I snuck into your room while you were sleeping.”

Her eyes narrow at me as she stops floating. “I’d say I’m surprised, but I’m not. You’re lucky my dad didn’t kill you.”

“I couldn’t resist, especially since both he and your mom were conveniently out of town.”

“And what did you do?”

“I sat and watched you for hours.”

“You should have woken me up.”

“Believe me, I thought about it,” I say with a smirk. As I sat at the foot of her bed in her parents’ house, I fantasized about tying her up, spanking her, and fucking her senseless. I didn’t dare touch her that first night I snuck in. My patience was thin, and I knew one touch would’ve fucked all my planning to hell.

“There’s that look again,” she says, stepping back.

A laugh escapes me unexpectedly, and it sounds like it’s from a different life, my old life. I miss this. I miss us.

She yawns, and I know she’s done for the night.

“Let’s get you to bed.”

“My bed.”

“Sounds good to me.” I grin.

“Alone.”

My smile vanishes.

“You can’t hide from me forever.”

twenty-four

Alexa

The silence hangs heavily between us as we make our way to my place. My mind and heart are in chaos as conflicting emotions consume me, leaving me torn and worn out.