Page 7 of Wild Lies

Releasing Chloe, I step back, shaking my head free of the confusing thoughts as I ask, “You okay there, buttercup?”

“Never better, handsome.” She giggles, carrying on toward the front porch like she didn’t feel anything when I had her in my arms.

It’s all in your fucking head.

I don’t move. I can’t. Instead, I stand between the truck and the front porch, watching her dig through her purse, searching for her keys. A breeze slips through the air, cutting through what’s left of the day’s humidity. It cools my skin, but not nearly enough to settle the heat she’s caused.

Triumphantly, Chloe pulls her keys out, holding them above her head, declaring, “Found them.” She looks over her shoulder at me, a frown marring her features. “Are you not coming in?”

The corner of my mouth kicks up, and I shake my head. “No, I just wanna make sure you get inside safely.”

She pouts, and I suck in a sharp breath. Fuck me. She doesn’t even know what she’s doing to me by just existing. Is this what my dad felt when he first met my mom? He said he knew she was the one the instant he laid eyes on her, but was it this all-consuming?

Moving to stand at the top of the steps, Chloe tilts her head. “I need to ask you a favor though.”

Shoving my hands into my jeans pockets so I don’t reach for her, I force my body to relax. “Yeah, what’s that?”

She ambles back down the steps, and when she comes to a stop within touching distance of me, I see the pleading look in her eyes. I’ll say yes to whatever she needs. “Will you come to my sister’s wedding with me?” She pauses before blurting, “As my plus-one?”

I blink. Well, that wasn’t what I was expecting, that’s for sure.

“You don’t have to. Actually, that was a silly thing for me to ask. We don’t even know each other like that. I don’t know what I was thinking, I just feel so comfortable around you. Ignore me. Clearly, I wasn’t thinking,” she rushes, turning back to the cabin and all but running up the steps.

Panic seizes my chest, like if I let her get through the door, that will be it. I’ll have missed my one shot to get to know every part of her.

“I’ll come with you.”

She faces me again, a grin spreading across her lips and nearly splitting her face in two. “You will?”

I shrug. “Yeah, I will.”

Chloe closes the distance between us at a sprint, her body slamming into mine as she jumps into my arms and strangles me with a tight hug that I never would have guessed she’d be capable of. I’m acutely aware of every aspect of her, and as much as I want more, crave more, I know that I can’t. Not tonight.

Chloe takes a step back and I reluctantly allow my arms to fall to my side, feeling the loss of her more than I should.

She looks down at her shoes before tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, muttering under her breath, “If that doesn’t sober me up.” Shaking her head, she talks a little louder when she adds, “I shouldn’t have asked you to do that. We don’t know each other. And believe me when I say, there’s going to be a lot of drama, mostly aimed at me, and nobody deserves to be subjected to that.”

I watch her, assessing her features as I look for a sign of… anything. It’s clear she feels she needs a supportive presence, if her family would make her feel uncomfortable enough to ask a stranger to be her plus-one. Perhaps that’s why, instead of agreeing with her and walking away, I find myself asking, “Do you want me there?”

Rolling her lips together, she shifts from one foot to the other. “I don’t think that matters. You’d be walking into a hot mess. Besides, I’m sure you have better things to do on a Saturday.”

We stand in the quiet night, the only sound that of the crickets surrounding us as I try to get a read on her in the dim lighting.

“Are you sure?” I ask, adding, “I don’t have plans, so if you need me there, I can be.”

Even if I did have plans, I think I’d cancel them all just to be able to spend more time with her.

“We don’t know each other,” she blurts, her eyes widening enough for me to see the whites.

I lift a shoulder, trying to exude an air of nonchalance. “We didn’t know each other when you got into my truck.”

Chloe rubs at her forehead before pacing in front of me. “You have a point, but this is different.” She comes to a stop in front of me. “My whole family is going to be there. Can we just pretend I never said anything?”

I hold my hands up, reassuring her when I say, “If that’s what you want.”

She nods distractedly, looking down at the keys in her hand before giving a firmer one.

I watch her let herself into the cabin, waiting until the door is closed before I climb into my truck and drive away with an idea forming that I can’t quite shut down.