Page 68 of Dream On, Liar

“Yeah, I do,” I replied, my voice clipped. “But nothing happened, right?”

She frowned, before schooling her features as quickly. “Nothing worth repeating.”

I pressed my lips together, only giving her a nod. “Have a good night,” I replied, sliding my sunglasses back on before moving past her swiftly, jogging up to my family.

Because, she was right.

I’d clearly felt something that night. I felt it even now. But from her actions, let alone her words, it was painfully clear that I’d been the only one who had.

And repeating them would only cause trouble for me.

Which was precisely why I had to focus on what she'd done.

On the choices she'd made.

On every reason I'd had to keep my distance from her in the first place.

Maybe if I kept reminding myself of those things, it would be easier to hold on to the anger I'd felt.

Anger was familiar.

Anger was safe.

Whatever that strange pull between us had been, whatever had sparked beneath my skin when she'd looked at me or touched me, I couldn't afford to give it a name.

Because the moment I did, I had a feeling it would become something I couldn't walk away from.

Maeve

BY THE TIME I made it back to the hotel, my mind was still somewhere on the beach.

Somewhere between the strange feeling I got when I sat with the three of them, the sunset and the little flutters I had spent trying very hard not to think about.

The lift doors finally opened, as I looked up, and nearly walked straight into my father.

Dropping the phone that was pressed to his ear, he sighed. “There you are.”

I frowned as continued. “I've been trying to call you.”

Pulling out my phone from my pocket, I gave it a click and realised. “It must’ve died. Sorry.”

“That’s not very safe. What if something had happened?”

“It’s actually quite safe here. There were only 420 cases or so in New Zealand last year, and plus, the amount of telephone booths I saw would’ve also helped.”

He blinked, startled. Almost like I had answered a rhetorical question—which to be fair, I had.

“I looked it up before I went for a walk.”

He shook his head slightly. “Of course.”

When I offered him a small smile, his eyes softened.

“What’s up?” I asked, ready to head to bed, and slowly let the thought train gather steam, getting ready to forge ahead.

“Just wanted to see if you wanted to get some dinner together.”

I hesitated before shaking my head.