Page 115 of Little Lies


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MY DAD PICKSme up from the airport. He surprises me by pulling me into a hug. And not a back-slap man hug—a full-on, rib-crushing hug.

“Is everything okay? Where’s Mom?”

He releases me and smiles wryly. “Yeah, everything’s fine. Your mom had to take Dakota to his track meet, and Aspen is at robotics, designing some kind of fighting robot, but they should all be home by the time we get there.” He gives my shoulder a squeeze. “It’s good to have you home, son.”

I nod and blow out a breath. “I’m ambivalent about being home, if I’m going to be a 100 percent honest.”

He laughs. “I know, but your mom misses you, and so do your brother and sister. So feign enthusiasm when you see them.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll drop the morose BS by the time we get home.”

We head for the exit. “Things okay with Lavender?”

“Uh, yeah. Mostly.” I rub the back of my neck. It took all of my resolve not to hook into the plane Wi-Fi on the two-hour flight and try to negotiate some sort of new deal with her. Logical? Nope. Desperate? Definitely.

“Mostly?”

“She overheard the conversation we had the other night.”

“Ah. So she’s aware Vancouver is looking at you?” my dad asks.

“Yeah.”

“I’m sorry I can’t make this easier on you, son.”

“I’m sorry I lost my cool.”

He puts an arm around my shoulder and gives it a squeeze. “If anyone should be apologizing, Kody, it’s me. Sometimes I forget you and your mom are so much alike in the way you process things. But at the same time, you’re also a lot like me, just a whole shitload smarter.”

“I do a lot of stupid stuff for someone who’s supposedly so smart.”

“You’re twenty-two. You’re supposed to make mistakes. It’s how we learn from them. But I’m still sorry I can’t make this easier on you.”

“I’d feel a lot less conflicted if I weren’t looking at being so far away.” I rub at the webbing between my middle and ring finger on my left hand, where the infinity symbol is tattooed. In hindsight, it’s not a great spot for a tattoo, but I was also not in a great frame of mind when I got it.

“Because you don’t want to be away from Lavender?” His voice is laced with concern.

He unlocks the back of his SUV, and I toss my bag in.

“She kinda gave me an ultimatum.” I round the passenger side and slide into the seat.

His brow furrows. “What kind of ultimatum?”

“She basically threatened to break up with me if I don’t sign with a team while I’m here.”

My dad’s focus shifts to my bouncing legs before he meets my gaze, nodding slowly. “She’s not a meek little girl anymore, is she?”

“She was never meek. She just went through more than most kids and experiences the world with overwhelming clarity. We didn’t know how to deal with it then, but we do now.”

“And apparently she knows how to deal with you.” He shifts the SUV into gear and pulls out of the parking spot.

I have to look away, because a million really inappropriate images pop into my head—like how things went down last night and the fact that I’m missing a strip of hair on both forearms thanks to the duct tape. I clear my throat.

“Apparently.” I’m still about two octaves higher than usual, and my face feels hot.

My dad laughs. “Oh, son, you are in trouble, aren’t you?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

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