Page 59 of Cruel Lies

"No, Harper. Don’t." His hands were so tight around me now that I was afraid there’d be bruises when I woke up tomorrow. "Just go. Fucking get away from me before I do something to you we both end up regretting."

He shoved me at the door and disappeared into the bathroom, the door swinging closed as I put my hand on the doorknob to the common area. As I turned it, the last thing I heard from Nash was the sound of him losing the contents of his stomach.

The thought of me wanting him made him violently ill.

And I’d never before felt so utterly broken.

TWENTY-SEVEN

ANGEL

"It’s toocold to go out on the roof tonight, Harperrrr." I knew I was being a petulant brat, but I couldn’t help myself. Of all the nights for her to demand one of our stargazing sessions, it just had to be on the coldest fucking night of the summer. The rain earlier left the roof all wet and slick, and the air had a chill to it that cut straight through your clothes and dug into your bones.

I didnotwant to crawl out there and end up sick.

Harper put on that damn bratty stare and stuck out her bottom lip as she shoved her nose in the air. "Angel. You promised me you’d never say no." Her hands found her hips, and I rolled my eyes at how much she reminded me of her mother, but with more sass. Miss Daniels wasn’t to be trifled with, but she had a soft side for us kids. As far as a step-parent went, we couldn’t have asked for better.

As for her daughter, though . . .

"Harper, you’ll get sick?—"

"Will not!" Her tongue peeked out from between her lips, and I swore it was like she was fucking twelve again, staring at me like I was a freak when my voice changed in puberty. "Aaaaaaangeeelllllllllll?—"

"Okay, fine! Fine! We’ll go out and get sick, shit." I threw my hands in the air and stomped from my bed all the way to my closet. Clear in the back, hanging behind an entire wardrobe of winter clothes, was my fur-lined trenchcoat. I threw it around me and eyed her slim frame with skepticism. "You planning on going out there dressed like that? It’s cold."

"I’m fine," she whispered, wincing as something hit the wall downstairs, shattering on impact. "Hurry up."

By the time we scrambled out the window, several more plates and glasses had hit the wall, and Father was yelling about trust and respect and all the same talking points he always dragged out when he was drunk.

I shut the window behind us, cutting off the sound witha sigh. "There. Go on and get comfortable. Let’s see what we can find in the sky tonight."

I wasn’t big on stars. Or, I never had been before. But all it took was one night on the roof with Harper, and suddenly I was checking out astrology books from the library and enrolling in pre-college astronomy class for kicks.

Harper had starfished on the roof tiles, her hands behind her head, a smirk on her face that just as good as said ‘I win.’ But even the satisfied smirk couldn’t hide the way she shivered as a cold chill ran down her spine.

I gave it five minutes, and she’d be begging to go back inside.

Two hours later, I could still hear the faint echoes of the argument carrying on in the central part of the house. This place was so big that it’d be nearly impossible to hear them if they didn’t also like to leave the first-floor windows open so the neighbors could hear.

Not that we had any, but still.

I was mirroring Harper’s pose now, the two of us as side by side as our elbows would allow, just a foot or two apart, staring up at the sky as we pointed out constellations we recognized.

Her arm shot out, and she grinned wildly as her whole upper body followed it into a sitting position. "Oh wow! I know that one! It’s uhhhh, it’s uhhhh . . . shit."

I held a straight face for all of two seconds before a burst of laughter erupted from me. "Bahahahahahaha. Is it shit? Is that the name, Harper?" I wiped a stray tear from the corner of my eye, smiling at her even as I made her the butt of the joke.

She was less than amused. "Ha ha ha, very funny, Angel." She stared up and crossed her arms again, pouting like she’d been told she could never wear her favorite color again. "Idoknow it, dammit. I just forgot the name when I went to tell you."

My eyes found the constellation in question, and sure enough, I knew for a fact she knew what this one was. It was my favorite, andshe’d introduced me to it last year, when we had our first roof session.

"That’s Saggitarius."

"That’s what it’s called!" She was practically bouncing in excitement now, and as she rose to her knees, a bad feeling washed through me.

I reached out to stop her, but it was too late. "Harper, watch out!"

As she came down again, her knee slipped, and she went down on her side and began to slide toward the edge.

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