Page 186 of Releasing 10
I managed to make it to the count of ten in my head before I sheepishly stood up, stretched my arms over my head, and then slowly walked out of the room.
Once I had the bedroom door closed behind me, I booked it down the staircase at lightning speed, not stopping until I reached the kitchen patio door, when my mother’s hand shot out and fisted the back of my T-shirt.
“Where are you off to in such a hurry, mister?”
“I, uh, I, uh…I, uh…”
“You, uh, uh, uh, what?” Mam mocked, hands on her hips. “You were sneaking off to the treehouse with your girlfriend, that’s what you were uh, uh, uh doing.”
Sadhbh, who was sitting at the kitchen table, burst out laughing, and my face flooded with heat. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Mam rolled her eyes. “Lie better, son.”
“I was going to help her find her phone,” I huffed, defensive. “Jesus, is that a crime now or something?”
“Ah, Sinead, go easy on him,” Gibsie’s mam chuckled. “Can’t you see the poor boy’s in the throes of puppy love?”
“She’s myfriend,” I lied through my teeth and argued, casting a mutinous glare in Sadhbh’s direction. “Justa friend.”
Mam arched a brow. “Do you think I came down in the last shower?”
“Just a friend,” Sadhbh chuckled, thoroughly amused. “The lines never change over the years, do they, Sinead?”
“I swear,” I bit out, glowing red now. “I’m being a friend and helping her find her phone.”
“Hmm.” Mam clicked her tongue, eyes laced with suspicion. “Make sure that’sallyou’re doing, young man.”
“It is,” I called over my shoulder, lying through my fucking teeth, as I yanked the sliding door open and bolted outside.
“What took you so long?” Liz asked when I reached the top step of the ladder. “I thought you weren’t coming.”
“It’s my mam.” Red-faced, I climbed up the rest of the way and then quickly slipped inside, slamming the rickety door shutbehind me. “She’s a menace.” Blowing out a frustrated breath, I sagged against the door at my back and groaned. “I think she knows.”
Liz arched a brow. “Knows?”
“Yeah.” Exhaling another breath, I nodded wearily. “About us.”
Her eyes twinkled with excitement. “What about us?”
“Come on, Liz,” I muttered, feeling another wave of heat attack my neck. I could hear my heart beating in my ears. It was thundering so loud, it was deafening. “You know.”
Snickering, she crawled toward me, not stopping until she was kneeling between my legs. “Now who’s the adorable-looking one?” Grinning, she reached up and stroked my cheek with her finger. “You’re blushing.”
Yeah, and it tended to happen when I was around her.
I reached up to move her hand but somehow my fingers ended up entwining with hers. Holding her hand always sent an electric shock through me and today was no different.
I flicked my eyes back to her face and found her already watching me with that familiar heated stare. “Liz.”
Her pupils got bigger when she whispered my name. “Hugh.”
“Do you want to talk for a bit?” I offered, trying to be supportive but already knowing her answer. “About how you’re feeling about your Mam being away at treatment?”
She shook her head. “Talking is the last thing I want to do.”
“Are you sure?” I probed, not taking it to heart because I knew her better than I knew myself, and when things got rough, she preferred to soldier on, instead of exploring her feelings.
Liz shifted closer. “One hundred percent.”
