Page 52 of The Lies You Love
“That nothing lasts forever.”
His eyes dip down in the corner, and he merely nods.
“Thanks for this, Walker. It was nice of you, and I really needed this.”
He lifts and lowers one shoulder. “There was one more thing. He wanted me to tell you something.”
My gaze trained on the puppy; I look up to meet his eyes. “What?”
“He said, and I quote, ‘I puked because I drank too much, not because I couldn’t look at you.’”
I shake my head. “What a damn poet.”
Walker leaves after another glass of wine and an extended goodbye. We make plans to meet up at one of our old brunch spots where I can meet his family. After he leaves, I’m left with this tiny spaniel looking at me. “Well, I’m not prepared to have you here, but I know somewhere we can go to fix that. What do you say?” He cocks his head.
I smile and sniffle. “God, I hate you, Beck.” Even though I don’t. I might love him a little more for knowing what I need before I’ve figured it out for myself.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Beck
I can’t escape her. Auden’s name seems to live on every pair of lips. Her face races through my mind constantly, and when there’s a blissful reprieve, I’m looking at her because Ramsey has been with her constantly. When Auden does speak it’s about how torn up she is. I’m trying to make her happy from afar, but most people don’t have a direct line to the person they’ve broken up with. It’s been weeks of this and it’s to the point that it’s unbearable. Asking for time off isn’t something I’ve done before—and I’m considering it. If Grey pulled this kind of bullshit I’d be pissed, I know that much. So, I work distracted. I did the best I could to leave my feelings for her in my apartment, on the bedroom floor, unfortunately, the love remains. Love always remains.
Ramsey and Auden are walking the puppy, something I offered as a peace offering for doing what I said I wouldn’t, leaving. The dog seems to make her happier, and I will admit after the meeting with Walker went to plan, Auden seems to hate me less, judging by how she speaks about me to Ramsey. I’m staying several paces behind the women, but they’re heading for the jogging trail where Ramsey was almost abducted. She hasn’t been here in months, and I have no idea why she’s choosing today to go back. The sign I had made to keep her out is gone now; ostensibly the city removed it after they realized it wasn’t valid.
I hate that I follow a little closer, just so I can catch the scent of Auden’s perfume in the wind. I hate a lot of things these days mostly myself. I’m not healing from the shock of the transplant information. I visited Maisey’s favorite place in Texas before I flew home. I sat in the grass at a park and cried. I begged her to tell me what to do. I pleaded with her to help me fix the fucking mess I created. I couldn’t, though, because even though it doesn’t make sense to hold her heart against her, I know that Auden is better off with a man who can give her everything she deserves. Only part of me knows that, though. The other, jealous half is doing everything in his power to stop every man from looking in her direction.
Every day I get closer to letting her go. Not because I want to, but because it’s what she deserves. I keep sending her reminders that I love her. Even the small subtle ones seem to cheer her up, so it’s going to be difficult to cut the cord completely. There’s also the fact that at this point I’m basically guarding both my Principal and Auden. If they stick together, it’s easier for me, but there are times they aren’t near and that’s when I feel stretched thin and worried for not only my sanity but Ramsey’s life. She is who relies on me. She is the life I’m bound to protect. I find that constantly reminding myself of that fact is a bad sign.
They take a shortcut onto the wooded trail, and I pull back even further because it will be harder to hide when the bustle of humans on a busy sidewalk can’t conceal me and the sounds my feet make. The dog, which Auden affectionately named Pork, because even though it’s her business she was unaware how much puppies eat, pauses and turns around. I swear to God I’ve been on this dog’s radar since the first day I was trailing them. I kept him in my place for a few days, and that was enough for him to know me on any street corner from half a mile away. I halt, pausing where the trail begins, turning toward a few people having a picnic on the grass. They look at me funny, crinkling their brows.
I clear my throat and ask, “Do you know where this trail comes out or if it’s an out and back?”
The confusion disappears. “Oh, I think it can be both,” the woman says. “It forks a mile or so in.”
I pretend to be amazed by this information. I know these trails intimately because I did a deep dive after the incident with Ramsey.
“I’m not sure if it’s left or right that loops back around though.”
“Hey, thanks,” I say, putting a hand up in a goodbye gesture. She smiles back, and I enter the trail at the perfect distance behind the women. They’re walking at a brisk clip in a constant state of conversation. It sounds like they’re speaking about something important, or at least something I’d be interested in, so I turn on the earpiece and pray Ramsey’s phone isn’t in her back pocket.
“There is a reason I asked you to come on the walk with me today.” It is an odd time—in the middle of the day, at a time Auden is almost exclusively at the store.
“Yeah?” Ramsey replies.
The audio is a little scratchy, but I can hear them both perfectly in the tiny bud inside my ear.
“My accountant called and said that my new bookkeeper sent over different information than I did.” Auden clears her throat, a self-conscious gesture. “I don’t have a bookkeeper, you know that.” Another noise from her throat. “She said it was Tess’s name on the company email.”
Ramsey’s shoulders slouch down a bit. “Really?”
“Yeah,” Auden says in a rush, relieved that information is out in the open. “You’ve been in the store more and more lately. Do you know anything? I mean, I know you’d tell me if you saw Tess doing anything… financially corrupt, but I guess I’m asking if you’ve seen her do anything unscrupulous at all while she’s been there. Anything that might be construed as wrong in light of this new discovery?”
A sharp pang slices my stomach when I realize what’s she’s suggested. That Tess is stealing. There is no way.
“I’m rarely there when she is so I don’t know what to think.”
Ramsey stays silent. Then finally says, “What did you send?”
