Why Lie? (Love Riddles #2) (24 page)

“Expecting anyone else?” he replies.

Cecil gets grouchy on long road trips. I pull open the door and pull him into a hug.

He sinks into my hug and mumbles, “I need a drink.”

I lean back and grin at him. “What are you in the mood for?”

He deadpans. “Alcohol.”

With a smirk, I let him go before turning toward the kitchen. “Anything in particular or do you want me to surprise you?”

“Surprise me but make that shit strong. That drive traumatized me.”

He drags his suitcase in and leaves it standing next to Heath’s dining room table. “Where’s the toilet? I’m about to spring a leak.”

I point my cane toward the bathroom and watch as he hurries down the hall. Then I go about making my Cecil a strong drink.

“Honey, this place is huge,” he says once he’s made his way back to me.

I nod, in comparison to Cecil’s place, this apartment is gigantic.

He points to one wall of Heath’s living room where three surfboards hang. “Did you tell me he surfed?”

I shrug. “Maybe?”

It comes out like a question because I can’t remember what I told him about Heath, other than him breaking my heart.

“I think I would have remembered if you told me that,” he replies.

I pass him his drink and take the much weaker one I made myself and walk over to the sofa. Once I sit, I turn off the TV. I don’t need background noise now that he’s here. Then I reach for my phone to text Heath that Cecil made it. His text back is immediate, telling me to have fun with Cecil, that he’d see me tomorrow, and that he missed me.

I press my phone to my chest like I can somehow transfer his words from my phone to my skin. Then I text back that I miss him too. He replies that he sprayed some of my perfume on one of his shirts and that he’s sleeping with it. I can’t help but smile when I tell him to have sweet dreams.

Cecil is shaking his head when I look up. “Lordy, you have it bad.”

Stretching my arm out, I pass him my phone, our text messages still up.

He reads them, then murmurs. “Surprise that boy with a boob shot later this week. He deserves it.”

I laugh and take a sip of my drink. He is so right.

He surprises me by getting up and rushing back to the guest room, saying. “I got something for you.”

“You didn’t need to get me anything,” I argue loudly in his direction.

Gift bag in hand, he returns, passing it to me before reclaiming his seat.

He didn’t use any tissue paper so I start laughing the moment I look in the bag.

“Open it up. I want one,” he orders as I pull the bag of mini Heath bars from the gift bag.

Once I open the bag and pass him one, he doesn’t wait to start unwrapping it. “Now tell me all about those rotten bitches.”

I’m dreaming. I must be. I can smell him, can feel his full lips pressing against mine. I blink open my eyes and realize it isn’t a dream; Heath is here, kissing me awake. I reach for him, wrapping my arms around him and holding him to me.

When he pulls away, I sleepily grin up at him. “That’s an excellent way to wake up.”

He moves to sit on the bed next to me. “I can’t stay long. I wanted to see you before I went in to work. Now I’m regretting it.”

My brows pull together in confusion. “Why are you regretting it?”

He wets his lips before replying, “Because now all I want to do is crawl in there with you.”

I shiver and from the way he smirks, he didn’t miss it.

Time to change the subject. “How’d it go last night with your mom?”

He pushes my hair back from my face. “She had a rough night. It’s all a balancing act of how much pain she can handle before she can’t take it and asks for help. She doesn’t like the way they make her feel so she usually takes less than what she’s supposed to. She wants to be mentally with it while we don’t want her to be in pain.”

I sit up and lean forward to press my cheek to his chest. “I’m so sorry.”

His arms loop around me. “Thank you.”

I look up at his scruffy jaw. “Is there anything I can do?”

His arms tighten. “I know your friend is here but will you come with me when I go sit with her at lunch?”

I lean back enough for our gazes to meet. “Of course.”

He presses his lips to mine and thanks me again. Then, he lets me go. “Will you be able to fall back asleep?”

I stifle a yawn and nod. “Cecil and I gabbed half the night away.”

He cringes. “Now I feel bad for waking you.”

I shake my head and pull him back down to me “You can wake me with a kiss anytime you like.”

“It’s stopping that’s the hard part,” he murmurs, nipping at my lower lip.

“Then stay,” I whisper.

He hesitates long enough for me to get excited at the prospect of some morning loving when the sound of a door opening has us both turning our heads toward the hall. Cecil lifts a hand in silent greeting while scratching his ass with his other hand before walking into the bathroom.

Heath turns his head back to look at me. “I’m guessing that was Cecil.”

My eyes are still on the hallway. “What is he doing up this early?”

Heath kisses my temple and stands. “You’ll have to ask him.”

Oh, I plan on asking that cockblocking ass scratcher.

“I need to go. Give me a kiss for the road.”

Shifting up onto my knees, I rest my hands on his chest as he lowers his lips to mine. This kiss is long and wet. I start to freak that I haven’t brushed my teeth but since Heath doesn’t seem to mind, I stop worrying and just kiss my man.

“Want me to pick you up or do you want to meet me there?” he asks as he pulls away.

“I’ll meet you there,” I reply so he won’t have to waste time driving me around.

He wraps his arms around me and squeezes before leaving. He’s only going to work so it would be silly to pout, even if I want to.

“Bye, Cecil,” he calls as he passes the hall bathroom.

“Bye, Heath,” Cecil replies.

Shaking my head, I collapse back against the pillows. Cecil comes in not long after and flops down next to me.

“What are you doing up so early?” I ask.

He fluffs the pillow under his head. “It’s too quiet here.”

“I have a noise machine at my place we can pick up for tonight,” I offer.

“Are we going there for breakfast before we go car shopping?”

I stifle another yawn. “Or we could nap for an hour and eat here.”

“Is Gigi working today?”

I sit up and swing my legs over the side of the bed.

“She’s working the morning crowd so I’m going to go take my shower.”

I don’t have to look behind to tell he’s smiling. Cecil, like anyone with sense, loves my Gigi and will want to see her. That means, tired or not, we’re dragging out butts to the diner this morning for breakfast.

Once we’re ready, we pile into his car and make our way to Lola’s. Halfway there, Cecil starts messing with my hair.

“Both hands on the wheel,” I laugh, swatting his hand away.

He purses his lips and grumbles that I’m bossy now that I’m almost all better. He adds that I still could use some dimension to my blonde.

I roll my eyes then flip the visor down to look at my hair in the mirror. “You don’t like the blonde?”

He clucks his tongue. “That blonde is temporary and you know it. The only reason we did it was so you wouldn’t have to deal with all those broken bones and looking like a skunk because of your blonde roots and your black hair.”

I shrug. “But I was blonde before.”

Cecil presses a hand to his chest as his lip curls. “You take that back.”

I laugh. “What?”

His annoyance with me is plain. “You may have been blonde but you were not one solid color bleach blonde. No, you had tones and layers of blonde from dark honey to pale.”

I tilt my head from side-to-side to get a better angle in the small rectangular mirror. “What do you think I should do?”

The smile that spreads across his face tells me that all will be forgiven if I turn my hair over to him. “I think we should darken it up a bit. Not the ‘dyeing my feelings black’ we did last time but something warmer.”

“I like the blonde though,” I argue.

“We’re keeping the blonde, babe. We just need to blend some darker colors in because this whole head-one-shade look is not working for me.”

“Fine,” I grumble, more to annoy him than anything else.

As much as I like the blonde, I can follow his logic and more importantly, Cecil has never steered me wrong.

We hit the diner during a lull so Gigi is able to sit with us while we eat. They talk a mile a minute so I don’t even get a word in edgewise while they gossip about Heath and me, right in front of me.

Gigi loved that Heath stopped by this morning just to kiss me, and Cecil loved telling her. I can’t lie. I probably enjoyed it as much as the both of them.

“What do you kids have planned between now and your lunch at the Mackey’s?”

No matter how old I get, to Gigi I will always be a kid.

“From here, we’re going to the used car dealership,” I reply.

This news doesn’t surprise her. My sweet Lady was totaled in the mudslide. Now that I can drive again, I need a car.

“Have you narrowed down what you’re looking for?” she asks.

Cecil lowers his fork and makes a point of giving me his full attention since he was the one who would be car shopping with me later.

“Four-wheel drive and decent ground clearance,” I reply.

Logical or not, sedans, coups, and sports cars all make me nervous now. If I can find one I like with low miles, a small SUV is what I’m looking to buy.

The door chimes as a group walks in. It still isn’t busy but Gigi takes it as her sign to get back to work. Cecil pays, leaving a huge tip, even after I tell him not do. As always, he ignores me.

Linking his arm through mine, he leads us out the door. “Let’s go buy a car.”

Two hours later, he’s following in his car back to Heath’s place.

I let him in and speed walk as fast as I can with my boot to the bathroom to do an appearance check.

“You look beautiful, Syd,” Cecil breathes from the doorway to the bathroom.

I smooth the skirt of my dress down for a tenth time. “Are you sure?”

He locks eyes with me in the mirror and nods. “Why are you so nervous? I thought you already met them?”

My mouth twists before I admit, “I was in a wheelchair then. People are either extra nice to you or pretend like they don’t see you at all when you’re in a chair. What if they don’t like me out of it?”

He blinks, then smiles. “You thinking they might not like you because you’re no longer in a wheelchair is the craziest shit I’ve heard in a long time, and you know I hear crazy shit on a regular basis. But if that is what has you freaked, at least you still have an ugly-ass cane for them to pity you about.”

This was no lie. The stories he told me were so crazy I wondered if he made them up. Then I went to stay with him and found out first-hand how bizarre his neighbors were.

My lips tip up and I immediately suppress it and frown again. “Don’t make me laugh. I’m busy being nervous here. And, what’s wrong with my cane?”

He steps into the bathroom and loops his arm around my shoulders. “There is no reason for you to be nervous. That boy is into you and the fact that his parents want you in their space right now is a sign that they already like you. And, don’t get me started on all the ways that cane is ugly. You should have told me before I left Frisco. I could have bought you a gorgeous faux snakeskin one.”

I turn my face to look at him, his handsome profile right in front of me. Leaning forward, I press my lips to his cheek.

“Thank you,” I whisper.

“Anytime. Now get your ass on the road so I can go take a nap.”

Cecil and his naps.

I do as he orders; only I do it laughing.

Heath is waiting for me, leaned up against his Audi when I pull into the drive of his parents’ house.

I barely have my new ride in park before he’s at my door. “You didn’t say you were getting a new car today.”

“You like?” I ask, killing the engine.

He nods and then takes a step back, his eyes moving over the silver body. “It suits you.”

Reaching forward, he opens my door for me. Taking his offered hand after my new ride’s locks are beeped, he leads me to the front door.

His mom isn’t sitting up like the last time I saw her. Now, it’s the hospital bed that’s doing all the work. An oxygen mask covers her mouth and nose. Condensation fogs it and then clears with each breath.

Her hair is braided, pulled back from her face. If possible, she is even thinner than the last time I saw her. Maybe I didn’t notice it before, or maybe the blanket that had covered her disguised it with its busy print.

Today her blanket is a solid teal blue. It does nothing to hide her frame beneath it. Her kneecaps and hip bones protrude in a way that even I, with no medical training, can tell is bad.

Her skin is gray, the area under her eyes dark and sunken. Her eyes, while still the same endless blue Heath inherited from her, seem cloudy with haze.

She lifts her hand and taps on her mask. Heath moves past me to help her take it off. He then moves behind the chair he sat in last time we were here. “I’m going to go look for my dad. Want to keep my mom company while I do?”