Page 119 of Fly's Path

When this is done, you can find her again and convince her to give you another chance.

Like Lola is going to just hang around waiting for me to come back because I’m her true love. We aren’t living in a romance novel. Women don’t do things like that.

A smart man is going to come by, treat her like the princess she is, and sweep her off her feet.

When did fairy tales take over your reality?

I stop in front of her door and stand there staring at it. Nothing about it has changed from this morning.

If she hadn’t walked into that party, we’d be out to lunch somewhere, probably talking about her classes.

Kerri walks up. She stops when she notices me leaning against the wall, staring at it with desperation. “I heard what you did.”

Is there anyone on campus who hasn’t heard yet?

“Lola thought LynnLeigh and Suzie were pranking her. That it was a joke.”

“I wouldn’t ever do that to her.”

“And see, that’s my problem. I believe you when you say that, but I also know you threw a massive party at your penthouse with drugs, booze, and women that don’t care what a creep you are. So which you is true?”

Does she really expect an answer? Probably. “Can’t they both be true?”

Kerri shakes her head. “Not for a mentally sound person.” She tips her head to the side, staring at me. “Are you a drug addict?”

What?

“That would make sense. You’d want to hide that side of yourself from Lola, but why would you use your own place?”

“Lola doesn’t know where I live.” Why did I say that? Because that lie might work.

“Even if she doesn’t now, she would have figured it out soon enough. Why not go to a club on the other side of town?”

Because I’m luring in a drug dealer. “Because Lola was supposed to spend the night in the library, and I didn’t expect her to hang out with the kind of people who attended.” That’s oddly the truth.

Kerri stares at me like her eyes are X-rays, and she can see the truth if she looks hard enough. “Lola has a lot of friends. She was bound to find out.”

“Not right away. I could have gotten away with it a few more times.”

“But you didn’t.”

“No, I didn’t.”

Kerri knocks on Lola’s door, then pokes her head inside. “He’s here again.”

“What?” She races to the open door and stops. “Why are you here?”

“Because he’s an addict and doesn’t know how to tell you so he’s just standing there like an idiot,” Kerri answers for me.

“A what?” Lola’s head practically spins around as she tries to look at both of us at the same time.

“It makes sense. He didn’t expect to fall in love with you, but like so many guys our age, he’s addicted to drugs and doesn’t know how to explain it to you.”

“Is that true? Are you an addict? How did you start? When? Why? Have you been doing them while we were together? You drove us around in your car. Were you high then? You didn’t look high. Are you an addict? Do you need help? Because I’m not going to stay with you if you’re on drugs. It’s me or them.”

Lie. It would be so easy. She wants to believe you. You could go to AA for a few months and pretend to get help. Then, when the coast was clear, you could tell her the truth. “I’m not an addict.”

Lola steps forward. “You don’t have to lie to me. We can get you help.”