Page 37 of Sharp Lies

Of course, I told myself firmly, he hadn’t offered me anything of the sort. He’d just said that was what he wanted, and that he’d never leave Oakville because he wanted to build it here.

Then he’d stepped forward and kissed me like he was putting everything he had into it, though. He’d backed me up against the wall of the house and kissed me again and again, his hands on my waist and his tongue tangling with mine as we stood there and made out like a couple of freaking teenagers.

And every kiss had made me want another.

Every sigh had made me want more with him.

And heaven help me, my thoughts of the road had melted away like dust in the wind in the face of those tender, searching caresses.

A sudden boom sounded out across the sky, sending me shooting up, and a flash of lighting followed it almost immediately. My room lit up like I’d just hit the light switch and I nearly screamed at the abrupt illumination.

What the hell was going on out there? What was that sound?

A moment later, when another boom sounded out, my brain caught up. A storm. It was a storm. It had been clear when I went to bed—I knew because I’d stopped to look at the stars on my way up the staircase—but storms in Illinois could come on quickly, and summer thunderstorms were notoriously dramatic.

I was just getting up to get a look through the window when the rain started, and it was just as sudden and dramatic as the thunder had been. It came in a wash of noise, the storm sweeping across the fields, and when it hit the house, it sounded like an attack. My feet sped up, and I made for the window, ducking down to push aside the curtain and stare out into the darkness.

Only it wasn’t darkness anymore. It wasn’t exactly bright outside, but the clouds had brought some sort of gray light with them, and I could see everything. The trees in the yard whipped in the wind, and puddles were already forming in the dips around the rose bushes. The sky above was roiling with clouds, and as I watched, lightning sliced across the night, thunder right on top of it.

Crap, this storm wasn’t fooling around. Had anyone known it was coming? Someone must have, I was sure, and I probably could have checked a weather app and seen its approach, except I was too busy thinking about Warren and that kiss.

Warren.

Oh shit.

I was moving for the door of the room before I had another thought, Silver on my heels as if she knew exactly what was going on. I grabbed a sweatshirt on my way past my chair and tugged it on, and then we were running down the stairs. If Warren was set off by fireworks, I was betting thunder was probably just as bad.

And it was the middle of the night. The dark wouldn’t help him, and there was no one there to help him handle the sound and lightning. I had to know if he was okay, and I wasn’t going to wait until morning, when it might be more socially acceptable to go over there.

I was shoving my feet into the cowboy boots I’d left lying by the door, my actions frantic and hurried, when I heard my mother.

“Lily? What are you doing?”

I finished yanking the last boot on and clattered toward her bedroom, feeling guilty that I hadn’t even thought to stop by and see her before I thought of getting to Warren.

“There’s a storm,” I gasped, skidding to a stop in her doorway.

She looked at me like I was insane. “I’m not deaf, Lil. I heard the storm. But why did you come thundering down the stairs like it was actually after you? And why”—she glanced at my feet—”are you wearing your boots?”

Right. I hadn’t told my mom about what had happened between me and Warren, partially because I hadn’t known what was going on and I didn’t want her to worry. Or get her hopes up. But I couldn’t think of any reason she’d buy for me going out into the storm except the real one.

So truth it was.

“It’s Warren,” I said, hurrying through it like that would make it any easier. “He was in the military, right? And he’s got PTSD. Gets freaked out by loud noises, flashes of light, that sort of thing. I didn’t know until the Fourth, when Silver was freaking out. But I went over there and... And now I... I can’t just...”

I trailed off, realizing that I didn’t know what the rest of the truth was, but as always, my mother surprised me.

“You went over and took care of him and realized that there’s more to him than you realized. And now you’re concerned he might be there by himself and need someone,” she finished for me.

“Something like that,” I murmured.

She stared at me for a moment, her eyes seeing way more than I was actually saying, and then nodded once. “Then I guess you better go over there and make sure he’s okay. And I want to hear all about it when you get back.”

I grinned at her but didn’t answer.

I was too busy running for the front door—and trying to figure out why she’d been looking so victorious as she told me to go.

I jumped through the door and into the rain like I ran into rainstorms all the time, and Silver went with me. I was soaked to the skin in seconds, but that wasn’t going to stop me. Warren’s house wasn’t far, and I was sure I’d be able to get towels there.