The Lie by Natalie Wrye (primary phonics books .txt) 📕

I manage to answer, squirming in my arm chair. “I don't know if I love him. And I’m not sure I can take you asking me that. It’s only been two days, Soph. Let me breathe first. Let me come up for air.”

“I’m sure you’ll need it, if you’ve been face down in a mattress all weekend…which I’m sure you have been.”

“Will you stop asking me questions if I admit that the answer to your question is ‘yes’? I feel like I’m being interrogated.”

“Fine,” Sophia answers with a snap, humming her satisfaction at my answers in my ear. “But you will tell him. Right? I mean, you're thinking about uprooting your entire life, so you better be sure about that.”

She's right. I know she's right. I need to tell him. But I can't quite bring myself to say the words out loud. Not yet. Maybe not ever.

I tell Sophia that I will. I'll take the first steps to tell him. I'm just not ready yet.

I don't know if I'm ready.

I mean, I'm happy.

I'm in control.

I feel strong.

But I don't know if I love him. I do know I am falling. And it’s all so confusing.

The night before, anything could have happened.

And it almost did.

I could feel Andrew and I getting to that point.

Almost.

I decide I don't have to tell Sophia about that. It's not important.

But I had to take baby steps.

Baby step number one?

I needed a conversation with Eric. To clear things up.

And second of all, I need more time. More time with Andrew.

I need to see how things go. I need to see where things go.

I need to figure out if I can answer Sophia’s questions honestly.

And I need to figure out if I can love a liar.

Chapter 20

ANDREW

I’ve been driving around Greenwich for over a half an hour.

After I told Sabrina the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help me God, she gave me the third degree of a lifetime.

I thought I’d be confessing a lie…

I didn’t know I’d be spilling my guts all over her Mercedes’s carpeted floor.

The driver seat I navigate in feels more and more like a hot seat with every mile, and my baby sister turns to me for the fourteenth time, her brown eyes shooting accusatory daggers in my direction.

I have no choice.

I let her stab me with another question, bleeding out.

“How do you know Nancy?” She inquires, eyes narrowing from the passenger seat.

I swerve the wheel to avoid hitting a small SUV.

Flipping on the windshield wipers as a February icy rain beats down on the black car, I exhale, my heart matching the pitter-pattering of the precipitation on the shiny paint.

I wish I could flip Sabrina something else a little less PG-13, as she asks the next question.

“Have you slept with her? Wait…” Sabrina stops. “I mean, before this weekend, of course. Because it’s going to the take the Jaws of Life to get the sound of the two of you going at it this morning out of my brain.”

I grip the steering wheel as the car behind me honks, and my resolve breaks, my concentration cracking as our car crosses another street, the Benz’s tires sloshing through the slush.

I swerve the wheel again, flipping on the windshield wipers once more.

“No, I did not sleep with Nancy before this weekend. And yes, what I do with women I see is none of your fucking business, Bri.”

“Sounds like Nancy is much more than just a woman you happen to see.”

“Bri, is this really necessary?”

I see that it is. Because she won’t let up.

“What about her family?”

“What about them?” I shoot back, eyeing her. “Did you plan on meeting them?”

“Did they know about this…this arrangement?”

I'm still trying to figure out what she means by arrangement—and why it sounds like she's tearing me apart.

I think about it for a moment.

“Her parents are gone… Her brother's out of town with his girlfriend. No one knows but us two…” I grit my teeth, grinding them down. “And now you, Sabrina, so there it is.”

“No,” Sabrina refutes, her voice stern. “I don't want to lie to Hannah. I don't want to lie to anyone. And you should know that I'm not going to lie or be a part of this. Hannah's my sister, too, and I care about what she thinks. She's got a lot on her plate as it is. It’s the last thing she needs on her wedding weekend… I mean, she already picked a groom that is less interesting than watching paint dry. Does the woman need to suffer more?” She sighs. “I don't think I can do this…”

“You have to,” I bark, feeling no better. “It's your sister. And it’s her wedding weekend. And it’s not like Hannah and I really have the greatest relationship, anyway.”

I watch as Sabrina digs in her purse, finding a Snickers bar. She unwraps it, takes a bite, then hands it to me—like when we were young.

Sneaking candy out of the kitchen. Hiding it from Ma’s watchful eyes any time we got a chance.

It brings back memories.

Memories of better times.

Memories before I left…for good.

I keep driving as the cold rain picks up pace, the roads turning slick, half-icy from the chill.

“You're right,” my sister asserts, sucking in a harsh breath. “I get it. Lying to Hannah is bad. But bringing in family drama on one of the most important days of her life? Shit, that's even worse.”

“You have a point.” I take the Snickers and stuff it in my mouth.

Sabrina's phone rings, and she answers it. Against all reason.

My sister never did learn the art of subtlety.

And she can’t lie worth a damn.

“Hi, Hannah!” She shouts into the speaker of her phone. “How are you?"

I can't hear Hannah's voice very well.

“We're…um, we're at the mall. We were looking at tuxes…”

There's a pause.

“No, he didn't pick one yet…”

Another long pause.

“Well… I don't know. He doesn't really like anything…”

Another pause followed by more disquiet. The air in the car expands and hardens as I