The Lies That Define Us (Us 2)

There was still so much about Ari that I didn’t know. It was obvious that she had secrets, lots of them, and I also got the feeling that a part of her was desperate to flee, and yet, she stayed.

She shook her head and looked at me with a steely determination. “No, I wouldn’t let him.” Before I could respond to that comment, she quickly added, “That is your truth for the day.”

I snapped my teeth together and let out a groan.

That girl was one giant mystery wrapped up in a pretty little package.

“Are you ever going to tell me?” I asked, reaching out and wrapped my hand around her wrist. Beneath my fingers I felt her pulse begin to race and her breath hissed between her lips.

“Do you want to die?” Her tone was serious.

I snorted and let go of her wrist. “What kind of question is that?”

“An honest one.” She shrugged with a sigh and returned her attention to the photos. “No one knows about these?” She motioned to the various photos.

“That’s not entirely true.” I shrugged. “People know I like photography, but nobody knows about the darkroom. Most of the photos you see around my house are taken by me, but…they’re different. These are special. With film you have one shot to get it right, and I love that aspect. It makes the experience more personal. With digital photography you can edit the photo to make it perfect, but not here.” I pointed to the picture of Joe. “And you don’t know what you’re going to get until you develop the film.”

“Thank you,” she said softly, spinning around again, “for sharing this with me.”

I dipped my head in a nod. “This room is still off-limits.” I winked at her to lessen the sting of my words.

She laughed. “Noted.” Lifting her fingers to a photo, she said, “I love this one.”

It was a simple photo of a flower in bloom. I didn’t even know what kind of flower it was, but I’d seen it and felt compelled to document it. The black and white photo somehow seemed to enhance the small details of the flower instead of shadowing them, and the leaves around the flower appeared to be cradling it.

“There’s something I wanted to ask you,” I broached hesitantly.

She raised a brow and crossed her arms over her chest. “Out with it, Wade.” Her lips lifted playfully.

“You know my competition in Hawaii in two weeks?”

“Yeah?” She nodded. “What about it?”

“I want you to go with me.” I cleared my throat and hastily added, “Talia and the guys are going too so it wouldn’t just be…uh…us.” I cringed at my not-so-smooth effort to get her to go.

“But I have to work and don’t airports require ID or something? I don’t even have a license.” She wrung her hands together and shuffled her feet nervously.

“My dad’s band has their own private plane. He said I could use it for the trip so that everyone could go.”

“Oh, are they going?” she questioned.

“Yeah, I think so,” I nodded. “They said all of us could use the plane and they’d fly out later. Don’t know why, they’ll probably get mobbed,” I mused.

“Aren’t there, like, a lot of cameras at airports?”

I snorted. “Yeah, why?” That was such an odd question to ask. Cameras? Was I harboring a fugitive or something? I narrowed my eyes on her. “Ari?”

“I don’t think I can go.”

“We don’t even go inside the airport. We drive around and board the plane privately. It’s one of the many perks of having a private jet at your disposal.”

Her mouth parted in a perfect O shape.

“Why would the cameras be an issue anyway?”

“Oh, no reason.” She waved a hand dismissively.

I couldn’t let it go. “There’s got to be a fucking reason.” My voice grew heated and my fists clenched at my sides.