The Lie (The Skyy Huntington Series) by Holly Hudspeth Read Free Book Online Page A

up on all my favorite TV shows, took up a cooking class that met two times a month, and was planning to start a garden in the yard once the weather was finally good. Back in Boston I never had time for anything, between my job and the dirt bag boyfriend I had been seeing. That lasted almost a year before I found out he was cheating on me with two different women. I’d been single now for almost two years, and I was in no rush at all to jump back into any kind of relationship, even if it was with Christian.
    “I’m thinking about tossing a frozen pizza in the oven, you hungry at all?” he asked. It’d been a little while since I had the shepherd’s pie at the pub.
    “Sure, I’ll have a slice or two,” I replied.
    I sat at his bar on a stool while we were waiting on the pizza to cook. We made small talk which seemed way too forced, but it was better than silence I guess. With about five minutes left on the pizza timer, the power flickered out for a few seconds.
    “Oh great, not again,” he sighed. His house was old and the problem with old New England homes was the wiring was pretty bad. Just about every storm that rolled through made Christian’s power go out, along with most of his neighborhood. Sure enough a few minutes later the power flickered out for good. I reached into my pocket to grab my cell for some light so we could find our way to the candles.
    He kept a large stock of candles on hand for times like this. After we fumbled around in the dark lighting some up, I grabbed two plates and took the pizza out of the oven. Thankfully it was close to being done when the power went out, and the cheese on top had melted into a nice golden brown indicating it was cooked.
    I peeked out his sliding glass door to see how much snow had fallen so far. We were really getting slammed in, with easily about four inches or more on the ground. With no TV to watch we settled for playing cards instead. Christian never brought up the kiss subject, and I didn't want to mention it even though he'd asked me to come by so we could talk. After about an hour and a half I was starting to get tired. “I think I am about ready to call it a night, I’m sleepy,” I said as I stood up to stretch. “You got some sweats and a t-shirt I can sleep in?”
    “Sure, let me go find something for you. I’ll take the couch tonight and you can have the bed,” he replied. He came back downstairs a few moments later with some sweats, a t-shirt, and a hoodie in case it got too cold in the house. I thanked him and went into the bathroom to change. I said goodnight to him and as I was climbing the stairs to his room he called out, “If you need anything just let me know.”
    As tired as I was, I could not fall asleep. I lay there for easily over an hour trying. Cupcake was sound asleep next to me, breathing softly. The house was really getting cold now with no heater coming on. I wondered where my pen pal entity lived, if he lived anywhere at all, and how he was faring through this snow storm. I wondered if he had a house, he said he wasn’t a ghost which meant he had to live somewhere I guessed.
    I got up to use the bathroom, using my cell phone again for light. The tile floor was freezing on my bare feet. I went to Christian’s bedroom closet to see if he had an extra blanket in there anywhere. I guess he couldn’t sleep either, because he scared the daylights out of me as he entered the room and asked if everything was ok. I was way too jumpy lately.
    “I was just looking for an extra blanket, it’s freezing in here. I can’t sleep.”
    “I’ve only got the two, one here on the bed and the one I have downstairs on the couch. You can have mine though if you want, I’ll just grab another sweatshirt,” he replied. Always the gentleman.
    “No, that’s ok you’ll freeze to death down there with no blanket. Go grab it and come on back up here, two bodies and two blankets are better than one, right?” I didn’t want to encourage him, but