BooksBarbecue
Back One White Lie Save as PDF
Chapters (59)
  1. COVER
  2. About the Author
  3. DEDICATION
  4. ONE
  5. TWO
  6. THREE
  7. FOUR
  8. FIVE
  9. SIX
  10. SEVEN
  11. EIGHT
  12. NINE
  13. TEN
  14. ELEVEN
  15. TWELVE
  16. THIRTEEN
  17. FOURTEEN
  18. FIFTEEN
  19. SIXTEEN
  20. SEVENTEEN
  21. EIGHTEEN
  22. NINETEEN
  23. TWENTY
  24. TWENTY-ONE
  25. TWENTY-TWO
  26. TWENTY-THREE
  27. TWENTY-FOUR
  28. TWENTY-FIVE
  29. TWENTY-SIX
  30. TWENTY-SEVEN
  31. TWENTY-EIGHT
  32. TWENTY-NINE
  33. THIRTY
  34. THIRTY-ONE
  35. THIRTY-TWO
  36. THIRTY-THREE
  37. THIRTY-FOUR
  38. THIRTY-FIVE
  39. THIRTY-SIX
  40. THIRTY-SEVEN
  41. THIRTY-EIGHT
  42. THIRTY-NINE
  43. FORTY
  44. FORTY-ONE
  45. FORTY-TWO
  46. FORTY-THREE
  47. FORTY-FOUR
  48. FORTY-FIVE
  49. FORTY-SIX
  50. FORTY-SEVEN
  51. FORTY-EIGHT
  52. FORTY-NINE
  53. FIFTY
  54. FIFTY-ONE
  55. FIFTY-TWO
  56. FIFTY-THREE
  57. FIFTY-FOUR
  58. Acknowledgments
  59. THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING

‘You’re not going crazy,’ I managed. ‘None of this is your fault. And you are my best friend,’ I said, realizing even as I said it that it hardly was true; not anymore. My friendship with Ellie – something that had always been simple and good – was one of the many things Davis had taken from me, and I hated him for it. ‘I just …’ I took a sip of my drink, desperate to calm myself down. The bubbles clung to the sides of the glass like soap, and the beer tasted bitter and flat.

‘You live here now,’ Ellie asked – or rather, stated. ‘This is where you’ve been all along, isn’t it? You were never in Seattle.’

I took another sip in lieu of answering.

‘Where are you even staying?’ she asked.

‘Why?’

Her eyes widened. ‘Jesus, what’s wrong with you?’

‘I’m sorry.’ I scanned the room, my eyes landing on the exit. ‘It doesn’t matter where I’m staying, okay?’

Ellie tipped her glass back again, as if she were suddenly dying of thirst. ‘Why did you lie to me?’

I tore at the corner of my napkin. ‘Because it felt easier,’ I said finally.

‘Easier?’ Ellie asked. ‘What does that even mean?’

I took her in, my onetime best friend, her questions bouncing around my brain like lotto balls, and in that moment, as fear ballooned within me, I made a snap decision. It was the only way. It was the only chance that she would protect me, that she wouldn’t go straight to him. ‘I didn’t want Davis coming up here, okay?’

‘But why?’ Ellie asked. ‘People break up. I know that. Why did it have to be like this?’

I tore off another piece of the napkin, letting it fall to the counter. I didn’t want to do it. Not here, not in front of Al, young and naive and maybe the one person on earth who seemed to actually think I had my life together. I didn’t want her to see me this way, understand what I’d come to. But I didn’t have a choice. This might be my only chance to stop Ellie from doing what I knew she’d immediately want to do. There was no turning back after this. But I’d been kidding myself if I ever thought there was a way to turn back. ‘I was scared.’

Ellie’s eyes narrowed. ‘What do you mean, you were scared?’

Part of me felt for her. In a way, she was more naive even than my copper-haired waitress. Ellie wanted to believe the world was as she saw it. She didn’t want to be surprised.