“It is.” He seemed surprised by what I’d said. “I think we should all tell the truth.”
“Right.” I nodded, encouraged. “Like how you said you almost ruined your whole life because of a lie. That’s bad. What happened?”
“Do you think you’ll remember any of this tomorrow?” he asked, and I didn’t know if he wanted reassurance that he could speak to me without fear of me recalling it or if he wanted to make sure that I would.
“Possibly. Guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”
“When I was twenty years old, I was training for the Olympics, like I mentioned. I had a coach who had been involved in a scandal a few years before and was in danger of being banned from the sport. He put all his hopes on me. We trained and trained, more than what was even necessary. At a half marathon, I twisted my knee and we went to a doctor. The doctor advised that I stop running for at least six months to allow my knee to heal, but the Boston Marathon was only a month away. And that’s a qualifier for long-distance runners for the US team.” He let out a big sigh. “My coach lied to me. Told me it was fine and that I’d get better if I just kept running and pushing myself. It made everything worse and I permanently injured my knee and ended my running career. If he’d just told me the truth, let me decide what I wanted to do . . .” His voice trailed off. “He took that choice from me and ruined my prospects. I don’t like being lied to.”
“That sucks. I’m sorry.” That was a little hard to hear, being a big massive lying liar myself who lied to everyone all the time about everything in my fake life. How sincere could my apology be when I was currently lying to him? To be fair to me, I wasn’t going to wreck his life or anything, but dang, Camden was going to hate me when he found out.
Whether it was to distract him or me, I wasn’t sure, but I went for one of my patented changes of the subject. “In addition to smelling good, I think you should know that, objectively, you are hot.”
That made him raise both eyebrows in amusement. “Am I?”
“Mm-hmm. Krista said that if she had to repopulate the planet, she’d choose you to do it. That’s like, a really big compliment to your genes.”
“Does that mean you think I’m hot?” He could have asked the question seductively, but instead it was very matter of fact. It was like he’d decided I was off limits and more like his buddy than a potential love interest and I was finding it all highly aggravating.
“You know you’re good-looking.” As if that were somehow in question.
“Seriously, you are going to be furious with me tomorrow. Maybe you should drink some water and then we can play the quiet game.” He handed me the water bottle and while I knew it was in my best interests to drink it, I didn’t feel like it.
Nor did I want to play a game where I had to stay quiet. I had so many things to say to him. “You win the quiet game! You know, I think my inhibitions are very lowered.”
“I know. And you’re not really a lowering-my-inhibitions-is-a-good-thing kind of girl.”
“I can have fun,” I insisted.
“That wasn’t what I meant. I have fun with you already. I just know how I’d feel if I were in your shoes saying things that maybe I didn’t want to actually admit out loud.”
“Everything I’m saying I want to say.” That was right, wasn’t it? “Do you know what the problem is with me? It’s a riddle. I’ll give you a hint. It starts with a D and ends with aiquiri.”
“Despite how intricate and complicated your riddle is, I think I solved it. Would you please drink water?”
“Okay, fine,” I said, dragging out the vowels in my words, like an ornery teenager. “But only because you asked so nicely.”
He reached over to open the bottle for me, which was considerate because I wasn’t sure I could have managed it. My coordination seemed to be a tad bit . . . off. I had thought I wasn’t thirsty, but as soon as the water touched my lips, it was like I couldn’t get enough. I drank half the bottle in one go.
We pulled up to the hotel and Camden paid the driver and said, “Stay put. I’ll come help you.” He got out, then shut his door. I saw him jogging around to my side and I let out a noise of disgust.
I didn’t need his help. I was a grown woman more than capable of getting out of a taxi all by myself. I opened the handle and swung open the door. I went to climb out of the cab and I sprawled forward, falling down on my hands and knees. My purse went flying, emptying its contents on the ground.