The Liar Next Door by Nicola Marsh

Twenty

Frankie

THEN

True to his word, Walter comes back a week later.

He’s broken up with his girlfriend and doesn’t seem all that cut up about it. I ask if she’s okay because I feel bad for ruining some other woman’s relationship and he reassures me they’d been headed for a split anyway. She’d become too clingy, too possessive, but he won’t say more than that. He’s too nice a guy to bad-mouth anyone and he looks plain uncomfortable when I try to probe for more info on his ex, so I drop it.

Besides, I can’t believe this is happening. Walter came back for me, to explore the spark I’d hoped wasn’t one-sided. Heady stuff for a girl who may have just fallen in love for the first time.

“What do you want from me, Francesca?”

We’re sitting by the pool again, side by side at the shallow end, our legs dangling in. His are pale like mine, but he has big feet that seem at odds with his average height. I wonder if it’s true what I read in a book once, that big feet equate with a big… uh, appendage. Considering I’m a virgin, I’m not sure whether to be scared or thrilled. That’s the thing about having parents who are open about sex, and have been since I hit puberty; it makes me want to cherish it, to make my first time special, and not treat it like a party trick to be shared freely among friends.

“I want you.” It’s the boldest thing I’ve ever said and my heart pounds so hard I can hear an echo of the beat in my ears. “From the moment we met I felt a connection and I want to explore that.”

I don’t tell him the whole truth; that while I like him, the reason I’m also drawn to him is because he’s the opposite of my parents and he’ll take me far away from this place.

If he’s taken aback by my brazen declaration of wanting him, he doesn’t show it. I like that about him, the calmness he exudes, like he’s unshockable. “I’d like to get to know you too, but I can’t stay in town for long. I have to get back to work.”

“Then take me with you,” I blurt, impulsive and rash and totally out of character for me. But I don’t want him to leave so soon before I have a chance to know him, not when leaving with him will accomplish my goal to escape my parents and Gledhill too.

“Francesca, look at me.”

I do and his brown eyes are wide with wonder, like he can’t believe I’d leave my home to be with him.

“You’ve just turned eighteen. You haven’t been to college. Why on earth would you want to give up your home to be with me when we hardly know each other?”

Doubts replace amazement as his steady gaze clouds over and I know I have to give the performance of my life in order to convince him.

“Haven’t you ever done something so spontaneous, so wild, it makes your head spin?” I fling my arm wide to encompass the garden. “That makes you want to run around and do a happy dance for the hell of it?”

“No. I’m not that kind of guy.”

“Do you want to be?”

His brow creases in confusion as if he can’t fathom the question.

“I’ve done the right thing my entire life. Been the good student, the good daughter, always toeing the line. But I want more out of life and I don’t want to spend the next twelve months of my gap year stuck here figuring out what I want, when the moment I laid eyes on you I knew.”

I reach out and snag his hand. “I’ve never been in love and I certainly don’t believe in love at first sight, but the way we connected in the garden the night of my party… I can’t put it into words. I wish I could. Because I really want to make you understand how much I’m drawn to you and how it feels right, in here.”

I press my other hand to my heart and his stunned gaze follows it. I take advantage by thrusting my chest out a little, using my assets to reel him in. Maybe I have a little of my mother in me after all?

“I don’t know what to say.” He drags his gaze away and shakes his head.

“Say yes.” I squeeze his hand in encouragement. “Say you’ll take me with you so we can have a real relationship.”

The flicker of excitement in his eyes makes me want to punch the air in victory. “What about your folks? Do you seriously think they’ll agree to letting their only child leave with a virtual stranger?”

“They won’t be a problem, trust me.”

I’ll make sure of it. I’m not averse to a little blackmail. Either they let me go or I’ll let their precious pastor know what really happens at their parties. It makes me sick to my stomach to think of how pious they are at church yet so debauched in private. Not that I’d actually reveal the embarrassing truth to anyone but I’m hoping the threat of what I’ll say will ensure they won’t stop me leaving.

“This is crazy.” He slides his hand out of mine to press fingertips to his temples. “I don’t do impulsive things.”

Good. Because once I’m far away from here and living with Walter, I want dependable. I crave it, with every cell in my body. I want stability and peace, not this riotous out of control feeling since I discovered the truth about my parents.

“What if we leave together and discover we’re not compatible? What then?”

I knew this wouldn’t be an easy sell. His steadiness is one of the qualities I admire but also a quality that will make him second-guess everything I say.

“What if you leave here and always wonder ‘what if’? Isn’t it better to take a chance on us than never know?”

After what seems like an eternity, he gives a rueful chuckle. “I can’t believe I’m even contemplating this.”

I clamp down on a triumphant whoop. “We’re going to be happy, Walter. I know it.”

“This is nuts.”

“This is fate.”

As if to prove it, I clasp his face in my hands and draw him toward me. I press my lips to his, tentative, exploring, my first kiss. He surprises me by taking over, his hands stroking the skin along my torso, his thumbs toying with the undersides of my breasts as he deepens the kiss. His tongue slides between my lips, tangling with mine, and I like it. As he moans I feel an answering throb deep within.

I’m not sure how long we make out for and I don’t care because when he releases me his dazed expression matches mine.

“Let’s do it,” he says, his smile goofy.

I fling myself at him and we tumble onto the grass edging the pool in a flurry of limbs and laughter.

I’ve made the right decision.

I know it.