Read Online Carry Me Home by Lia Riley - Free Book Online Page A

leaves without a second thought.” He crosses his arms. “That’s not who I am. It’s not what I do.”
    No, that’s my job description. My forced laughter is as sharp as a blade. “You know my reputation, Tanner. I exchange kisses, maybe some bodily fluids, and that’s it. Done and done. Keep it simple.”
    “Are you serious?” He’s pissed now. My heart does this odd double beat as he storms toward me. “That’s messed up.”
    “Hey, it’s my superpower, right? Making a mess?” I kick the pile of clothes beside my bed. Why can’t he just accept this isn’t going anywhere? “Go on. Say it.”
    “I like your messes.” His bare foot is an inch from a zebra-print thong. “When you’re around, I never know what’s going to happen next.”
    “But no one ever does. Not really. I mean, Kirk Cameron could get raptured tomorrow.”
    He gives me a weird double take.
    “Seriously, it could happen…maybe.”
    “So what do we do with all this uncertainty?”
    “I don’t know. Kick. Flounder. Keep our heads above water and try not to drown.” My voice wavers with desperation.
    “Life according to Sunny Letman.” He tries to hold my hand.
    “Hey, I’m not selling self-help books to Oprah over here.” I twist free and beeline to my open closet, throw on a sea-green button-down and grab the first outfits my fingers graze. I have to get out of here pronto. Otherwise he’s going to win me over with sweet words and I’ll let him stay the night. But the problem is that Tanner’s the guy I’ll want to stick around for breakfast, then maybe go to the beach for the day. Then it will be dark, and he’ll be here again, and suddenly, it could look a lot like a relationship. I’m a free spirit—dependency gives me cold feet.
    It’s time to go. My arms are loaded with dresses, skirts, and a cardigan. I walk to the couch, shoving the contents inside my bag.
    I turn and he’s staring. No hint to his thoughts.
    “I’m off.” That’s when his face shifts. Blink and you’d miss it, but I hurt him. “It’s that call I took outside. It was important.”
    “Okay.” His Adam’s apple bobs. I can’t tell if he buys it or not.
    Irrational anger rushes through me. If I bailed because of what happened, he’d stand there and watch me go? This guy is a mystery. On one hand he’s almost ruthlessly determined with himself, with his own body. I grew up watching him skate, and there’s no doubt that he’s built a wildly successful career mastering his physicality. Yet on the other hand, he’s got this passivity. No, that’s the wrong word. It’s like he’s deadened in some way. Emotionally. And I don’t have any idea how to lurch him back to life.
    You know what? It’s not my job.
    We can only control what we can control. Right now I need to get the hell out of town, hit the road and clear my head. Driving settles me. I’ve got two days to make it to southern Nevada. That’s a lot of time for open-road thinking.
    “Sorry I can’t finish you…this…whatever…” What am I even saying? I can’t have sex with Tanner Green. We’ve already crossed into dangerous territory.
    The bridge of his nose wrinkles. “Sunny, we aren’t a Mortal Kombat death match.”
    “Finish him.” I can’t hold back a desperate snicker. Tanner and I are such a fucking joke. It’s easier to address my closet rather than his face. “About this, me leaving…I’m not freaking out.”
    “That’s hard to believe.”
    “Sorry, who’s the one who went into bathroom lockdown again?”
    “I panicked, but I’m here now, not running out the door. I’ll talk if you stay.”
    A wave of dizziness slams me. I have given him all my crazy, all my ugly, and he’s still here. He hasn’t run away. How am I not scaring him straight out the door?
    “I have to go.” I sling my bag on my shoulder. I don’t want to tell him about Delilah, how the way she sounded has me worried. I don’t want to be something he needs to clean up.