The Piano || 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘣𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘬

|72|

"Do you know two truths and a lie?"

He chuckled. "Of course I do."

"Wanna play?"

"Right now?"

"Why not?"

"Alright," he said, shifting his weight so he could look at her and lean against the railing sideways. "You want to start?"

"Okay. I have no known family anymore. I don't like liquorice. I have been married once." She didn't even hesitate for one second. Colby breathed out lowly, and his eyes narrowed as he looked at her, trying to figure her out.

After a while, he spoke up. "I'm going to say you do, in fact, like liquorice."

Her face fell, and she stared at him in shock. "How did you know? I've never eaten liquorice around you!"

"It just seemed like the most logical answer, knowing you," he said, grinning confidently.

She scoffed, rolling her eyes. "I bet you cheated."

"So... am I getting any context for the truths?" he asked.

"Oh, well. The first one is simple. I never knew my father; my grandparents abandoned my mom when she got pregnant. I suppose they're dead now, or they would've tried to reach out. You know, with all the fame and money and stuff." She chuckled. "Single kid. Mom died when I was twenty-one."

She glanced at Colby, who'd gone silent, unable to assess the situation.

"Oh, but it's fine. Jerry is basically my brother, and friends mean more to me anyway."

He nodded slowly. "And the marriage?" he asked, almost carefully.

"That's actually a funny story," she replied, grinning. He seemed to be relieved by that. "I was celebrating one million subscribers on YouTube with my best friend, and we got pretty drunk, when I said that it was sad that I had no special someone to celebrate with. So, she said I could marry her and pretend we're wives. And we did. There's this thing called one-minute marriages, you know that? Anyway, we booked one online, and the dude married us that same evening.

"The next day we had a honeymoon, we went to the beach, and I lost my ring – she actually bought one, and I lost it immediately. The second day, we moved in together. That's where the arguments began." Ashley sighed dramatically. "She accused me of cheating; can you believe that? Anyway, we got divorced on the third day. Went to a bar nearby as widows. She played her part so well, you should've seen her! Even hooked up with the bartender afterward."

The second she finished her story and looked at Colby expectantly, he burst out laughing, as if he had been holding it in.

"Wow. That's... wild. Now I don't want to do my game because my life sounds boring compared to yours."

"Those were three days in like 28 – shit, 29 years. Come on, please?"

"Alright. I have to think of a few things, though, so I'm getting a drink. I'll be right back."

Ashley grinned and showed him a thumbs-up before she turned back to the city and took a sip of her drink. Her cheeks were rosy as a breeze brushed against them.

A movement caught her attention, and in the next moment, Kris and Sadie were standing next to her.

"Hi?" she said, looking from one side to the other.

"So," Kris began.

"Soo..." Sadie said.

"So?" Ashley's voice was cautious.