Lie To Me

Lie To Me-Chapter 107

I woke up with a smile already etched on my face, my body still warm from being wrapped in Harry's arms all night. God, a girl could get used to this...

Straightening my legs, I nearly purred as my thoroughly used muscles pulled tight. I felt good...better than I had in a while... Who knew that the cure for all things would be a warm bath and Harry Styles?

I nearly giggled to myself as I thought of the girls from Instagram and Twitter. They'd tell me I was late in getting with the program. On there, EVERYBODY knew that Harry was the cure for all things that could possibly ail you...

Speaking of Mr. Styles...

"Harry?"

I looked around the room in search of the cause of my complete happiness, but he seemed to be missing... Crawling out of bed, I quickly threw on some clothes, just in case, and headed out to the living room.

"Harry?"

Still nothing...

Heading into the kitchen, I sought help. Well, as much help as a four legged ball of fur could offer me... "Good morning Max! Any idea where your daddy went running off to this morning?" Not that I really expected much of a reply, but to my surprise, I was met with the silence of an empty pen.

Well, that certainly explained a lot!

Laughing at my stupidity of not considering that Harry had taken Max for a walk, I contemplated making breakfast for the two most important men in my life, hoping that I'd have it ready by the time they got back. Or... I could head out and surprise them.

I must have been crazy, but ten minutes later, I was grabbing Harry's spare key, and walking out the door. The warm sun hit me, warming my skin, and I instantly longed to be lounging beside the pool instead of heading out for what could be a very long walk... I had no idea where they'd gone, and stupid me hadn't even thought to grab my phone.

But, Harry trumped the pool any day, and with my heart floating on cloud nine at the mere thought of him, he was definitely my priority.

Making my way to the end of his driveway, I looked both up and down the street in search of my boys, but saw nothing. Damn... I hadn't thought of which direction they'd taken when they left, and if I went the wrong way I could miss them entirely. For the second time in thirty seconds, I kicked myself for not grabbing my phone...

Following my gut instinct, I headed up the hill, cursing my decision a few minutes later as the incline came into play and my legs started to tire. Man, I needed to work out more. Especially with Harry's enthusiasm for wearing me out every way possible. I mean, a girl can only take so much...activity, before she needs a little break.

But, apparently my decision, and my prayers, had been right. Coming around a bend, I finally spotted them. Harry, looking absolutely adorable with his hair pulled back into one of his infamous "buns," and Max, looking completely exhausted as he laid limp in Harry's arms.

My steps quickened, and I waved over to them. "Harry!"

Lifting his head from where he'd been saying something to Max, my breath caught at the wide smile that crossed his face...until it fell...

I nearly halted in my tracks. Oh, no. Something was wrong. My eyes darted back and forth between the two, searching for answers. Fearing the worst, that Max had gotten injured on their walk this morning, I took off in a run, reaching them faster than I thought my legs could handle. "What happened?!? Did he get hurt?!?"

Max's head popped up as I got closer, his energy apparently restored as he wriggled in Harry's arms, his body shaking with excitement.

Struggling to keep him from falling, Harry gave up the fight to hold on and set the now yapping puppy on the ground, still clutching his leash tight. "Nothing happened. As you can see, he's just fine."

I crouched down to Max's level, my heart racing, fear and relief rushing through me. "Oh, thank God... I thought something had happened!" Turning my attention to the little guy with a giggle as he jumped at me, attempting to lick me to death, I continued. "Was daddy's walk this morning a little too much for you? Huh? Was it? Well, don't worry, baby boy. He wears me out too..." With my teasing tone, and what I thought were heavily laced words, I looked up at Harry.

His lips tilted in response, but the look I got back was far from the heated smirks if grown accustomed to.

Okay... Something was definitely up. Max may have been fine, but apparently Harry wasn't. I tiled my head. "What's wrong?"

His mouth flattened as he broke our connection, suddenly finding something down the street very interesting. "Nothing's wrong. I'm fine."

Giving Max a quick scratch behind his ear, I stood up. It didn't do much to bring me to an even footing with him, but I felt a little better being more than two feet tall now... I gave Harry a look, "That's bull... If anybody knows your many faces, it's me. Something's definitely wrong." I poked him in the chest, too, for good measure. "Now, spill it."

Finally his green eyes met mine again, piercing me straight through my soul, and sucking every ounce of oxygen out of my lungs. Woah...

"Do you love me?"

I took a step back, my eyes going wide with surprise, as I searched him for a sign that this was a joke or something. I looked for any hint of teasing at all, but found nothing...

Was he seriously asking me if I loved him?!? With everything that had happened between us, how could he possibly doubt my love for him? How could he possibly think that he didn't have complete possession of my heart?

"You're kidding me, right? This is a joke...right?"

"No, actually, it's not. I'm not laughing, Riley. I love you. I love every single part of you. I love you with everything I have. But, I have to know... I need the truth... Do you love me? Do you REALLY love me? Or is this all just a lie?"

How could he ask me that? How could he...? A stab of pain hit me square in the chest as I realized just what he was saying, and I nearly clutched at myself in response.

Everything that I'd done. Everything that I'd said when I tore open my heart and served it to him on a silver platter. He didn't believe it. He didn't believe it was true. It wasn't enough to show him how much I loved him. All of it wasn't enough.

I wasn't enough...