Second Lies (The Second Life Series) Read Online Free Page B

sorry.”
    “No, please, I really want to know,” I took a sip of my water. “It’s okay.  Whatever’s said at lunch stays at lunch.”
    After a long pause she said, “He came over to my family’s house for my birthday and Easter and every possible holiday in between.  He has my brothers’ phone numbers and hangs out with them like he’s one of the boys.  My dad even likes the guy, and my dad never likes anyone.” She rolled her eyes. “It was such an easy transition bringing him into my life, but what about me?  He says he loves me,” my eyes grew with shock, “but how can he say that and not want me apart of his life?
    I know how much he loves you and your dad because he tells me stories all the time about your past, but this shouldn’t be the way that I’m meeting you.  I wish I could just figure out why he’s so embarrassed of me.” She gulped. “He says it’s all him, that for whatever reason he’s created the distance between you guys.  At first, I wanted to believe him, but after seeing his reaction towards you showing up, I can’t.  If he really wasn’t ready to see you, then why would he look so happy?  That makes me think that I’m the real reason why he won’t take me back to his home.”
    She bowed her head, and my heart ached for her.  Nick clearly hadn’t been honest with me about his relationship with Angela.  Now that all of his secrets were exposed to me, I didn’t see why there was any reason why I couldn’t accept her into my life the way he was accepted into hers.
    Finally, I said, “Believe me when I say Nick was telling you the truth.” She perked up. “All you saw was the happy, wonderful greeting.  Pretty much once you left it went downhill very quickly.  He’s not lying when he says we have our own issues as a family, but the good news is we got a lot out last night.  We screamed.  I cried…more than once.  We laid everything out on the table, and I think we’re doing a lot better.”
    “He’s been telling me the truth?” Relief washed over her face. “Really?”
    I nodded my head, and the waiter returned with garlic noodles for me and a chicken salad sandwich for Angela.  Considering we put absolutely no thought into our meals, we were both extremely pleased.  The food looked delicious.  After spooning some food into my mouth, I nodded enthusiastically.  Angela perked up and took a bite of her sandwich.
    For the remainder of our meal, Angela and I dropped the subject of Nick.  It turned out we had a lot in common, so it was an easy transition.  Angela was twenty-one, and a senior at Boston University with Nick.  She grew up right outside of Boston with her parents and three brothers.  She was the only girl and the youngest.  I loved all the stories she told me about growing up with such a large, connected family.  It was so different, yet it was so similar to the way I grew up.
    We also spent a good bit of time talking about fashion and hair.  It was another shared obsession.  For the length of a meal, it was nice to have someone fill the void left from the absence of my best friend, and after the blowout and makeup between Nick and I last night, it was just good to relax.
    The waiter returned with the check, and I slipped my credit card in immediately, sending him off.  Angela contested, “No, please, this should be my treat.  You’re the guest.”
    “No way, I was already here.  I’m the one who stopped you from going wherever you were going,” I waved her off as she hunted through her purse for some money. “Seriously, it’d be my pleasure.  You saved me from lunch by myself.”
    “Are you sure?” I nodded, and she reluctantly closed her purse.
    “So were you on your way up to Nick’s room?” I asked as the waiter returned with my card and receipt to sign.
    She nodded and blushed, “I wasn’t sure when you would be leaving, so I wanted to see if I could spend some time with you before you left.  Mission