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“It was part of the game.”
“It was after the game…when you were alone.”
“Apparently Marcus was still there, so we weren’t alone at all,” I pointed out.
Lily chuckled and then pinned me with a probing look. “Do you like him?”
“What? No! He’s a dick, always has been and always will be.” I knew Lily wasn’t going to let me off the hook just like that. I had to give her something real. “It’s just different, since the robbery thing. We’ve been different.”
I couldn’t tell Lily the whole truth about what had happened in that room, not here, not like this. She’d probably think it was a mistake, and even though she wouldn’t say it, I’d see it in hereyes. It was the reason I hadn’t told her all summer. I already knew it was going to end in tears, and the confirmation that she thought the same would have stung.
“Were you visiting him a lot over summer? You never said.” Lily propped a hip against the wall.
“No, he went to New York for treatment…he wasn’t here,” I told her.
She raised an elegant auburn eyebrow. “Then I wonder where my boyfriend kept going over break…because he told me it was the hospital.”
“Wait, what?”
“Beckett was at the hospital here, in Hade Harbor. Marcus and Cade went to see him a lot. I thought you knew that.”
“No, I thought he’d gone for special treatment,” I muttered, my mind racing.
“Well, that would make sense, considering he’s an Anderson, but his father flew the plastic surgeon here instead. I guess when you’re a billionaire, the doctor comes to you.”
“Right.” But Colette had told me that Beckett had gone to New York. She’d lied to my face.
“Do you want a drink?” Lily asked, changing the subject.
“No, I’ll stick with soda.”
Colette had lied to me. Beckett had never gone to New York. Had he asked his stepmom to tell me that, or had she decided to herself?
Colette’s lie rubbed across my nerves. She’d really been serious when she’d said she didn’t want the help coming to visit her stepson.
Still, I reasoned, maybe it was for the best, considering how Beckett had replied to my messages. Hearing those dismissive, cruel words in person would have wounded me even more than his messages had.
Lily was nodding. “Me, too. Why don’t we dance, then?”
“Dance! Everyone out there is wasted.”
“We don’t need to be wasted to dance! Come on, I know you love it,” Lily took my hand and tugged me out of the kitchen and back into the crowded lounge.
The music was a low, sensual bass beat. Somehow Lily found a gap in the dancing bodies and pushed in, creating a little space for us. It was hot and sweaty in there, and dark somehow. We swayed and moved with the crowd.
“Relax!” Lily shouted in my ear over the music.
“Okay, I’m trying to!” I’d been so tense, it was hard to let loose. Honestly, I couldn’t remember the last time I had. I closed my eyes and let my body sway to the beat. After a few minutes, the tension melted out of my limbs. Dancing was my thing. I’d always loved it. Lily knew that.
I opened my eyes and smiled at her. She grinned back. There was no dopamine rush like losing yourself in loud music, dancing like no one was watching you.
The music changed to something more upbeat, and everyone cheered, the crowd jumping up and down, carrying us with them.
I laughed at the way Lily and I were bumping against each other, with no way to stop it. My heart was beating hard, pleasure and release running through my veins. It felt good to let loose. Lily was right. I’d been so tense. The Colette thing nibbled at the edge of my mind, like a sore tooth I couldn’t leave alone, but I didn’t have time to think about it right now.
Cayden appeared near the end of the song and lifted Lily high above the crowd, making her scream.
She slid down his body when the music changed again, and he drew her close. I stepped back, suddenly feeling like a third wheel. Hands circled around my hips, and I jumped.
