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“Whatever. Anyway, give me a little while. I’ll see what I can do.”
Ashleigh winces again, but this time it’s not in pain. It’s more pity. “What?” I ask, my stomach coiling tight.
“You-uh… So you only have a few days.”
I swallow a lump of anxiety. “Meaning?”
“Meaning, Lily texted me before I came in here. They’re having a formal engagement party and wedding next weekend.”
“What the fuck?” I jolt upright in the chair, my eyes wide with shock. “What the hell is the rush?”
Ashleigh’s mouth twists as she shrugs. “No clue. She just told me and asked if I’d be a bridesmaid. I told her no, by the way. I used…” she gestures to her expanded belly with a grin, “as my excuse, but I can’t be her bridesmaid when she still loves you. It doesn’t feel right.”
“Still loves me, huh? She tell you that?”
I already know the answer, but it still stings. “No, but the way she insisted she hated you was familiar.” She looks at Henry, who smirks.
“Then I guess I better get busy on this, huh?” he tells me as he nods at his computer.
“And I have a week to convince her to be with me.”
His brows furrow with questions. “How do you plan to do that?”
“Lily is going on a road trip with me. Professional, of course.”
“Of course.”
My hands press into the arms of the chair as I push myself from the chair. Henry helps Ashleigh to her feet, then stands. We grip hands and hug as I thank him for his help, then lean over and kiss Ashleigh. “You’re the best,” I whisper.
“Don’t thank me. If I thought she was over you, I wouldn’t have turned her down.”
I wink and grin as I ruffle her hair like a child. “I know.”
She swats me with narrowed eyes. “Liam,” she calls out as I reach the office door. “Lily said you two used to have random hookups. Like you just happened to be in the same place at the same time.”
“Yeah.” I lift a brow, curious about where she’s going with this.
“But you and Lily don’t have the same tastes in hangouts.”
The girl is smart. “Wherever she is, it’s where I want to be.” I wink and exit the room.
“I knew it,” I hear her shout as I leave, followed by, “Trouble, sit down.”
Lily
My lashes flutter, still heavy and longing for a few extra minutes of sleep, as I lift my coffee mug to my lips and groan when the notes of dark chocolate mixed with the bold, dark roast burst in my mouth with promises that in fifteen minutes I’ll be wide-awake and caffeinated enough to function as a human. Casey sits across from me at our kitchen island, quiet and somber, pushing her soggy cereal around in her bowl. Her usual happy-go-lucky, nerdy girl mood is nowhere to be found. I’m not surprised, given what happened last night, but I will admit, I’m more than a little curious why she hasn’t been speaking to her mom. And ashamed I didn’t notice before.
“Are you okay, Case?” It’s not the first time I’ve asked since last night. Thad asked a few times, too, along with some obvious flirting that had me throwing him warning glares. Casey is absolutely off-limits to the hit-it-and-quit-it man whore. So far, the only responses I’ve gotten are a couple of yeps and I’m fines, so I cut her off at the pass. “You are not fine, so don’t say it.”
Her dark blue eyes meet mine. “You don’t want to hear it.” Her voice is soft, eyes tired, as if she didn’t sleep all night, but there’s a hint of accusation in her tone. I set my massive, clear mug down and reach across the cold, smooth stone of the countertop, setting my hand atop hers. “You can talk to me, Case.”
Casey, though bubbly and hyper, is very shy. A bookworm to the nth degree. The girl doesn’t date. She only goes out when I drag her along. She even immerses herself in the online book community, preferring virtual friends over people who would expect her to do things like socialize. The only time she leaves the apartment voluntarily is for her dance classes and recitals.
But she hates drama and conflict even more. Rather than picking a side, she looks at all points of view, making sure she can sympathize with all sides. It’s not a terrible quality to have, but it makes her a doormat on occasion.
So the flash of irritation in her eyes gives me pause, but when she speaks, my jaw drops. “Can I? Because for months, any time I tried to talk to you, my best friend, you conveniently changed the subject to whatever superficial topic you could or just ended the conversation and vanished for days at a time.”
Ouch!
