Barrett swings back from the fridge, his fingers frozen on the lid of the bottle.
“And who the fuck is my plus one?”
“Me,” she says smugly, which has him staring blankly at her before he throws his head back laughing.
I can’t help but join too, but not for the reason he’s laughing.
I’m laughing at him because he has no idea how serious she is.
But he will soon. Any moment.
“When you’ve gotten that out of your system,” she mutters, rolling her eyes at both of us. “Send me the dates so I can make plans.”
His laugh cuts off abruptly, his eyes snapping back to her.
“You’re serious?”
“I am.”
“But… why? You’ve been dead against returning for twenty fucking years.”
I glance at my sexy little redhead and wonder how she’s going to play this without giving herself away, and she shrugs, her gaze dropping to the floor like she’s struggling with her emotions.
Fuck. Is she really or is she acting?
I kinda hope she really is struggling, because the more I learn about how well she lies, the more I worry I know nothing about the woman I care about.
“Hearing Devon’s voice the other night was… it hit, you know?” she glances up, and from where I’m sitting I can even see tears in her eyes. “I miss my family.”
“Fuck, Lil.” Barrett steps forward, wrapping her in his arms. “You really want to go back?”
“Yes,” she mutters against his chest before pulling back and staring up at him. “And you should too. It’s time for you to sort out your own problems.”
“How about we just focus on you?” He chuckles before his eyes flick to me. “Will lover boy watch the house while you’re gone?”
The fuck?
My back stiffens, and I lock eyes with Lily as she turns hers to me, shrugging.
“Maybe. I haven’t got that far yet. Send me the dates and I’ll organise things here.”
She doesn’t actually want to go back and see her family. She’s doing this for fucking AJ, who by the way, I have no fucking clue who he is.
But what I do know is going back and facing Barrett’s dad is a huge fucking deal, and there’s no way in hell I’ll ever let her go without me.
What if the family turns on her?
Or what if they don’t, and she never comes back?
CHAPTER 33
LILY
My hands tremble in my lap, and Asher’s strong hand slides on top as we sit in the back of the rideshare.
“Lily, we don’t have to do this. No one would blame you for not going.”
Asher’s voice is scratchy. It sounds like he’s had a hard night partying, and I wish that was the reason behind it. I wish he’d just be a normal twenty-year-old and spend his weekends partying and days working and catching up with mates.
