"Okay, how can I be so infatuated with him? He's an asshole. A cold and rigid one." Lily rolls her eyes.
"I mean, I'm in love with Killian, and he's kinda murdery."
"Yeah, but he's a marshmallow for you. He would have tossed me from the roof of the building without a second thought to get you back," Lily says with a whimsical smile.
"So you want a murderous love too." I wiggle my brows playfully at her.
"I don't know what I want anymore." She lets out a long sigh. Lily rests her head on my shoulder, and we stand there together and simply watch the sunset. I hate seeing Lily this way, but Tristan forced our hand. I'm hoping he's going to fix it without blowing up my house in the process, but we can always rebuild.
“You don’t have to know what you want right now.”
Lily nods, glancing away. “I don’t know which is worse: if he comes for me or if he doesn’t.”
If he doesn’t. I know that, and I’m pretty sure she does too, but we’re not going to say it out loud.
We both glance down when Minnie wiggles her head between us. When Lily reaches down to pet her, Minnie doesn’t stop her. I’m convinced that Minnie goes off vibes, and she sees a girl that could use a cat right now.
I peek over my shoulder realizing Killian is watching me. I give him a wink.
"Want to see your room?" I ask.
"Yeah, I need sleep."
"Okay, but don't kill me."
"Oh God, what did you do?"
"I only wanted you to feel settled here is all." I want her to love this place so much that she either decides to stay here or wants to spend a lot of time here, knowing there is a space just for her. We knew she wasn't leaving with much of anything, so I made sure Lily had all the things she loves and uses already here.
"Teddy," Lily gasps when we enter. "This is bigger than most New York apartments." She starts to explore. "Wait," she says as she notices a couple of candles and some lotions. She continues to pick up some small things around the room before going into the bathroom. "Teddy." I get a pointed look when she comes back out.
"What?" I feign innocence. Lily hasn't seen all of it yet.
"Why did you glance over there?" I glance again over to the closet doors. I'm not very good at this sneaky business. I hate keeping secrets. Especially when they are surprises. I never used to last when it came to Grams. I would always spill before she could actually be surprised.
"Just the closet." I downplay it. "These pillows are—" Lily cuts me off from changing the subject, heading straight for the closet.
"Oh my God!" Lily gasps, coming back out.
"That is nothing compared to your own closet!" I point out. Lily stares at me for a second, and then her face goes soft.
"Thank you, and I'm not going to fight you on it. You're loaded. In fact, why aren't there any crowns in there?" She nods to the closet, trying to tease me. I shift on my feet, making her eyes narrow on me again. "Teddy." My name is filled with warning.
"There might be a couple in the drop safe in there. Everyone gets a crown here. Those are the rules."
"Even Killian?"
"Yep." That man would murder a whole city for me, so I'm sure he'd wear a crown for a few hours to help me prove mypoint. A laugh leaves her, which makes me happy. That was the point of all of this. I kinda knew she was going to be bummed about Tristan.
"Thank you," she tells me again. This is nothing. Lily has been the only friend I've ever had, and I got damn lucky. No amount of friends would ever compare to her. I should put her in the safe. It is big enough, but I’ll need to move things around.
"I love you," I tell her. We hug before she sends me on my way.
Killian is waiting for me in the hallway. "Okay, I wasn't prepared to bring a man home, so there is no big reveal for you. Don’t get your hopes up.”
"Got what I need." He swoops me up into his arms. I let out a small scream that turns to a laugh. He carries me to my bedroom located on the other side of the house. Once we’re inside, he gently puts me on my feet at the edge of the bed.
“I’ve never had a boy in my room.”
