Chapter Thirty-Two
LILY
“Fuck,” I say and Apollo’s eyes go wide for a moment before crinkling at the corners the way I like and the biggest, brightest smile shines on his face. “Damn it. That’s not what I—. I mean… It’s true but that’s not how I wanted to finish that sentence.” Part of me is compelled to be nice and answer the door.
Fuck that! I don’t owe them anything and I’m not letting them ruin this moment. They can sit out there and freeze their asses off. I’m not answering that door.
Instead, I’m going to finish my sentence properly.
I take a deep breath. Even with the noise of the reporters outside filling my little house, I say like we’re the only two people in the room, “Love. I’m willing to put in the work with someone I love. I love you, Apollo.” My cheeks heat. “I love the way you care for me. Show me there’s a way to take care of myself but don’t ask or demand that I change my love of taking care of others. You let me be me but show me I can take care of other people better if I take care of myself too.”
“I love you, too, Lilypop. You’re resilient, forgiving, honest, caring… Literally, everything I’ve been missing in my life. I love that you treat me like a normal human being. I can be myself around you. You don’t need or expect anything from me, so I can give you all of me knowing you actually appreciate it. And I know when you do things for me, you don’t expect a damn thing in return. Which makes it that much easier to give you everything.”
It doesn’t make much sense. A small-town girl and big-time celebrity but we’re good for each other. We’re the balance in each other’s lives.
I want nothing more than to jump into Apollo’s arms and kiss him until our lips fall off.
Even though it seems the reporter has left, the assault on my door ended about halfway through our confessions, our lives aren’t ours alone. His still exists far away from here and he hasn’t said he’ll stay.
“Lilypop,” he says taking my chin in his hand until I turn my eyes brimming with tears on him. “We just declared our undying love for one another. You’re supposed to be happy.”
“I am. I just—I don’t know how our lives fit together. We have responsibilities. Your contract. The people I care for. You can’t break your contract. I can’t abandon them.”
Apollo takes my hand. “Come here.” He guides me from my chair onto his lap wrapping his burly arms around me and holds me against his firm, muscular body. I just want to sink into him, let the whole world disappear. At least, for a little while.
“My agent’s been calling me all day. Nonstop. I declined every single one. Eventually just turned off my phone. You know why?”
I shake my head, unable to speak, distracted by the heated, longing look in his eyes.
“I’d made up my mind. I’m not going anywhere without you. And you belong here. So… This is where I belong.”
I’m about to question him. Ask him if that’s really what he wants. Tell him not to do it just to make me happy. Then I remember all the times he insisted he doesn’t do anything he doesn’t want to do. He’s choosing to stay because he wants to stay with me.
Throwing my arms around his shoulders, I risk giving us both fat lips with the force I pull his mouth to mine and finally kiss him.
It’s intense and frantic, at first. Then he palms the back of my head, his fingers laced in my hair as his tongue parts my lips and we fall into each other. Away from the chaos.
Our time in paradise is cut short when the doorbell rings again and a now-familiar male voice I hate so very much calls our names from the other side.
“What are we going to do about him?” I ask.
“Tell him to leave. If he doesn’t, call the police. That will get rid of him for the night at least.”
“Go away,” I yell and to my surprise, the guy goes quiet. “Do you think he’s gone for good this time?”
“Or he’ll be sitting in his car waiting for us to come out.”
“I wasn’t planning on going anywhere. Were you?”
He shakes his head. “So, what are we going to do with the whole night stuck in the house?”
I have to chuckle at that. “You say that like it’s any different than any other night for you.”
“That’s going to change now, isn’t it?” Apollo asks like he already knows the answer.
“Is it? Just because you’ve decided to stay with me, leave the celebrity world behind, doesn’t mean the celebrity world will leave you alone.”
“You’re right. So we need to get ready for it.”
“How are we going to do that?” I ask.
“Buckle up, Lilypop. It’s going to be a long night. You’re never going to get blindsided like you were today. I’m going to tell you everything. My entire life’s story in as much embarrassing detail as I can and then, tomorrow, we’re going out. We’re going to face this crazy messed-up world together.”
I like the sound of that. Not having to go about doing it all on my own anymore. Even better, I get to do everything with the man I love by my side.
“You with me, Lilypop?” Apollo asks, after all I do is stare dreamily into his starry eyes for far too long.
“Always, Spaceman.”
