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I tense and Dylan closes his fingers around mine. “What’s the news?”
“Lily Parker dropped the charges.”
I take a sharp breath and Dylan hugs me closer.
“Just like that?”
“Yeah, but the press know who Lily is now, so she made a mistake dragging this shit up,” says Steve snidely, “serves her right. We did right by her three years ago and Lily fucked things up for herself.”
I pull away. “Help her again.”
All eyes in the room look at me in surprise. “I saw Lily. She’s a mess—she can’t cope with press scrutiny as well.”
“When did you see her?” asks Dylan hoarsely.
“Yesterday. This morning. Whatever this time zone is. She tried to contact me and when she heard—”
“Tried to contact you? What the fuck, Sky? How? When?” Dylan attempts to be gentle in his questioning, but fails.
“She tried to contact me a few times before she went to the police.” Steve inhales and I snap my head up. “What’s that reaction for?”
“Sweetheart, you should’ve told us. Maybe we could’ve avoided the whole police business.”
“What the hell? Are you saying this is my fault?”
“If you’re going to be part of this, there are ways to deal with these things. If you’ve a stalker, let us handle the situation.” The simmering tension between Steve and me has a lid, but I don’t think it’ll stay on much longer.
“Part of this? The Steve Bennett Experience?” I become aware of Dylan rubbing my leg and tense. If he defends Steve’s attitude…
“Sky makes her own decisions, Steve.”
“Fine, but she needs to realise she doesn’t have a fucking clue how to deal with this shit.” The dark look thrown at me suggests ‘fine’ isn’t true.
“Well, I did deal with the situation,” I retort. “I told her to drop the charges by pointing out exactly what she was getting herself into. Maybe Lily doesn’t listen to bullying.”
“You’re an idiot if you think this is the end of Lily,” he says quietly, glancing between Dylan and me. “The girl is unhinged.”
I bite my lip as I recall her behaviour in the hospital. Unhinged? Maybe not, but she has issues.
Bryn hovers in the doorway, watching proceedings in his quiet manner and he winks at me. I smile back, glad for his calming presence in the room.
“Well, Lily backed off. Let’s be happy and move on,” says Bryn.
“But help Lily. The press will be all over her,” I say.
Dylan frowns and I place my finger on his lips before he can speak. “You owe her that, Dylan, and then this is will be over.”
I consider telling him Lily wanted to see him, but know what a disaster that would be. Reconnecting the pair of them rewinds the situation back three years. I’ll have the conversation with him, but not while everything is fragile.
Steve’s phone rings and he swears under his breath when he looks at the caller name. He answers. “Shit. Okay. I know, but Dylan Morgan just took a fucking overdose. What do you expect me to do?”
I swallow the rising lump in my throat and Dylan sinks back. “I did not take an overdose.”
“It’s still an overdose whether deliberate or not, mate,” says Bryn.
Steve spins around and leaves the room, evidently dealing with the next Blue Phoenix problem on his list. He certainly earns his money from maintaining his well-oiled machine.
Bryn remains leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed. He intrigues me; his laid-back nature and sense of humour are at odds with the rest of the band. Once, he joked to me that he wished he’d learned guitar instead of drums. That way, more of the girls would be interested in him. Not that I’ve seen him with many girls, only the occasional one, but he tends to shut himself away more. Bryn says he prefers his own company and I’ve heard the others tease him about the time he spends gaming rather than partying.
