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Den fills each glass with a double and hands them to us. "Drink up."
I’m still staring at my glass when Lilly puts her empty one back on the counter. I gawk at her, unable to form words.
"Well, now that that’s settled." Lilly’s voice is icy and disconnected until she levels me. Her tone changes to something I’ve only ever known from Kat: sarcastically sweet and full of rage. "Do you want to explain the picture of you and your ex getting all cozy?"
"Uh oh," chuckles Wes.
My eyes briefly flicker over to him, and he wipes the smirk off his face. I’m fuming.
Instead of explaining the situation to her, I snarl, "How aboutyouexplain the picture of the Abercrombie doucheto me."
"Wha—?" Lilly’s eyes narrow.
"He did not just go there." Denielle sighs.
Wes fake-coughs into his fist, "Shut up."
The tension in the room grows from awkward to uncomfortable as hell.
"I have nothing to explain to you. I did not make out with my ex in the middle of school!"
"What the fuck?" The guilt of keeping this from her makes me lash out. I should just come clean about my psychotic ex’s threats, but I can’t bring myself to admit I’ve not been one hundred percent honest with her the last few weeks. Lilly is perceptive, and I’ve been lying to myself about her not noticing.
"Don’twhat the fuckme,Rhys! I have eyes. Were you really at Wes’s all last week?" The way she spits out my name is like a slap in the face.
"You’re one to talk,Lilly!" A voice in my head screams at me,Abort! Shut up immediately!but it’s out of my mouth before I can stop myself. "I’ve seen you flirt with the guy."
Her eyes bulge, and she opens her mouth to counter-attack, but Denielle steps between us, holding up both hands as if to prevent us from physically going at each other, which is not too far-fetched at this point, I guess.
"STOP! BOTH OF YOU!" She glares first at me and then at Lilly before continuing. "Don’t you realize that this is whathewants? He wants to create a rift between you."
Lilly blinks before switching her gaze between Denielle and me. Her words sink in. What am I doing attacking her like a possessive asshole? I interlace my hands on top of my head and draw in a breath before looking at Lilly.
"I’m sorry, babe. I don’t know what just happened there."
The rage in her eyes disappears and is replaced by tears slowly escaping down her cheeks. I open my arms, and she dives at me, clinging to my shirt, sobbing.
Denielle and Wes quietly exit the kitchen to give us time, and I simply hold Lilly in my arms while she lets it all out. It crushes me to see the strong girl I love more than I can put into words crumble in front of me, and there is nothing I can do.
Later,we find Denielle and Wes in the living room with their heads bent together. I lower myself onto the couch and pull Lilly down next to me. She drapes her legs over mine, and with my arm wrapped around her shoulder, she leans into my chest, clasping my other hand between hers.
I haven’t spent much time in Denielle’s house until recently. I knew her parents were loaded, but I never realized how loaded. The entire house is high-end, a perfect combination of rustic chic and modern. The massive gray sectional we currently occupy is made of some sort of wool material but looks state-of-the-art and is paired with a low, rustic, espresso-colored chest serving as a coffee table. An assortment of pillar candles is perfectly arranged on a tray in the middle of the chest—the staged look completed with a massive orchid next to it.
Wes is sitting opposite from us in a matching armchair, his arms resting on his thighs. "So, what are we going to do now?"
All eyes turn to Lilly, but she doesn’t say anything.
"Let’s go over the pictures?" I suggest.
Lilly stiffens in my arms, and I start rubbing circles on her back. Slowly, she pulls her phone out of the back pocket of her jeans and opens the text message.
Chapter Forty
For the past three weeks,I’ve lived in complete oblivion. Being in love can do that to you. I admit I had forgotten about my psycho-stalker-slash-kidnapper. I’ve let my guard down. That cannot happen again. And looking at the pictures now, it’s even more apparent that he iseverywhere. He even managed to get a picture of me at Bones. Nineteenth-century gas lanterns provide more light than the lamps inside of the place, yet he managed to get a fairly clear picture of me cuddling with Rhys. If this picture leaks—I don’t even want to think about it. A knot starts forming in my stomach, and my hand trembles as I move on to the next picture. Rhys stiffens underneath me, and I hear the edge in his voice, even though he’s trying to hide it. "When was this?"
Next to us, Denielle raises her eyebrows, and I turn the phone to her.
"Oh, that."
