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“I’m starving. Can you hurry up, and we’ll just grab something downstairs?”
Her shoulders arch downward, disappointment on her face. Because of something I did.
“I really am sorry.”
“I’m sure you’re used to doing things your way, and I don’t blame you, okay? I still want to take things day by day, but if we make plans, it would be nice if you stuck to them.”
“You’re right.” I take her hand. My thumb traces the lines inside her palm. “I’ll try to be better.”
The stern look on her face dissipates.
“Okay.” She slips away from me, and it takes everything in my power to not reach for her again. Lily climbs off the bed, already making her way out of the bedroom. “We should get going. I’ll give you some privacy.”
“You’re more than welcome to stay and watch me get dressed,” I call after her, but for the first time, she doesn’t turn back to entertain me.
Five minutes later, I enter the living room. “Okay, I’m ready.”
Lily is nowhere to be found. Her ancient laptop, however, sits open on the coffee table.
That’s unusual.
I peer at the screen, hoping to see what Lily’s been secretive about every time she uses her computer, but she has a privacy shield attached to her monitor.
Impressive.
I can only make out some kind of website. A cursive heading spells out two words I can’t quite decipher from way over here.
“What are you looking at?” She appears at her door, runs over to the laptop, and slams it shut.
“Do you have some sort of porn addiction I should know about?”
“You’re disgusting.” Lily scoops the device off the coffee table, then stalks to her bedroom. “And you’re nosier than my two sisters were growing up.”
I watch her toss the computer onto her mattress before closing the door and returning to the living room.
“You know, I always forget you’re not an only child.”
“Middle child, only child, what’s the difference?” Lily slides on her flip-flops, not looking back at me.
“Are you close to your family?”
She rarely talks about her parents or siblings. I don’t think it’s a sore topic, but my own family is so close, it’s strange to not have them be a part of the conversation.
What do I know? Maybe it’s no different for Lily. Maybe the relationship she has with them is perfectly fine, and she simply prefers her chosen family with Avery over her own.
“No, but before you ask, it doesn’t bother me. I’ve always been more of a lone wolf,” she says sharply.
I try to avoid asking any more questions about things Lily doesn’t want to share with me. I’m already on thin ice after sleeping past our original dinner plans.
Let’s try brightening the mood.
“You’re statistically twice as likely to be a serial killer if you’re the middle child.”
“I didn’t need to know that.At all.” She shudders. “You watch way too many scary movies.”
“This coming from a person whose favorite movie is a movie star getting rejected by a bookstore owner.”
Lily isn’t remotely amused. “They figure it out eventually, okay?Notting Hillis a great movie.”
