AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She slaps my bicep. “First of all, I’m pretty sure it wasyour nameI was screaming. Not God’s.”
It’s my turn to feel the rush of warmth that creeps from my neck and into my face.
She grins like a cat who caught a canary and walks past me.
I glance around the room one last time. With the exception of the bed being a total disaster, it’s virtually untouched. At least housekeeping shouldn’t be too pissed.
With Cal’s words still in my mind, I blow out the remaining two candles and follow after Lily.
She’s standing in the dining area, her eyes floating around the space. “We forgot about—”
“Cal,” I say, cutting her off. “He blew them out.”
“Oh,” she whispers with a nod.
I can see the wheels turning in her eyes and my stomach starts flipping.
Please don’t be second-guessing this.
I brush my hand across her lower back, urging her to follow me to the stairwell that leads to the parking lot.
We walk in silence, taking in the way she’s decorated the stairs with beautiful sheer curtains and flowers. It’s an entirely different space since she got her hands on it.
When I open the door, the inklings of the morning are just starting to paint the sky.
“Do you want something to eat? Or should we head back home?” I ask, the words feeling strange on my tongue.
Even though she’s been staying with me for the past week and a half, and I’ve said the same sentence since then, the wordhomehas a different context now.
I flinch, hoping it doesn’t scare her away.
“Home, definitely,” she says, patting me on the chest and walking over to my Escalade.
The parking lot is devoid of any other vehicles and I glance around, wondering what kind of hell I’m going to get from Myles later. She would have noticed my car was still here, even if Cal hadn’t told her what we were up to …
I shake my head, raising my gaze to the brightening sky as I throw up a quick prayer for it to be quick and painless—whatever torture she has in mind.
The drive home is a quiet affair. Both Lily and I are lost in thought and I can feel her withdrawing the closer we get to the house.
The panic that started settling into my chest earlier has now got me on full alert.
“Are you hungry?” I ask, turning to her.
She blinks back in surprise. “Hmmm?”
“I can make omelets—or pancakes again,” I offer. Anything to keep me busy and take my mind off of this dread welling inside me.
“Sure. Whatever you want,” she replies with a fleeting smile.
I turn back to the road, my eyebrows tugging in.
This is wrong, it’s all wrong …
After my feeble attempt at raising a conversation, the rest of the drive is just as silent. I don’t know what to say or do to make things feel right again.
When we pull into the driveway, I park with a sigh, trying to loosen this tightening in my chest. I get out of the vehicle but before I can make it to Lily’s side to open her door, she’s already out and walking over to me.
She reaches out, grazing her fingertips through mine as she makes her way past me and into the house.
