A Game Of Love (A Forbidden Game #2)

Chapter 24

Lillianna

The rest of Christmas break is amazing. I spent most of it locked up in the guys’ dorm room with them. I’m sure you can imagine the things we did to pass the time.

It was hot, kinky sex—that's what we did. A lot of it.

Honestly, I have an unhealthy addiction to these men, and I can’t seem to find it in me to care.

It’s our first day back after classes, and I’m excited. New year, new semester, and new classes.

This school year started off slow; it felt like the months were really years. But it’s like as soon as the guys and I were in a good place, the days went by in the blink of an eye.

I hate it. Because in a few short months, these guys are going to graduate and when I come back next year, they won’t be coming back with me.

It’s not like I won’t be seeing them, we’ve already decided to get a place together. Still. Not having them walk me to class throughout the day sucks, but I’ll have Bee and Jonas, even Ryan, sometimes.

I miss him. His life has turned upside down overnight. He went from being single to in some sort of love triangle, then in a relationship with two people? Maybe? Who knows. Whenever I ask, he tells me not to. I’ll let him work his stuff out on his own and be there for him when he’s ready to talk. We've both been dealing with our own crazy lives, so I know he understands just as much as I do.

“Ugh,” Bianca grumbles as she stares at herself in the mirror. “Nothing fits!”

“What are you talking about?” I take in her appearance. “They look good on you.”

“Not the pants.” She swings her gaze towards me, waving at her chest. “My tits.”

“Huh.” I eye up her boobs. “They do look bigger.” My gaze flicks up to hers. “Why are they bigger?”

She chews on her lower lip, a look of nervousness taking over.

“Bee,” I say slowly. “Why are your boobs bigger?”

“Promise not to get mad at me.” Her eyes fill with tears.

“Oh my god!” I gasp, hands flying to my mouth. “Please tell me you didn’t get implants over the break!”

“What?” Bee’s eyes widen. “No.” She laughs, shaking her head.

“Thank god. I mean, if you wanted to, I’m here for you. Your body, your choice. You would look good no matter what. I’d just have liked to know about it before you went and changed your breast size.”

“Nope. All this is natural. Gonna get bigger too as time goes on.” She laughs nervously.

And then it clicks. Bigger breasts, still growing. The more I think about it, she has been moody a lot lately, and she’s been missing from the room in the mornings. She says she was taking a shower, but for over an hour?

My eyes well with tears as I get to my feet from where I was sitting on my bed. “Bee,” I croak. “Are you pregnant?"

She bites her lip and nods. “Yeah.”

“Oh my god!” I run over to her, wrapping my arms around her. “I’m so happy for you.”

“You are?”

“Of course!” I lean back to look at her. “I’m going to be an auntie.” My eyes widen. “Does Jonas know?”

“Yeah. I told him on New Year’s.”

“How far along are you?” I ask. “Did he take it well?”

“About eight weeks. Doctor thinks it happened around Halloween.” She laughs. “It was a very eventful night. Not just for you, you know.”

I burst out laughing. “Of course, it was.”

“And Jonas took it amazingly,” she cries. “He was so excited. Honestly, he’s the best.”

“He really is.” I grin widely.

“I’m scared, you know. A lot is about to change.”

“Don’t be.” I hug her again. “Because you have a whole village on your side.”

“Thanks.” She hugs me back. “Can you do me a favor and not tell Bishop? I haven’t told my family yet.”

“Of course.”

There’s a knock at the door, and both of our eyes flick to it. “You think that's them?” she asks.

“When is it not?” I laugh.

I hardly sleep in the dorm room with Bee anymore. Honestly, neither does she. She’s always at the Hockey House with Jonas. But the guys got up extra early for a workout today. Something about working off the holiday weight. So when they got up, I crawled into my bed here, not wanting to be alone.

Going to the door, I pull it open and find Jonas and Bishop.

“Hey, baby,” Bishop says as they both step into the room. “Ready?”

“Yup.” I smile up at him, letting him press a kiss to my lips before he hands me my coffee. “My hero.”

“Hey,” Jonas greets Bee. “You’ve been crying. Are you okay?”

Bee’s eyes flick to mine, then back to Jonas. “Totally. Just saw a TikTok video that made me sad.”

Jonas looks at me, and I can’t hold back the smile. Understanding dawns on him, and he grins back. “Ahh, those damn sad videos. Gets you every time.”

I can’t wait to talk to him about this later. I’m so damn happy for them both. But I know Bee must be freaking out. She has the right to, but we’re all here for her.

We all leave, walking to our first class together. Bishop drops me off, and I stay with Jonas and Bee.

The day goes on, and my first classes are great.

“We need to eat. Like now. Or I’m going to start eating one of you,” Bee grumbles, seeming to be in a pissy mood. Ah, gotta love mood swings.

“I got something you can eat.” Jonas grins.

“Oh, gross.” I laugh. “No details, please.”

“Lilly!” I hear my name called.

Looking over my shoulder, I see Ryan running towards me. “Hey, Ryan.” I smile, but then it drops when I see the pissed-off look on his face. “What’s wrong?” My stomach swoops.

“You don’t know?” he asks, looking between me and the others.

“Know what?” Bee asks.

“Shit,” he hisses, running a hand through his hair.

“Ryan, what's going on?” I ask, panic spiking through my veins.

“I really hate to be the one to show you this. But I don’t want you going around the school without knowing what's going on.”

“And that would be?” Bee asks.

Ryan pulls out his phone and hands it to me. Brows furrowing, I look down to see. There’s a video, but I don’t press play, reading the post description.

The name of the Instagram account isn’t familiar, but the names in the post sure as hell are.

As I read it, I start to feel sick.

“This just in. Not everything is as it seems. Looks like the captain of the Silver Knights hockey team loves to go behind his best friend's back and mess around with his girlfriend. That's right, Tobias Munro is sleeping with Lillianna Tatum. Who also happens to be his stepsister. Don’t believe me? Watch the video.”

My hands shake as I swallow hard. This isn’t the first time someone pulled this kind of shit on me. But that was me with my top off, in my bra. What’s this going to be? I don’t know if I want to know.

“What the fuck!” Bee hisses. “It’s Katie. I know it’s that little bitch. Who the fuck else would do this kind of crap.”

“Did you watch the video?” I ask Ryan, voice low.

He scratches the back of his head. “Ahh. I’m sorry. I didn’t know what it was until I was watching it, and then I read the description. It just popped up on my newsfeed.”

“Is it bad?” I ask, eyes welling with tears.

“Nothing’s showing. But it’s kind of hard not to know what's going on.”

“Fuck.” I look down at the phone. I need to know what this video is, what everyone's seeing.

Pressing play, I feel my heart drop as I hear the moans coming through the phone.

It was at one of the hockey house parties back in November. I got a little drunk, was feeling a little horny, and I wanted Toby. I hated that he was being so distant because people were around.

So he pulled me into a dark part of the house, a place where no one was supposed to go, and he fucked me against the wall. I was in a dress, so no clothes came off, but you can see our faces enough to know who it is. You can sure as hell hear the sounds mixed with the background music. And by the way Toby’s hips are thrusting up into me, my legs locked around his waist, and my head is tossed back in pleasure, no one would be stupid enough to think it was anything but us having sex.

My phone rings, snapping me out of the moment. I exit the video, hand Ryan back his phone, and answer mine.

“Hello?” my voice doesn’t sound like me. I’m feeling a little numb right now.

“Lilly. Are you okay?” It’s Theo.

“Not really,” my voice cracks as I try to laugh it off.

“We’re working on getting it taken down. Do you have any idea who could have posted it?”

I look to Bee. “I’m gonna go with Katie. I’m not sure, but she’s done this stuff before.”

“We’re going to get to the bottom of this.”

We talk for a few more minutes before I hang up.

“Are you okay?” Bee asks.

“I will be,” I breathe out. “It sucks. I’m so damn pissed, but I can’t go back in time to stop her from posting it. So the only thing I can do is leave it in Theo and the police’s hands to get this taken care of.”

“Are you going home?” Jonas asks. “We can walk with you.”

“Nope.” I shake my head. “I’m not going to tuck my head and run. I have nothing to be ashamed of. She doesn’t know what she’s talking about. We’re going to go to lunch and eat like we planned before.”

“Are you sure?” Bee asks.

“I’m sure.”

“I’m coming too,” Ryan says, tossing his arm over my shoulder and pressing a kiss to the side of my head.

“Thanks.” I lean into him for a second before he steps away to walk next to me. We’re almost to the lunch building when I see Bishop running towards me.

“Baby.” He sweeps me into his arms. “Are you okay?”

I hold him tight, the feeling of him around me soothing me. “I’m a lot better now.”

“I talked to Theo. He filled me in on what's going on. But I haven’t been able to get a hold of Toby.”

“He texted me an hour ago, letting me know he was going to meet us for lunch, and his phone was dying. So if he didn’t answer, that's why.”

“Shit, okay.” Bishop nods.

“Do you think he knows what’s going on?” I ask, worried about what people are going to say and how he’s going to react.

“No idea.” Bishop scrubs his face with his hands. “I’m going to kill her,” Bishop growls. “I don’t hurt girls, but fuck, I want to hurt her so damn bad.”

“No. We’re not hurting anyone. We’re better than that. What we’re going to do is let Theo and the police handle it. In the meantime, we’re going to eat.”

His eyes widen. “In there, with everyone who probably saw the video?”

“Yes.” I narrow my eyes at him. “Because I’m not going to hide, Bishop. It’s not what I do. And this way they can see you with me and know that what they saw isn’t what it’s perceived to be.”

“Yeah.” He pulls me close. “Fuck them all.”

“No thanks. I’d rather just you and Toby,” I joke. His whole body shakes with laughter.

“I fucking love you, you know that?”

“I do.” I smile up at him, still feeling like I want to crawl into bed and hide, but I know I’m better than that. “But I love hearing it, so feel free to say it again and again.”

“For the rest of our lives,” he growls before pressing a kiss to my lips.

The rest of the walk to the lunch hall, it’s like I could feel people’s eyes on me. Like little ants crawling along my skin.

Doing my best to pay them no mind, I keep my head held high and pushed forward.

How broken can someone be to go this low to hurt another person? Someone who’s never done anything to them.

The fact was, she wanted something she couldn’t have. Something I had.

And she didn’t like it. I was with the man she wanted. She didn’t care he didn’t want her back. She felt like I wronged her by taking something that was never hers in the first place.

This is how she makes me pay.

But much like what her mother did to mine, I’m not giving her the reaction she’s hoping for.

She wants to hurt me, to make me feel small so she can feel big. She thinks she won, but the only thing she did was get herself expelled. Because once they confirm it was her, I know Theo won’t be giving her anymore chances.

I don’t feel bad about it. Not at all.

She chose this for herself, and now she has to live with the consequences.

As we step into the lunch hall, the whole room goes quiet.

“Okay,” Bee says slowly. “That’s fucking creepy. Did we somehow find our way into a horror movie? Like one of those small-town ones where someone passes by, and the whole town is in on some horror plot twist?”

“Kinda feels like it,” I murmur, trying to will my heart to chill out before I pass out.

Nausea turns in my stomach. Part of me wants to tell Bishop we should go because I don’t think I could eat anything.

I won’t. Because that's what Katie wants.

I’m not in the wrong. I didn’t cheat on anyone. I never would. The thought makes me want to cry. I could never hurt the men I love like that, and they know it.

Taking a deep breath, I head towards the french fry stand, knowing that's probably the only thing I’m going to be able to stomach right now.

Once we order, we grab our plates and take a seat at the hockey table.

Conversations have picked up again around the room, most likely about me, but there’s no way to know, so I’m going to do my best not to think about it.

The table however, feels awkward.

“She didn’t fucking cheat on me,” Bishop growls, shooting death glares at all his teammates.

“Look, if you say so. But we saw the video,” Trent, one of his teammates, says. “And it wasn’t you with her in the video.” He looks at me. “Sorry, Lilly. But Bishop is our brother.”

I shoot him a glare of my own. Why does no one ask before assuming shit they see on the internet?

“And I love you for that, man. But it’s not what you think,” Bishop insists.

“So it wasn’t Toby fucking Lilly in the video?” someone else asks, and anger fills me.

“It was,” Bishop grinds his jaw, and the whole table’s eyes widen.

“Because I’m dating both of them.” I decide to just come out with the truth.

I love Toby. More than anything. But I can’t hide this anymore. I’m not going to cover it up with lie after lie like it’s something to be ashamed of. Because it’s not.

“Hold up.” Ricky’s brows furrow. “Like at the same time.”

“Yes,” I say, because what else would I mean.

“And they know about it?”

“Yes, we fucking know about it,” Bishop sighs. “Not that it’s any of your business, but both Toby and I are Lilly’s boyfriends.”

“Are you two together?” Trent asks.

“No,” Bishop snorts. “Not that there's anything wrong with liking another dude, but I’m all about Lilly. And so is he.”

“Huh.” Ricky blinks. “You know, that kind of makes sense. He’s always been so weirdly protective of you. I thought it was a brotherly thing.”

“So, you're bypassing the sibling thing?” Trent asks.

“For fuck’s sake,” I mutter. “We’re not related. He’s not my brother.”

“Listen up. I’m with Lilly. Toby’s with Lilly. Toby and I are not together. It is what it is. Get over it, or fuck off,” Bishop snarls. “Remember who Lilly is, who the coach is. Who her parents are. The dean of the fucking school. The football coaches? The damn cheer coach? Hello. Don’t start acting stupid now. There’s nothing wrong with our relationship, and if you think there is, go tell one of them.”

The whole table shuts up, some mumbling sorrys, some congratulating us.

“You know,” I whisper in Bishop’s ear. “Hearing you defend me is hot.”

“Oh yeah?” Bishop grins down at me. “How hot.”

“Very.” I bite my lower lip, trying to hold back my grin. I’m so in love with this man.

“Lilly.” Bee taps my arm from across the table. Looking at her, I follow the direction of her finger to where she’s pointing. My eyes lock on Toby. He’s outside, looking through the window of the lunch room that looks out at the courtyard.

“I’ll be right back,” I tell Bishop.

He looks over to Toby, then back to me. “Want me to come with you?”

“No.” I shake my head. “This needs to be done.”

He nods, kisses my cheek, and lets me go.

My stomach is in knots as I head out to Toby.

“Are you okay?” He rushes over to me, pulling me off to the side.

“I’m fine,” I reassure him.

He starts to pace. “I’m so sorry. I’m so fucking sorry, Lilly.” The look on his face is one of distress. “I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how to make this go away. I never wanted something like this to happen. Now everyone knows. They saw. Fuck!” he shouts, grabbing at his hair.

He’s starting to spiral. Shit, this is not the reaction I wanted from him, but I’m not surprised.

“Toby. It's okay.”

“Okay?” He looks at me with wild eyes. “It’s every nightmare I’ve ever had about us coming true! They think you're a cheater. You would never do something like that!”

“I know,” I tell him, voice even.

“Did you see the comments? They make me sick.” Fury flashes across his face. “All I’ve ever wanted to do was protect you from bullshit like this. And then I go and fuck it up. Now–”

“Toby!” I shout, getting him to stop.

He’s breathing heavily, face crumbling. “Breathe,” I say softly.

“Lilly.” His voice is broken.

I shake my head. “No. Breathe.”

“What do I do?” he whispers as I cup his cheeks, guiding his head down to press my forehead to his. I know he’s losing it right now, his head thinking all the bad things, and everything in him wants to snatch me up and hide me from it all. But that's not how life works.

“Your dad is handling it. So are the police. What's done is done. Do I like it? Fuck no. But am I going to let this ruin me? Also, fuck no.”

“It’s my fault,” he says. “It’s Katie. I know it is. At the New Year’s party, she tried something. I turned her down, and she didn’t like it. She said I’d regret it. Of course, her crazy-ass would do something like this. How the fuck did she get that video? Who am I kidding, she’s probably the one who recorded it. God, what is wrong with her?”

“Probably a lot. And that's sad. I hope she gets the help she needs,” I reply.

“How are you so calm about this?!” Toby shouts.

“Don’t shout at me,” I snap, and his face falls.

“Fuck. I’m sorry. Damn it. I just... I don’t know what to do. How do I fix this, Lilly?”

“You don’t.” I give him a soft smile. “This is life, Toby. We can’t stop all the bad things from happening. The best we can do is keep moving on. To live our lives to the fullest and battle the hard times as they come. This is our life, not theirs. They don’t get a say in how we live it. We can’t please everyone. Not everyone is going to like us or our lifestyle. It didn’t stop our parents from being with the loves of their lives and living a pretty epic life. And it’s not going to stop me. I love that you love me with every cell in your body. I’m one lucky girl that will never take it for granted.” I smile, eyes filled with tears. “My question is, are you going to let it stop you? Are you going to let other people who don’t matter dictate how you live your life? Or are you going to say fuck them all and live your life the way you want?”

He says nothing, chest heaving.

“I pick you, Toby. Always. Now, I’m asking you to pick us. No hiding. No running. Us against the world.” I lean up on my tiptoes and kiss his cheek. I can’t make him do this. He needs to do it on his own. All I can do is pray with every part of me that he makes the right choice. “Make your choice.”

Turning around, I bite the inside of my cheek until I taste blood as I demand myself not to break down. I will be strong. I will not break.

Heading into the lunch hall, it feels like my feet are weighed down by bricks with every step I take away from Toby.

Joining Bishop back at the table, I close my eyes and take a few deep breaths.

“Are you okay?” Bishop asks.

“We’ll find out in a minute,” I whisper.

Keeping my head down, I can’t bring myself to look out the window to see if he’s still there or if he’s gone. To look at the door to see if he walked through it.

With each passing second, I start to lose hope. My shoulders hunch forward, and I have to swallow to keep down the cry that wants to break through.

I feel someone take a seat next to me.

My heart kicks into overdrive, head spinning as a sob for a whole new reason bubbles up.

A large, warm hand envelopes my left one. Still not able to bring myself to look, I let it pull mine out from under the table and bring them up to soft, warm lips, kissing the back of my hand.

Finally, I allow myself to look and find myself staring into my best friend's eyes. Letting my hand go, he grips my chin and leans down.

Toby kisses me, stealing the air from my lungs right alongside my heart. He pushes all his love for me into that kiss, and I push right back. The world around us disappears because they don’t matter.

Toby pulls back, eyes piercing my soul. “I choose us. Always. Forever. Us against the world.”

A smile curves my lips as this feeling of completion clicks into place, my heart never feeling more full than it is right now. “Us against the world.”

Toby wraps his arm around me as Bishop holds my hand on the table where everyone can see. They stake their claim, and I love it so damn much it hurts.

Unable to keep the smile off my face, I sit silently as I enjoy the love that surrounds me as the table slips into conversation.

Love is never easy. It’s never without challenges.

Love isn’t perfect. It’s messy and soul-consuming.

But when you're with the right person, or in my case, people, it’s worth it all.

My best friends. My lovers. My everythings.