Chapter 25 #2
Lo angles his body so he has a good view of Ryke. “You’re still here.”
Ryke scrutinizes Lo, trying to figure him out from afar. “Lily said you both would help me with research on Comic-Con.”
Lo takes this in. “She agreed to this?” He looks down at me. “That’s unlike you.”
“I owe him.”
Lo’s jaw locks as his eyes flicker to Ryke. “And you can’t come back later?”
“I’m here now. What’s the big deal?”
Lo scowls at him like he’s a moron. “You’re cock-blocking me, that’s the big fucking deal.”
I want to disappear. Like right now.
Ryke glances at me and then tilts his head at Lo without a shadow of insecurity. “Have sex with her later. I’m not stopping you.” He inches closer. “Lily, you want to show me your comics or should I go find them myself?”
Lo interjects. “Hey, I don’t know you. There’s no way in hell you’re going to be alone with her. ”
“Lo, it’s fine,” I tell him. Really, I have zero desire to do anything sexual with Ryke, and I’m pretty sure the feeling is mutual.
Ryke inspects Lo once more and then he nods. “If I was you, I’d probably be the same way. Some strange guy creeping in with your girlfriend—I get it. It’s weird.”
“That’s an understatement,” Lo says flatly. “I make out with my girlfriend, you stand there. I put my hand down her pants, you stand there. I tell you I’m going to fuck her, you stand there. What am I supposed to make of that?”
My heart beats wildly, and I’ve lost the ability to breathe. I must be dreaming. Yeah, this is a dream. I’ll wake up soon, but obviously not soon enough.
“That I’m a self-assured guy that likes to get what he wants, and right now that’s information about Comic-Con. Pretty simple, right?”
Lo takes this in.
To nudge his thoughts, I say, “I’ll grab a few New X-Men comics. Stay here.” I don’t give Lo the option of backing out. I disappear into his room, sprinting around to try and gather some issues. After I collect a handful, I rush out of the hallway.
Lo has crept into the kitchen where he opens a cupboard for a glass. When I pass Ryke by the sink, the guy gives me a look like help me.
I’m trying , I mouth.
Try harder, he mouths back.
I flip him off in a knee-jerk reaction, and he rolls his eyes. I set the comics on the counter beside him and then fill the space in the kitchen between Lo and Ryke.
Lo closes the fridge, plopping an ice cube into his whiskey. When he leans an elbow on the counter, he eyes me like come here. He’ll probably wrap an arm around my waist and let me sink my body into his.
No, Lily. I shake my head at him and wade in the center, unsure and uncomfortable .
His face sharpens at the rejection, and he directs his hate onto Ryke. “What do you need to know?”
He shrugs. “Anything.”
“Ever hear of Google?”
“You mean that little search engine on that thing called the internet? No, I’ve never heard of it before. Can you explain that to me too?” He flashes a dry smile.
Lo grits his teeth and looks at me. “Why is he here again?”
“He’s writing an article on Comic-Con, and we owe him a favor.”
Lo inhales sharply. “Fine.” He starts rattling off X-Men characters, mutant powers and how they fit into Earth 616, way too quickly for anyone to understand.
“Wait, wait.” Ryke holds up his hands. “What the hell is Earth 616?”
Lo already looks frustrated. He downs half his drink, and Ryke’s body tightens, as though each time Lo takes a sip is a bullet to his chest. His reaction actually makes me sidle to Lo and try something else.
I stand on the tips of my toes and whisper in his ear, “Hold me.”
Obligingly, Lo sets down his drink and wraps two arms around my hips, leaning my back into his chest. The public display should embarrass me, but Ryke ignores our affection like we’re just standing around.
I cut in, “Earth 616 is the Marvel universe.”
“That’s not too hard to understand,” Ryke says.
One of Lo’s hands creeps beneath my shirt and stays on my stomach. I am a horrible, horrible person. I should push him off and stay focused on the conversation, but if this deters him from drinking, then maybe it’s okay.
Lo says, “Not all Marvel comics take place in Earth 616.”
Ryke cocks his head. “Now I’m confused.”
I try to explain. “It’s used to denote Marvel’s primary continuity. There’s a string of comics that all fit together in sequential time…” I feel something cold on my lower back and stifle a gasp.
Lo runs an ice cube on my skin, teasing…and probably hoping Ryke will take a hint and leave. Concentrate, Lily.
I clear my throat. “Then there are other comics that will take the characters and screw around with them. These comics do not fit into Earth 616.” He slides the cube up my spine, my skin cold and prickling. Oh God… “Like Ultimate X-Men …it…”
The cube melts away and Lo rakes his fingers along the same wet trail. I tuck a piece of my hair back. “…It doesn’t fit in with any of the other X-Men comics. The same way The Ultimates don’t fit in with the Avengers line, even though they’re about the Avengers.”
Lo takes a small sip of his drink, and at first, I think my efforts aren’t helping, but he pops an ice cube out of his mouth, not even hiding what he’s doing from Ryke.
A hand flies to my eyes, creating a blinder against any sort of judgment and awkwardness.
Lo says to Ryke, “They’re alternate universes. ”
“What’s better, the main line or the alternate universes?”
“They’re just different.”
The ice shocks me, and I flinch from Lo. I spin around and set my hands on his chest. Stop, I mouth.
His lips find my ear, and I have a feeling he’s glaring at Ryke as he whispers to me, “I’m going to take you so hard, you’re going to come with every thrust. And when you’re swollen and wet, all it’s going to take is me inside of you. I won’t even have to move for you to cry out.” Yes.
No! I try to focus even though my legs quake in desire. I keep my palms on his chest and push him back into the counters, away from me.
He clasps my wrists and devours me with his gaze. I would have put a hand on his shoulder and forced him to his knees by now. And he would willingly hold onto my thighs, spreading my legs open. Focus .
Ryke goes to the fridge. “Which do you guys read?”
Lo mouths to me, Ignore him.
I shake my head and break his hold on my wrists. “We both read Earth 616.”
Just as Ryke returns with a Diet Fizz, Lo picks up his glass again. I guess now that I’ve left his arms, he’s free to drink. Great. If I told him to stop, he’d shoot me one of those looks like maybe you should stop having sex. Right now, that sounds close to torture.
“You can take those comics,” I tell Ryke, thinking of a new solution quickly. “And you can stop by and return them when you’re done.”
Ryke actually looks impressed that I created a decent lie for him to come back.
Lo glares at me, his fingers tightening around the glass.
“I don’t think it’s necessary for him to take our comics.
He can sign up for an online subscription.
” Ryke’s whole master plan involves becoming friends with Lo.
According to him, the relationship will somehow help Lo stop drinking.
I don’t understand it completely, but if he’s been around alcoholism, then I trust he knows more than me on good solutions.
“Don’t be rude, Lo,” I say.
He downs the rest of his drink. No, no, no. Before he can make another, I grab his wrists.
His eyebrows cinch. “Lily…” I’ve never told him how I feel about his addiction, and I can see the wheels spinning in his head, wondering if I’m about to fuck with our well-oiled system.
I’m not. I place his hands on my breasts, and his lips upturn in a crooked smile. He shifts both hands. One goes underneath my shirt, the other hooks around my shoulders, drawing me to his body. My back stays to Ryke, and as Lo kneads my breast, my willpower poofs into nothingness.
“I’ll bring these back tomorrow,” Ryke says. “Have fun fucking.” Oh my God .
Lo says, “You can keep those. Think of it as a gift for helping us at the party.” Translation: We’re even.
“I’d feel better returning them. Thanks for the invite, Lily.” Way to throw me under the bus. The door shuts, and he’s gone.
For a second, I realize Lo may have teased me in front of Ryke only to kick him out. And now that he has left, he may go to his vice and stop feeding mine. My fear lasts a single moment. Lo starts to make good on his promise and slams my back into the fridge. He’s going to take me hard.
He pins my wrists above my head. I try to move my body to meet his, but he puts considerable distance between us.
“Lo,” I whine, breathing heavily.
“You want me to fuck you?”
“Yes,” I moan and try to reclaim my hands. Touch me!
He edges closer, his body melding into mine, but he stretches my arms even further above my head.
“Lo.” I want to undo his pants. I want him to rip off my shirt. Instead, he keeps teasing me in this locked position.
“I understand that you felt like you owed this guy, but after this, we don’t owe him a thing, okay?”
I try to find words to refute like he’s nice. He’s not. He’s lonely. He’s not. “He means well.” I land on a truth and squirm underneath him. “Lo, please.” I need him. Now.
“Did you fantasize about him?”
I cringe. “What? No.” Is he worried I like him? “I think every word out of his mouth made me dryer and dryer.” How’s that for dislike?
“Then what’s this about, Lily?” He uses one hand to hold my wrists together above my head and then the other to unbutton my jeans.
“He…uh…” I can’t concentrate! “He asked me about comics…and…”
Lo tugs my jeans down, and I easily step out of them. The cold hits my flesh and I ache for Lo’s warmth. “This is really about comics?” he questions, disbelieving .
“I…uh…forgot…condoms,” I say, my mind reverting to sex.
“If you’re on the pill and you haven’t fucked anyone else, we should be fine.”
I nod quickly. “Can I have my hands back?”
“No.” He rubs his fingers on the outside of my panties, not pushing in. I shake beneath him. “So when he returns,” Lo says, “are you going to kick him out?”
“What?” He stops the friction between my legs. No, no, no. “Lo…”
“I want to know if he’s really here for comics, Lily. Is that the last time we’re going to see him?”
I bite my lip, and he sees straight through me.
“What’d you do?” he breathes, his hands tightening on my wrists. The pressure feels better than it should.
Telling the truth will be a defeat I do not want to claim just yet.
So I think on my toes. “He wants to write an article about us…about what it’s like to be the children of consumer moguls.
And I said yes because I owed him, and I knew…
I knew you wouldn’t agree because he has to follow us around.
So I thought the Comic-Con lie would help introduce him to you. ..”
Lo stares at me with cold, narrowed eyes, and he drops my hands, taking four steps back from me. “He has to follow us around?”
I nod. “I’m sorry. I should have asked you?—”
“You know why I would have said no?” He points to his chest. “I hate having to hide alcohol. You don’t get it because sex is something we do in private.”
I frown. “Like you mauling me in front of Ryke? That was private?”
Lo shakes his head. “The most he’ll think is that I’m a horny guy, Lil. He won’t connect that you’re a sex addict. And I don’t need him fucking writing about our problems in a published article for my father to see. ”
“It’s for a class grade,” I lie. The article doesn’t even exist! But it’s the best excuse I have to validate Ryke hanging around us. “He won’t publish it.”
“And you believed him when he told you that? It’s bullshit.”
“It’s not!” I refute, my eyes welling with tears. I’ve never tried this hard to guide him towards a good place, and it’s breaking me apart inside. “ImsorryImsorryImsorry,” I slur.
His face shatters and he closes the space between us. “Hey…” His voice softens. He holds my cheeks and wipes the tears with his thumb. “We can tell him that we’re not interested anymore.”
I shake my head and choke on a sob. “No…” Why can’t this be easier? I want to be able to tell Lo to stop, but he won’t. No matter what I say, he’ll keep drinking. This feels like my only option.
“Why not?”
“I promised,” I say. “Please…let me…let me keep it.” These emotions need to end. I start to drown in them, and so I focus on things that always make me feel better. I kiss him lightly on the lips.
He kisses back. And then his lips leave mine. He has a hand on the back of my head, and he stares at me like we should talk more, but I’d rather do other things.
I unbutton his jeans.
“Lily…” he says, very softly.
I unzip and yank them down. “Don’t speak.” I’m about to drop to my knees, but he grabs my elbow.
“Lily…” His amber eyes glass over. Is he about to tell me to stop?
I frown in confusion. “What?”
After a long moment, he whispers, “Nothing.” He releases his hold, and I watch his cheeks sharpen to ice.
My knees hit the floorboards, and I pull down his boxer-briefs in a systematic routine.
He keeps his hand on the back of my head, and I try to forget the sadness in his eyes, the kind that can call on silent tears.
I try to remember the passion, the fire, and for this moment, I make sure to drown him in pleasure.