Chapter 17 Tigerlily
Chapter Seventeen: Tigerlily
My heart’s pounding so hard I can feel it in my throat. In my fingertips. In every nerve ending, lighting up like I’ve been plugged into an electrical socket.
Three guys just showed up at my house.
For me.
Not for someone else. Not by accident.
For me.
The feeling is strange and intoxicating and terrifying all at once. Like standing at the edge of a cliff and realizing you want to jump. Like being seen for the first time in your life and not knowing what to do with the attention.
Madison’s grinning at me like I’m suddenly the most interesting person she’s ever met. Elle’s whispering rapid-fire questions I can barely process. Hailey and Peyton are probably still inside, wondering what the hell is going on.
I’m not used to this.
I’m the background friend. The one who listens while everyone else talks. The one who blends into corners and doesn’t make waves.
But right now, I’m the center of everything.
And I don’t hate it.
“What did they say?” Elle demands, leaning into me. “What did they want?”
I hide my smile. “Just to check on me.”
“Just to check on you?” Madison laughs. “Girl, that was not just checking on you.”
My face heats. “It’s not like that—”
Elle laughs as we glance back over our shoulders.
The guys are still standing by Jax’s car. All three of them. Staring at me.
Not at Madison. Not at Elle.
At me.
Heat blooms in my chest, spreads down my arms, and settles low in my stomach.
I turn away quickly before they see me blushing.
Before we walk up the driveway, I grab both their arms tightly.
“Wait,” I whisper. “Don’t mention anything in front of Zinnia, okay? And be careful of the cameras. My dad—”
“Say no more.” Elle squeezes my hand. “We’ve got you.”
That eases my nerves as we walk quietly into the house.
Peyton and Hailey are on the floor with Zinnia, finishing up a game of Uno. Zinnia’s laughing at something Peyton said, completely oblivious.
Relief floods through me.
She believed Madison when she told her we were going out to the car to grab something.
“We should probably head out,” Hailey says, checking her phone. “It’s getting late.”
The girls start cleaning up, folding the Catan board, and tossing the empty popcorn bowls into the sink. They gather their jackets.
Madison tugs on my arm, pulling me around the corner into the hallway.
She holds up her phone.
It’s a text from Callum.
A picture of himself, and I blush immediately. He’s grinning at the camera like an idiot, hair messy, eyes bright.
The text below it reads: Show this to Tiger.
I love that he calls me Tiger.
“He’s so hot,” Madison whispers, blushing as she looks at the image.
Elle appears behind us. “What are you two talking about?”
I giggle. Actually giggle. I can’t remember the last time I giggled. It just slipped out.
“You think so?” I ask Madison.
She nods like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.
I take her phone, getting a better look at Callum’s face.
He has quite a pointy nose, a few freckles scattered across his cheeks, and blue-green eyes that look like the ocean on a sunny day. Full lips curved into that stupid cocky grin. Wavy dirty blonde hair that’s just messy enough to look effortless.
My face burns.
“It’s so cute he calls you Tiger,” Madison whispers.
I smile. I can’t help it.
I start typing on her phone.
Leave her alone.
Madison frowns. Then jumps when the three dots appear immediately.
Callum: Make me.
Madison’s eyes go wide as she looks at me. “He’s got it bad for you.”
“I will murder both of you!” Elle shouts from the living room.
I hand Madison her phone back and walk toward the girls, trying to suppress the smile threatening to split my face in half.
“So,” I say, forcing my voice to sound normal. “My dad will be back a little before midnight.”
They’re almost done packing anyway. Madison keeps glancing at me like she wants to talk about the guys, but I widen my eyes at Zinnia when she’s not looking. It’s not the time.
When they’re gone, I get Zinnia to brush her teeth and lie in bed alone. Zinnia won’t stop talking about the girls, and I realize how much we both needed some normalcy.
When I’m lying in my own bed, I stare at the ceiling. My chest feels warm and full like something’s expanding inside me, and I don’t know how to contain it.
They came back.
Jax, Zephyr, and Callum drove all the way here just to talk to me. Just to make sure I was okay.
Nobody’s ever done that before.
I hate that I’m lighting up with butterflies. Hate that I’m twenty years old and I’ve never had attention like this before. Hate that I don’t know what it means or if it means anything at all.
But maybe it does.
Maybe they actually care.
The thought makes my stomach flip.
After I overthink a few scenarios, I hear my dad’s Honda Pilot pull into the driveway a little before midnight.
I try to sleep, closing my eyes. I count backward from one hundred.
Nothing works, so I get up to pee and get a drink of water.
The house is dark except for the light in the kitchen.
My dad’s sitting at the table, surrounded by paperwork.
He looks up when I walk in.
“Hey, Lily,” he says. “You alright?”
“Yeah. Just needed some water.”
I fill a glass at the sink, keeping my back to him.
“Thanks for watching Zinnia,” he says.
I’m surprised by that, so I nod with a smile. “Yeah. You’re welcome.”
He taps his finger on the back of the chair. The sound is rhythmic. Deliberate.
“What’d you guys do?”
I swallow down the rest of my water and answer, “Nothing much.”
He nods slowly, turning sideways in his chair to look at me.
“Have any visitors?”
Water drips down the side of my mouth at the question. I quickly wipe it away with the back of my hand.
I nod. “Uh, yeah. Actually, Elle, Peyton, Hailey, and Madison came over.”
His eyes widen slightly. “Anyone else?”
I shake my head, taking a step back. “No. I’m going to––”
“Wait.”
I freeze.
My heart hammers against my ribs when his eyes meet mine.
“Are you sure?”
I swallow hard. The lump in my throat feels like a rock.
“Madison’s boyfriend stopped by for something. We walked out to his car to grab it and then came back in.”
He taps his finger again.
“And who is this boy?”
I shrug. “I don’t know, Dad. Madison’s boyfriend.”
He’s quiet.
I stand, frozen in the corner.
“Another hockey player?”
I don’t answer.
“You think I’m so stupid, don’t you?”
His famous line.
I blink as his expression hardens.
“I don’t think that,” I answer.
“Then tell me why the fuck there were three hockey players outside of our house tonight.”
I inhale sharply, trying hard not to blink, but my body betrays me. He can see right through me. The pit in my stomach grows at the thought of him watching us.
His eyes darken, and I’m scared. His jaw muscles tense as he grabs the glass of water in front of him. He takes a sip and shakes his head. Then he throws the cup across the room.
It shatters against the wall, and glass explodes everywhere.
I flinch, watching him move. I need to calm him down somehow, but tears are falling down my cheeks, and my vision’s blurry.
I try to swallow it back, keeping myself grounded.
“I’m sorry, Dad. I really don’t know them. I keep telling them to leave me alone.”
He starts pacing.
Back and forth.
The look on his face is twisted.
Back and forth.
“I’ve told you so many times, Lily. I told you… absolutely no boys.”
“I know,” I agree.
“And hockey players?”
I wince. “Dad, I promise you I’m telling the truth.”
“How can I trust you when you’re doing all these things behind my back? You bring your friends here without my permission. Why?”
I’m shaking, hating how controlling he is. I hate how small he makes me feel.
This is why Mom left.
The thought hits me like a punch.
She couldn’t breathe without being accused of something insane, just like I am right now.
“Dad, can we talk in the morning?” I whisper.
He shakes his head. “Why? So you can come up with more lies? Give me your phone.”
I hand it over, trembling.
He scrolls through it. Message after message. Contact after contact. Finding it clean.
“I don’t know them, Dad. I swear.”
“You keep lying.” His voice is getting louder. “Why do you keep lying?”
“I’m not.”
“Lily!” he screams.
I’m shaking so hard my teeth chatter. Tears stream down my face.
“I’m not, Dad,” I whisper.
“Why do they camp outside our house every night?” He blinks and stares at me. “Hmm?”
My stomach drops. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
His face falls into a smile.
Then he laughs. A sharp, cruel scoff.
“Are you fucking all three hockey players, Lily?”
“What!”
He walks toward me, backing me into the wall.
“I’m not,” I plead.
He stops inches from my face, so close I can smell the coffee on his breath. Then he takes a step back.
“Fine,” he says, voice suddenly calm again. “We can talk tomorrow.”
I don’t wait. I walk as fast as I can without running down the hall and into my room.
I close the door and lock it.
My whole body is shaking as I stare at the door, expecting him to bang on it. My face is wet with tears as I stand in the middle of my room.
And all I can think is—
Were they really watching my house all this time?
Every night?
My breath doesn’t come easily, but the thought that they have been outside every night loosens it a bit.