10. Lily
CHAPTER 10
LILY
I pad around my kitchen, the cream-colored ceramic tiles cool beneath my feet. I breathe in the rich scent of chocolate and my mouth waters, my biggest concern being that I didn’t have enough chips to bake a second batch of cookies.
I’ve come a long way from my insane life as a mafia princess, that’s for sure.
Leaning on my elbows, I flip through pages of my anatomy textbook.
It may be Friday night, but as usual, I’m buried in schoolwork.
It’s kind of ironic, if you think about it. Here I am, living in one of the biggest party cities in the country, and I’ve spent less nights out than the number of fingers on both of my hands.
The crazy intense social scene is a big reason why so many kids come to school here.
Me?
I come for the academics and the promise of a future far away from the intense crazy that was the better part of my life in New Jersey.
Go figure.
The timer on my Alexa goes off and I open the oven door, my belly rumbling. I didn’t eat a proper dinner, but I am just fine with a batch of my famous chocolate chip cookies. I just made myself a cup of tea for dunking.
Mmm. This is the life. It’s calm, quiet, and the closest to normal that I can hope for.
God only knows, I’ve had my fair share of the alternative.
A few minutes later, I’m snuggled under a fleece blanket on my plush leather recliner with a plate of cookies sharing lap space with my textbook. The chocolate chips melt on my tongue as I take my first bite.
Melting…
An image of Zeno the security guard creeps into my mind as I take a bit of the gooey cookie center. I roll my eyes as I chew. Why does he have to invade my brain right at this moment? I’m trying to push the events of the past couple of days into the deep recesses of my mind with cookies and candles and biology, and dammit, his ice blue eyes still have the power to lance my soul.
I said I’d chalk it up to a fun night, but let’s face it. I’m a damn liar, mainly because I’ve never met a guy who affected me in quite the same way. My eyes flutter closed, butterflies dancing around in my belly as the memories consume me once again.
His lips, his hands, his words…
Maybe we were just in the right place at the right time for him to give me something I didn’t realize I’d needed so badly…a mind-bending release.
He kind of freed me that night.
Maybe that’s all it was supposed to be.
I nod my head, as if I’m trying to convince myself of that.
But that longing thought still lingers…
What if it wasn’t?
I slam my textbook shut and let out a frustrated yell.
A swift knock on my door makes me gasp.
Who the heck is that?
I jump off my recliner and jog over to the front door to gaze through the peephole. There is a tiny flicker of hope that I may have just manifested Zeno, a flicker that fizzles when I see Chloe’s black-lined eyes peer back at me.
I pull open the door and she bounces inside with a bag over her shoulder. “What are you doing here? I thought you had plans with some guys from school.”
“I do! But what kind of friend would I be if I didn’t bring my bestie along for the ride?” she sings, dangling the bag in front of me. “Mm, I smell cookies!” She grabs one and stuffs it into her mouth, giving me a critical look. “That outfit is not going to fly at Bang.”
“Bang?” I ask “I’m not going out. I have work to do!”
“Oh, come on, Lily!” Chloe whines. “You already got accepted into vet school! Since you found out, you’ve been working harder than you did before!”
“Um, yeah, so I can graduate!” I say with a snicker, popping another cookie into my mouth.
“Well, you need a night off, Doc,” she says. “And we’re going out! Look, I brought you outfits with shoes and everything! Tonight, your hot date is with me, not a textbook. And if you’re studying anatomy, you might just get an in-person lesson if you play your cards right,” she says with a waggle of her eyebrows.
“Okay, do I need to remind you that it’s not human anatomy I’m studying?” I say with a chuckle.
“Details, details,” she says with a wave of her hand. “Come on, you study all the time! You need to get out and have a little bit of fun! We need a girls’ night! Just you and me!”
I lift an eyebrow, waiting.
She grins. “Okay, fine, and some cute guys, too!” Chloe grasps my hands right as I throw them into the air. “I promise, it will be fun! I don’t want to go alone and you need to have some fun before those frown lines around your mouth become permanent. Please?”
“Is that why you came over here?”
She giggles. “Of course! I knew if I didn’t catch you here in person, you’d shut off your ringer and ignore my texts!”
“Because you’re a horrible influence on me.”
“But you still love me,” she sing-songs. “You know you do!”
“Sometimes,” I say with a smirk.
“That’s good enough,” she says, slinging an arm around my shoulder. “Now, let’s get you out of here and into a super-hot dress.”
I let out a resigned sigh. I know how relentless Chloe can be, so resisting will be futile. Looks like I’m playing wing-woman tonight. “Okay, let’s see what you brought.”
She clasps her hands together. “Really? You’ll come?”
I giggle. “As if I really had any choice. You could convince a nun to buy condoms just to shut you up.”
But truth be told, I liked the release Zeno gave me.
And maybe I’d like to feel it again.
So who knows? Could be that I’m in the right place at the right time…again.