27. Lily
Lily
“ S o, a first date with your husband, hm?”
I sip at my white wine, watching as Sasha smothers her chip in guacamole. We’re sitting in a prime spot out on the front patio of Lolita’s, enjoying the last of the waning sun before the evening gets too cold to be outside.
“He’s not my husband anymore,” I point out reasonably.
“But he’s also not your ex, right? So, what is he?” She grabs another chip and goes digging in the guacamole again. “Guess he’s just an asshole.”
“Maybe we should order something more substantial,” I wonder dryly.
“Nah, I’m good,” she returns, cheeks puffed out. There’s a spot of green on her chin and I offer her a napkin.
“Do you think I’m making a mistake giving him another shot?” My question is quiet, tentative. I hate feeling like I’m constantly second-guessing myself, but terrified of making the wrong choice again.
Sasha frowns. “I can’t tell you what to do here, Lil.
I know he’s hurt you, but if your heart is telling you to give him this chance, do it.
You owe it to yourself to see it all the way through.
You don’t want to be sitting back here with me when you’re sixty and alone, with a herd of cats, wondering what if? ”
“Bold of you to assume we’d still be friends.”
“Bitch, we’re ride and die.”
“You mean ride or die.”
She stares back at me blankly. “Why would I mean that? Anyway, I’m behind you.
I support you, whatever you choose. Like, do you want to go egg his car?
I’m so down. There are eggs on my backseat.
But do you want to trust his word and make adorable babies?
I’m also there. I’ll be the cool Aunt Sash.
They’ll call me when they’re drunk or need a new fake ID. ”
I’m not asking about the eggs. I’m not. “I suppose you gave them the first fake ID, too.”
“Obviously. The point is, babe, I’m here for whatever you decide, but it’s not something I can decide for you.”
“Well, why not?” There’s a whine to my voice, but I don’t give a shit. Adulting is hard. “Isn’t that literally in your job description?”
“Pretty sure my job description just says bros not hoes , so do with that what you will.”
I can’t help smiling, but it falls away after a moment. “I don’t want to be hurt again, Sash.”
“No one wants to be hurt.” She shrugs lightly, her pink fluffy sweater sliding off one shoulder, revealing a white tank strap underneath. “Life is pain. Everyone else is just selling something.”
My mouth pops open. “Are you actually misquoting The Princess Bride at me? That’s your pep talk?”
“I sense from your tone that you don’t approve.” Her mouth turns down in a comical frown, eyes wide and unblinking.
“This is what I get for taking advice from a cushion,” I grouse.
She gasps, pressing a hand to her throat. “I am offended!” She strokes her sweater, smiling softly down at it. “This is quickly becoming my favorite sweater, even more so because you don’t like it.”
“I didn’t say I didn’t like it.” I hide my smirk behind my wine glass. “I just remember a similar fabric that once lived on my grandma’s couch.”
Before she can spew a retort back at me, a throat clears right beside us, and we look over, finding a man standing at the balustrade that separates us from the footpath. The inky dark hair and charming smile are immediately recognizable, and I smile.
“Caleb, hi. Fancy seeing you here!” I gesture to my friend. “This is Sasha.” His eyes swing over to her, lingering for a second as he gives her a head nod before shifting back to me. I look over at her, saying, “This is the guy I met at Astoria when Glen didn’t show.”
Her face has gone pale, and I send her a questioning look. She gives me a tight smile, lifting her drink to her lips and not saying a thing.
I tilt my head, but then Caleb says, “Ah, Glen.” I look over, catching his smirk. “The pussy lover.”
I laugh, expecting Sasha to join in, but then she abruptly pushes away from the table with a rushed, “Excuse me,” and she’s gone, disappearing inside. I look back at Caleb and he’s watching her go. When he looks back at me, he flicks up a dark eyebrow.
“I was disappointed you didn’t call,” he says smoothly, “but then I read something a few days ago that explained a few things.”
I groan, knowing exactly what article he’s talking about.
With all the media coverage of Donald’s arrest, Declan and his family have been very much in the spotlight, so it’d been impossible to keep the annulment under wraps.
In that article, there’d even been a photo of the two of us outside the courthouse, standing too close and eyes locked.
“Your six-week marriage beat out some celebrities,” Caleb remarks with amusement.
Before I can respond, Sash’s back, gulping back her wine like its water. “You okay?”
“Peachy.”
Caleb glances her way, something flashing across his midnight eyes, but then his lashes drop, shuttering the look.
Sasha glances over the doors to the bar, a grin pulling up her lips, and I follow her stare just as our friend, Lucas, comes outside, heading straight for us, light blue eyes hard as he takes us in.
“Luke! Oh my god! We were just talking about you,” Sasha cries out.
“We were?”
“You were?”
We speak at the same time, my tone surprised and Lucas’ wry. He runs a hand over his brown hair, eyeing Caleb with a slight sneer to his upper lip.
“If I’d known you guys were into eating with vermin, I’d have gone somewhere else.”
Caleb laughs humorlessly. “Cheap shot, even for you, Petrosen.”
“Here, Luke,” Sasha coos, “you can sit next to me.” She flutters her eyelashes, and Lucas comes forward, grabbing the back of a free chair and wedging it close, so that when he sits, he’s crowding her, their thighs pressed together.
I stare at them, my mouth twisted into a perplexed frown, and it only deepens when Lucas throws an arm around Sasha’s shoulders, tugging her into him.
He strokes a finger over the material of her sweater, murmuring, “Soft”, and she giggles.
Giggles .
I feel like I’ve stepped into an alternate universe, because they don’t like each other. More than once, Sasha has told me she’d like to set him on fire. But now they’re cuddling. I take a page from Sasha’s book and knock back my wine, trying to set my world back to rights.
Lucas glances up, feigning surprise. “You still here, Jamison? I would think you couldn’t spare a single minute without honing that defense.” His smile turns biting, all teeth and no charm.
Caleb tucks his hands into his pockets, letting out a low sound of amusement. “Your boss got you checking up on us?” he asks lazily, his smile not reaching his eyes.
Lucas just arches a brow, the tension rippling through the air enough to make the hair on my arms stand on end. I lean forward with a scowl.
“Whatever this is”—I flick an agitated finger between them—“you can go do it on your own time. This is girls’ night, and you’re interrupting.”
“Yeah, whip out the tape measures when you’re in the courtroom.” It sounds like Sasha, but a muted version.
I try to catch her eye, but she’s already turned away, calling out to a passing server, who gives a ‘one moment’ gesture back.
Caleb nods, his mouth set in a stern line as he raps his knuckles against the balustrade, midnight eyes sliding over Sasha and Lucas, lingering on his arm around her shoulders, before coming to me .
“When your situation is…resolved, maybe you’ll use that number.” And then he’s gone.
For a long minute, no one says anything. I’m staring at them, but they’re both watching Caleb walk away. Once he’s out of sight, Lucas yanks his arm off Sasha and scoots his chair away like she was burning him.
Before I can open my mouth, the server is there, asking us cheerfully for our drink orders. I wait for her to melt back away, before demanding, “What the hell was that?!”
“What was what?” Sasha asks innocently.
Lucas tries a different tact, changing the subject altogether. “Kudos on the annulment, Lily. Sorry I couldn’t help, but like I told her,” he tips his head at Sasha, “I don’t do divorces.”
I wag a finger. “No, don’t blow me off. What was that?”
He looks down at Sasha, raising his eyebrows, and she huffs out a sigh.
“Look, I’ll tell you, but I need two things from you first.” I nod, blinking furiously.
“Okay,” she exhales heavily, her chin dropping to her chest. “First thing, I’ll need tequila.
Lots of tequila.” She chews on her lower lip.
“Second, I need you to lose that asswipe’s number. ”
“Done.” I don’t hesitate, pulling out my phone and deleting Caleb’s contact information, flashing the screen at her.
Relief has her shoulders sagging. “I’ll tell you once—” she jerks her head at Lucas, probably thinking she’s being subtle but just looking like she’s having a fit.
“Whatever,” he mumbles, thanking the server when she places a beer in front of him and fresh glasses of wine in front of us. “I actually found you here for a reason, excluding that piece of shit.”
Found us? I mouth at Sasha, but she just shrugs, widening her eyes at me. She’s not that good of an actress, though, and I know she wasn’t surprised he turned up when he did.
“You both know the circle of people my sister spends time with,” he says, pressing his lips together.
“Yes, we know,” Sasha says with a mock shudder. His sister spends time with the vapid socialite sect, where they feed off drama and innards of other socialites. Away from the crowd, Verity Petrosen could be tolerable, but only in small doses. “Why? What do you know? ”
His glacial eyes lock on mine. “Now that your annulment is public record, you’ve become a morsel of gossip for the hordes, especially after everything that happened with Nexus and Donald Masters.”
I grimace. “Horrid, but not unexpected.”
He leans forward. “Lily, it’s worse than that. Anyone can look up the annulment and the reason for it.”
“Okay,” I drag out slowly, sharing a concerned look with Sasha.
His expression is reluctant, mouth opening and shutting. Sasha shoves him roughly, growling, “Spit it out, Lucas! Jesus!”
He groans, scrubbing a hand over his face.
“Fuck, fine. Public record for the annulment states fraud as the reason,” he starts, and my gut churns, already knowing I won’t like this.
“Silvia Huntington is telling anyone who’ll listen that Declan’s the one who wanted an annulment.
She’s saying you faked a pregnancy to trap him, and he found out on the honeymoon. ”