Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
LILY
Settled on the couch, nestled in the fluffiest blanket to ever exist, I watch Meryl Streep insult Anne Hathaway. The guys are good sports. Matt hated chick flicks, but the three of them don’t seem to mind the Devil Wears Prada. In fact, I swear they’re enjoying themselves.
After we got to their house, they insisted I sit down and then they proceeded to bring me an ice pack, mountains of snacks, and drinks before shoving the remote at me.
I expected them to head back to work, but they all settled down beside me.
Though guilt pricks at me for making them miss the end of the workday, I’m not mad they stayed.
I reach for the bag of grapes on the table but Gage grabs it first, giving me a devious smirk.
“Hey, I wanted those!” I nudge his shoulder playfully.
He holds a bunch above my head. “If you want one, open wide.” His voice drops to that low, rumbly tone.
My pulse skips. I give him a mock look of outrage to hide the lust that’s burning through me, crossing my arms and tilting my chin up defiantly. “I am not being fed fruit, Gage.”
His brown eyes dance with mischief. “Why not?”
Heat creeps up my neck. Yeah, why not? What’s the big deal? Oh, I don’t know, maybe the fact that my teeny tiny crush on my ex-boyfriend’s best friends has grown to the size of a crater and I’m doing everything I can to preserve my dignity.
“Don’t fight it,” he tells me, lowering the fruit even closer. “Just one bite, Lil.”
“You may as well,” Hudson says. “He won’t shut up until you do.”
“Fuck you,” Gage tells his friend half-heartedly.
“Hudson’s right. He won’t stop until he feeds you, Red,” Cole says.
“Ugh, fine.” I tip my head back, delicately plucking a grape from the bunch with my teeth once he lowers it enough for me to grab one. The sweet juice bursts across my tongue. Gage watches my lips, his gaze darkening as I chew. My cheeks warm under his attention and heat stirs in my core.
This moment is strangely sweet. With just me and the guys, a movie playing softly in the background, it’s almost like–
BANG. BANG. BANG.
The violent knocking on the front door startles me out of my reverie. All three guys are on their feet instantly, and I join them, frowning toward the sound. The knocking comes again. Harder this time. Hudson heads toward the door while Cole and Gage flank me like bodyguards.
“Who the hell is that?” Cole mutters, jaw clenched tight.
Before Hudson can even reach for the handle, the banging starts again, the wood rattling.
“LILY! WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU?”
Matt’s voice cuts through the door and slices through my chest. My breath catches and dread pools in my stomach. Shit, he’s pissed.
Hudson’s hand hovers over the door handle. Something flickers in them, but then Matt slams his palms into the door and Hudson wrenches the door open.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” he asks Matt.
My ex storms in like a hurricane, all wild hair and bloodshot eyes. Oh goody. He’s been drinking. Totally normal at this time of day. Not.
“Where the fuck is she?”
Hudson’s palm immediately presses against Matt’s chest, stopping him in his tracks. “Calm the fuck down.”
“Get your fucking hands off me! This is about that whore, not you!” He tries to push past Hudson, face red with fury, spittle flying as he talks.
“Watch your mouth,” Cole growls.
Matt’s gaze swings wildly around the room until it lands on me. His lip curls in absolute disgust. He tries to storm toward me, but Gage and Cole step in front of me, a wall of solid muscle blocking his path.
“What the fuck?” Matt’s voice cracks with disbelief as he stares at his friends like they’ve betrayed everything he holds sacred. “Why are you siding with a slut over me?”
“Watch your mouth,” Cole repeats, his voice dropping low and dangerous.
“Why? If it’s true?” Matt’s laugh is bitter, cruel. “She fucked you all as soon as she got the chance! She’s a fucking slut—”
Hudson’s arm locks around Matt’s throat from behind. He pulls Matt back against his chest in a fierce chokehold, biceps pressing against Matt’s windpipe with controlled pressure.
“Call her a slut one more time and we’re going to have a problem.” Hudson’s voice is barely a whisper, but it’s full of menace that makes me shiver.
Matt glares at me with so much vitriol it’s hard to believe we ever dated. Pure hatred burns in his eyes, like I’m the worst thing that’s ever happened to him. Like I personally ruined his entire life. But I stand my ground, lifting my chin and meeting his gaze head-on. I won’t cower. Not anymore.
“Are you going to behave?” Hudson asks, his grip never loosening.
Matt grunts out what sounds like an agreement, and as soon as Hudson releases him, he stumbles back, gasping and rubbing his throat. He stares at his friends with betrayal written across every line of his face.
“What ever happened to bros before hoes?” He spits the words like they taste bitter.
“That’s your ex-girlfriend. Show some respect,” Gage snaps.
Matt scoffs, shaking his head in disbelief. “Unbelievable. Is she sucking your dicks or what?”
“It’s not like that,” I say quickly, hating that he’s being so cruel to his friends. These are good men who don’t deserve his venom just because they showed me basic human kindness.
“It’s not like that?” Matt gestures wildly. “What the hell is it like then, Lily? I find out from someone in town that you’re staying with my friends? My fucking best friends?”
Cole invades Matt’s space, chest bumping into his. “Lower your voice when you talk to her.”
The last thing I want is for them to fight because of me. Their friendship matters, even if Matt’s being an ass right now. “It’s not forever, Matt. You kicked me out. I had nowhere else to go.”
“So you decided to open your legs for a bed?” The words sting across my face.
Something snaps inside me, white-hot rage flooding my system. This time, it’s not the guys who rush him. In a matter of seconds, I’m standing in front of Matt, my palm cracking across his cheek with a sound that echoes through the room.
“How fucking dare you?” I seethe, hands balling into fists at my sides. Before I can even think about punching him, someone wraps their arms around my waist and hauls me back. I’m too angry to tell who it is.
“I know you’re pissed at me, but these are your best fucking friends. Do you really think so little of them? They’re good men. Better than you.” I shake my head, disgusted. “Better than you’ll ever be.”
Matt glances down for the first time since he stormed in here, finally looking a little ashamed of himself. Good. He should be ashamed.
“What was I supposed to think?” he asks, but there’s less venom in his voice now.
“I don’t know, and honestly, I don’t care. I don’t even understand why you’re so upset when you’re already fucking someone else.” The truth tastes bitter on my tongue. “You moved on like our relationship was nothing.”
Like I was nothing. That I meant so little to him. I gave him so much of myself and got next to nothing in return. That’s a big reason why I fell out of love with him. He’s too selfish, only concerned about what he wants.
He scowls at me. “Did you ever even love me?”
The question slams into me, so appalling I have to take a moment to process it. How dare he question my feelings after everything? After a year of making excuses for his change in behavior, of tiptoeing around his moods, of being the perfect girlfriend while he treated me like garbage?
Hudson saves me the trouble of responding. “If you have to ask her that, you’re dumber than I thought.” He shakes his head in disgust. “We all saw it, Matt. Lily loved you and you treated her like shit.”
A vein in Matt’s forehead pulses as he looks at his friends, eyes burning with anger and hurt. “Don’t think I didn’t see the way you watched her when you came over. You liked my girl and wanted her for yourselves, didn’t you?”
None of the guys deny it. The silence stretches taut between us, loaded with implications I’m not ready to examine but my stomach flutters all the same. They liked me for that long?
“Well, now you fucking have her,” Matt snarls, giving me a disgusted once-over that makes my skin crawl. “Don’t worry, Lily. Soon enough they’ll see what I did. You’re so fucking worthless your dad didn’t even want you.”
The words land exactly how he wanted, each one finding its mark. Tears burn behind my eyes, but I refuse to let them fall. No more crying for Matt.
Cole pushes on his chest. “Get out.”
“Come on man, she’s a slu—” Matt starts.
Gage and Hudson grab his arm and drag him toward the door.
“Let me go,” Matt snarls, thrashing, though it’s no use. The guys are stronger than he is.
Hudson opens the front door and they push him outside. “Leave before we do something we’ll all regret.”
“Un-fucking-believable. Fuck all of you.” He spares me one last vicious look before storming to his car.
Hudson shuts the door, trapping us in sudden, suffocating silence.
My heart hammers against my ribs, adrenaline still coursing through my system.
I can’t quite believe what just happened.
The guys look at each other, and I turn and flee to my room before I can see them all realize that maybe I’m not worth losing a lifelong friendship over.
I have my suitcase on the bed, half of my stuff already shoved into it, when the guys come into the room they’re letting me stay in. I can’t bring myself to look at them.
“What are you doing?” Hudson asks.
“I’m leaving,” I say, shaking my head. “I never should have come.”
“Don’t say that,” Cole murmurs.
Avoiding eye contact, I head back to the closet and take down another dress, determined to get out of their life before I fuck it up beyond repair. I head to the suitcase, but the guys are in front of it, arms crossed.
I brace myself for their frustration. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?” Gage demands, anger flashing across his face.
“For messing up your friendship.”
“You didn’t,” Hudson says, shaking his head. “Matt’s been a terrible friend for a long time.”
“Even still.” I try to move around them to set the dress in the suitcase, but he catches my arm and pulls me toward him. “I have to go,” I tell him.
“No, you don’t,” Hudson says, taking the dress from my hands and tossing it onto the bed. “Stay. We want you to.”
I furrow my brow. “Why are you guys being so nice to me?”
“You deserve it,” he murmurs, cupping my face. “Don’t let him in your head, Lily.”
Maybe it’s because Matt’s insults scraped me raw or because I’m dying to know, either way, I wet my lips, daring to ask questions that are better left unsaid. “Is it true? Did you guys like me?”
Hudson searches my face before quickly glancing at the guys. When he looks at me again, his expression is more open than I’ve ever seen it. “We still do.”
My heart skips, thoughts colliding all at once. What are they saying? That I’m not alone in feeling this way? That I’m not crazy for falling for them? “So what do we do now?”
“Well, first,” Hudson says softly, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. “Will you stay if we ask you to?”
“I shouldn’t.”
He lifts an eyebrow.
I might regret this, but I’m not going to live my life wondering what would have been. “Yes,” I breathe.
A pleased smile tugs at his lips and then, they’re pressed against mine. The kiss is quick and chaste. When he pulls back, the world is spinning in the best way. Suddenly Matt’s hurled insults are gone. All that’s left is the tingling memory of Hudson’s lips on mine.
Hudson’s thumb smooths over my bottom lip. “Unpack and we’ll make dinner, understood?”
I nod, completely dumbstruck by the hope that’s blossoming in my chest.
“Good girl,” he murmurs. He steps back and it takes all of my control to keep from reaching for him and dragging him back.
Cole and Gage give me knowing looks before they duck out of the room with Hudson. I stare at the space they vacated, mind reeling, heart giddy.
What have I gotten myself into?