Chapter 36 Lily
THIRTY-SIX
LILY
All I can hear is my heart pounding erratically in my chest.
I hold my breath, and my eyes flutter shut when he whispers hoarsely, close to my ear, “Do you want to pretend we’re not just friends?”
“Do you?”
A deep, raspy groan sounds from his throat. I feel the air around us thicken, and everything else disappears with his comfortable, familiar touch.
“More than anything, Sweet Cheeks.”
My shaky hands grip his lean neck. I force myself to remain calm while he watches me nervously.
“There’s no harm in pretending for a little while.”
What am I doing? This isn’t something I’ll be able to forget once we part. A moment so intense that it could shatter the world’s exosphere, along with my heart.
But the big question is, will it be worth it?
Maybe. Maybe not.
My stomach turns heavy as heat swirls in my gut. Taking my parted lips as his cue, Elijah captures my lips with his in a passionate dance.
Oh my God. This is really happening.
I’m kissing my childhood best friend, who I’ve had a giant crush on.
People often compare passion to fireworks. I’ve never understood it because I’ve never experienced such a powerful connection—I never let myself. But as his lips part mine and his tongue tentatively sweeps inside my mouth, a bomb goes off.
Elijah encourages me to follow his lead.
I feel inexperienced and clumsy from this angle, half leaning over him and him leaning forward.
Trying not to overthink anything, I grip his cheeks, climb onto his lap, and straddle him, causing a sexy moan to escape deep in his chest as he manspreads on the couch.
I see stars behind my eyelids as shivers travel down my spine.
Fingers spread on my thighs. His chest heaves on mine as I grip the nape of his neck and urge him on with a flick of my tongue.
Slowing his pace, he squeezes me closer to him, grabbing my hips.
Gasping into the kiss, I feel his arousal push against me.
A need to have Elijah as close to me as possible overtakes my body.
It doesn’t matter how close I get to him; it will never be enough.
I don’t understand this feeling. A heavy wave of lust, happiness, relief, sadness, and guilt comes crashing through my body like a ruthless ocean. How can someone experience something so profound but feel so gutted?
Our bodies press heavily together. I let out a quiet, choked whimper, and Elijah’s hand grips me around the throat, squeezing slightly.
“I need to stop,” he pants between kisses. Pulling away, eyes heavy and half closed, he drops his sweaty forehead on mine.
Breathing in his musky smell with unease, I cup the back of his head and caress the apple of his cheek while he winds both arms tightly around my waist and hugs me to his chest, like he’s afraid I might disappear into thin air. Little does he know, I’ve lost the ability to walk just by his kiss.
Playfully, he rubs the tip of his nose on mine. “I think I just fell in love with you.” He’s breathless, like he just ran a marathon.
I burst out laughing. “Me too.” Slouching and making myself comfortable on top of him, I cuddle into the crook of his neck, breathe in a sigh of relief, and smile into his warm skin. “Are we best buds again?”
“I say we completely skip just being friends and get married.” His voice sounds so deep with my ear pressed on his chest. It makes me want to pull his lips back onto mine.
Snorting, I fist his shirt in my hands, going along with his game. “Sounds good to me. When’s the wedding going to be?”
His cheek rests on my head, and his hand plays with my hair, making me shiver. “Right now. The sooner, the better.”
Watching the world fly around us through the open window, I don’t want to move a muscle; I feel so at peace. “We are driving in the middle of nowhere. Do you even know where we are?”
“Nope.” He pops the P. “I’m just as clueless as you are.”
I pinch his arm for that, and he makes me promise to try and forget the girlie yelp that escaped his mouth.
“Leelee, look at them. Yucky. Are they hugging?”
A little voice brings me out of sleep. A cramp straining both my thighs, I attempt to stretch my legs, but when I realize I’m not lying down but sitting up, my body grows stiff. Hearing a rumble vibrate my ear, I jolt in surprise and find a scared Elijah staring up at me.
We fell asleep on the couch. And I’m still straddling him!
Stumbling, I almost fall on my butt. The adrenaline running through my veins gives me a head rush. “Oh my gosh! I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to fall asleep on you.”
Mouth opening in a big yawn, he rubs his tired eyes and stretches his legs.
“You really have to stop apologizing for everything. If I had been uncomfortable, I would have moved us to my bed, but I was more than fine. Trust me, being your makeshift bed was an honor,” he says with a flirty wink. “Let’s do it again sometime.”
He would have moved us to his bed.
“Not to impose, but we’ve been standing here the whole time and heard everything.” Levi’s voice, layered with amusement and laughter, sounds behind me, making me scream and spin around.
“Miss Lily, we have been looking for you!” Stella says, skipping over and hugging my leg. She peers a shy glance up at me. “Are you and Elijah getting married?”
Elijah chokes behind me, coughing up a fit. I rush over and pat his back when a wheeze comes out of his mouth.
“I just proposed to her, so, yes, we are.” Still red in the face and hardly able to talk, he manages to make a joke.
The little girl hanging on my leg squeals, jumping up and down and jolting me. “I can’t wait! Can I please be a flower girl? Pretty, pretty please with a marshmallow on top?”
“Elijah was joking, Stella. We are not getting married.” I show her my left hand. “I don’t have a ring on my finger, do I?” I call out over my shoulder, more for Elijah.
Stella falls on her butt. “But I want you to!” she wails, crossing her arms, pouting like I just killed her cat.
Crouching, I whisper in her ear, “A boy needs to ask a girl to marry him on his knee. Go bother him.” I point to the uneasy man behind me, still lounging away on the couch.
Eyes sparkling, she jumps and sprints to Elijah, who looks confused. Raising a brow, he doesn’t have any time to brace himself before Stella leaps into his lap. His face scrunches up in a grimace. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he forces out a deep breath and moves her to one leg.
“What are you waiting for? You need to get down and ask her,” she scolds, seeming triple her age.
Flabbergasted and still in pain, he directs a frown at the amused smile on my face. Picking up Stella and plopping her down on the couch, he makes a sudden beeline for me. I’m frozen in place, heart in my throat.
His face is stone-cold serious, and his intense aura wafts into my space when he drops down onto one knee.
Looking up at me with his messy hair and pajamas, at this moment, he has never looked more attractive.
He’s vulnerable and so nonchalant; it drives me up the wall as I try not to jump into his arms and stay there all day.
“Lily Papas …”
Stella giggles, breaking the silence of his emotional pause.
Lips twitching, Elijah continues, “The day I met you across the street from my house when we were just kids, I knew I wanted you to be my best friend. Like the earth’s core, you turned into something that held me together.
I know a life without you and want nothing but to forget that walking nightmare that I was faced with.
Would you give me the greatest honor of my life and let me become your husband?
” Pretending to open an imaginary box in his hand, he winks. “Will you marry me?”
I stammer, like I have lost all ability to speak, as he patiently waits for my answer.
For dramatic effect, with a hand to my chest, I gush, “Yes, of course I’ll marry you.”
Levi hollers, and Stella shrieks. Elijah pulls me into his warm arms and spins me around. I laugh like I actually got engaged because Elijah has the effect where he can make anyone laugh in any situation. I melt in a puddle into his arms, replaying his words over and over in my head.
The girl he’s actually going to propose to one day is a really lucky girl.
Once all four of us settle down, Levi makes his way to the stairs with his sister. “I’m heading off into the arena for sound check. I’ll have Stella wait for you in the lounge, Lily.”
Oh no …
Spotting my phone on the ground, I rush and check the date and time. A school day, I was meant to start work an hour ago. Shoot!
“I’m late!” Rushing around Elijah, I dig through my clothes and pull out a random dress—anything will do.
When I took this job, I promised myself I was going to stick to being professional, but missing work and being spotted entangled in a man’s arms by my boss is not a good look.
Pushing my shorts down before my tank top joins the floor, I don’t even realize in my frenzy that I’m changing out in the open, and Elijah can’t seem to take his eyes off me.
Oops. I guess I’ve completely lost my mind.
“Are you trying to kill me?” With his hands fisted at his sides, desire swirls in his eyes.
At the start of this tour, I would have died at the thought of Elijah seeing me in just my bra and underwear. I don’t know where this newfound confidence is coming from. Hunger pools in the pit of my stomach when I see how down bad he looks.
“Thought we could just skip right to consummating our marriage.”
Mouth agape and cheeks rosy red, he takes tentative steps closer. “I thought we were just best buds?”
“Ouch,” I tease. “Breaking up with me already?”
I twirl my hair as he stops an inch from my nearly naked body.
“You’re the one who friend-zoned me.”
“You’re the one who tried to wifey me up,” I argue back, narrowing my eyes at him.
A million butterflies swirl in my stomach at just a look from him. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think that my childhood crush would see me naked. Never.
But then the bitch called Anxiety takes control of my brain and shouts thoughts at me like, With all the models he must have been with, all the prettier girls he could have with a snap of his fingers, why would he choose me?
Does he just pity me now?
Crowding my space, he pulls my chin up with a commanding look. “Whatever is going on in that gorgeous head of yours, I don’t like it.”
Me neither.
“The day you left, I became angry … but when both my parents passed away, I became scared. Afraid that if I let anyone in, they’d just leave.
I would always be chasing relationships that would be running from me,” I admit, moisture fogging up my eyes from seeing him.
“Finally learning your side of the story has healed a part of me that was jagged for years. But our two very different lives are like oil and vinegar. They don’t mix. ”
He caresses my cheek. “I will grab a blender, pour them in, and blend them until they do. I will be the first to ever make that happen.”
“What happens if the blender breaks?”
His dimples peek out with his grin. “I’ll fix that too.”