Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
LILY
The library smells of lemon polish and old paper, which is impressive considering what happened in here. I run my finger along the back of one of the velvet couches. Dry as could be.
“Roland’s a magician,” Teddy says, flopping onto the couch. “Seriously. I’ve never seen anyone clean this fast. It’s suspicious.”
I have to agree. Cleaning is the bane of my existence. One of the biggest fights I’ve ever had was with a duvet cover because it kept mysteriously swallowing the comforter inside.
“I think he has a team.” I plop down next to her, tucking my legs under me. “Like a secret society of butlers who specialize in erasing evidence.”
“Evidence of what? Your pyromaniac tendencies?”
“You were the one who wanted the fire!” I gesture toward it. “I’m shocked Roland didn’t seal it up.”
“You told me to flip the switch.”
“Not twenty-five times.”
“It was four.” She pauses. “Maybe seven.” Teddy glares over at the fireplace.
“Ro didn’t have to seal it up. He put a stupid lock on the switch thing that only he and Killian know how to open.
” A small growl leaves her. “Guess I’ll just freeze to death!
” she shouts in case anyone is close enough to hear.
“I’m sure Killian will come turn it on for you if you ask.”
Teddy’s smile turns into an evil smirk. “Nope, it’s now girl time and I don’t want any interruptions. Spill it.”
I pick at an imaginary string on my sweatpants.
“What—”
“Lily Pad.” She slaps my shoulder with the back of her hand. “I don’t know anything. Not one single detail. Like, are you still holding that V-card, or did he punch it?” She wiggles her brows in true Teddy fashion.
I pull my knees to my chest, my cheeks warming thinking about it.
“Yes,” I mumble, dropping my head back, staring at the ornate ceiling.
“It was—” I pause, trying to find the right words.
“It was everything. And nothing like I imagined.” I groan.
“I don’t know how to feel about it all. A lot happened in a short amount of time. ”
“Or do you not want to admit how you feel about it?” Teddy pushes back, knowing me well. Most times that’s a blessing, but others it’s a curse.
“I don’t know what happened. One second I’m waking up freaking out that someone is in the room, and the next we’re all hands, mouths, and all the other things. He started it, but I was the one that pushed it into full-on sex.”
I went for his belt buckle, the need to have him inside of me winning out above everything else. All the years of pent-up need and want won out.
“You’re still pissed because there has been a lot of hurt to get to this point.” That’s true. It’s not as though how we came together is normal.
“I should be running. I know this. He broke into my bedroom, Teddy. He watched me for months without me knowing. He followed me here. Any sane person would be calling the police.”
Teddy lets out a small gasp. “Are you sane?” she whispers, like it would be terrible if I were.
“Apparently not.”
“Oh, thank God. I’m glad we cleared that up. So what now?”
“Wanna hear something crazy?”
“Always.” Teddy wiggles over closer.
“He told me he was a virgin too.”
Teddy’s eyes go wide, then she bursts into laughter. “Holy shit.” She falls back against the cushions. “Oh God. Two obsessed stalkers with zero experience finally finding each other. It’s like a terrible romance novel.”
“Hey now.” I grab a throw pillow and hit her with it. “Kettle, pot, bitch.”
“I know, I’m messing with you. It’s my favorite type of romance trope.”
I think about the way he kissed me. Hard, then soft. The way he looked at me like I was the only thing in the world. The way he said he’d find me anywhere, and I believe him. He’s proven it.
“He’ll find me,” I say. “If I run, he’ll find me. And part of me...” I swallow because I have to say the next part out loud. If anyone will get it, it’s Teddy. “Part of me loves that. It’s sick, right? Wanting someone to be that obsessed with you?”
“It’s human.” Teddy’s voice is soft. “Wanting to be chosen. Every day. Even when it’s fucked up. I mean, we’ve lost people in our lives, and our families were never big. Now we have these men we know will always show up. There’s comfort in that, and as nutty as it sounds, it’s freeing.”
I nod in agreement.
“You know,” Teddy keeps going, “knowing that you’re his first too kind of gives him room to fuck up. I’m guessing with Tristan, he wasn’t out there dating either because if he wanted to get laid—”
“Don’t,” I cut her off.
“I didn’t.” She holds her hand up.
“Sasha.” How did I forget about her?
“He’s here, not there. He doesn’t want her.” She has a point there. “You need to talk to him, Lily. Like really talk. Those big tough guys? They’ve got feelings in there. Deep, scary, probably unhealthy feelings, but they’re in there.”
I know, and we will. Tristan and I need to clear the air, and I’ve been avoiding it. I hopped up out of bed way too quickly for breakfast when I could have told Teddy that Tristan and I needed to be alone.
“And now he’s here.” I shake my head, trying to clear it a little. “And out there planning a dome that he wants to keep me prisoner in.” We both laugh and then suddenly stop, staring at each other.
“Would they really?”
“I don’t know!” I laugh because as ridiculous as it is and we laugh it off, I’m not so sure it’s too far off course for them. “It sounds insane. But also kind of...” I search for the word. “Adorkable? Is that the right word for two deadly men wanting to construct an actual bubble to keep us safe?”
“Definitely adorkable.” Teddy sits up, suddenly serious. “But also, why? I mean, really, why? There is no threat.”
“That’s what I was thinking too. But Tristan’s paranoid. Killian too. They keep talking about threats, about protection, like someone’s actually coming for me.”
“Might just be the field they worked in?”
“I think they’re dramatic.” Not that I have room to talk. I can get all worked up.
I stand by the window looking out over the garden; it’s peaceful, empty, and safe. “Bet they just want an excuse for their craziness, and ‘danger’ is a convenient one.”
“Interesting.” The way she says the word has me turning around to face her.
I know that tone. “So let’s prove them wrong.
” Teddy’s grin turns mischievous. “They’re so convinced the world’s ending; let’s show them it’s not.
Sneak out. Go to town. Buy something stupid and expensive and come back before they even notice.
If we’re going to be in prison, we might as well do something worthy of landing us there. ”
“Oh.” A thrill fills me. I might enjoy running from Tristan more than I am willing to admit to myself.
“I mean, you’ve been here for months. Killian’s been ‘protecting’ us the whole time. Nothing’s happened. Not once. They’re paranoid because of their jobs, not because of reality.”
I bite my lip. “They’ll be furious.”
“We have to keep them on their toes. When they find out, we tell them we were trying to help. We are testing their reaction time.” Ah, I love her.
Teddy grabs my hand.
“Turnabout is fair play.”
“Yes! That’s what I’m talking about.” Teddy acts like it took her forever to talk me into this. She pulls me toward the side door and down a hallway into one of the garage bays. “This will be legendary.”
And like that, we slip out, giggling the whole time like schoolgirls.
The town isn’t far away. We take the convertible, top down, wind in our hair. Teddy has a fleet of cars but no driver’s license, so I drive.
She turns the music up, and we sing as loudly and as terribly as we can. The loud part, one purpose; the terrible part, well, it’s us.
When we get to town, we kind of stand there. “What now?” I ask. Teddy appears to be thinking the same thing as me. We’re here, so?
“Ice cream?” she suggests, pointing to the small shop.
We grab a couple of cones and walk down Main Street just talking about nothing and everything.
“You know what, where the hell are they? This is ridiculous already.” Neither of us has said that out loud, but we’ve both been wondering and keeping our eyes peeled for Tristan and Killian. But nada. They’re nowhere in sight. They’ve totally shit the bed when it comes to protecting us.
“Right!” Teddy huffs. “Let’s head back, and then we can rub it in their faces. Not only did we get out, but we got back in too before they even knew.”
“Yeah,” I agree, not feeling so confident anymore. We’re really going to be in trouble.
We’re heading back to the car, cones in hand, when I spot a black sedan, tinted windows, parked across from Teddy’s convertible. There are two men inside, watching. I notice a few cigarette butts lying on the ground next to them.
Not watching. Waiting.
“Teddy,” I whisper. “Have you ever seen them before?” She doesn’t come to town often, but she’s lived here most of her life.
She follows my line of sight. “No. But…”
“Yeah, trust it,” I tell her, and she nods in understanding. If your spider senses are telling you something, you listen. My dad drilled that into me. “Let’s cross that way.”
We aren’t going back to the car, but when we turn to head in the other direction, they both open their car doors.
“Run,” Teddy says, dropping her ice cream cone, and I know it’s serious now. So we do what we both hate: We run.
If I thought we were in trouble before… I think I might actually get one of those spankings Tristan has threatened over the years for this.