Chapter Six
Jesse
I paced my apartment, still simmering with frustration.
Why had I even started that whole conversation about relationships, acting like I had the moral high ground?
Sebastian had turned it around effortlessly, calling out my own questionable taste in men.
It was like looking into a mirror—the Sebastian mirror—and I didn’t like the reflection staring back.
Sure, I had reasons for not trusting men.
Valid ones. And Sebastian had only confirmed them by flirting while his not-girlfriend was literally en route to his apartment.
Whether or not he called it a relationship, if you’re sleeping with someone, you owe them respect.
I glared at the plate of waffles cooling on the coffee table. If it hadn’t been my dad’s recipe, they’d be in the trash. But it was his recipe, and I was hungry. I stabbed one with my fork, as if the waffle were to blame for my emotional turmoil.
A knock at the door sharpened my scowl. Seriously? He couldn’t have been done with Candi already.
I stalked over and yanked the door open.
“What the hell do you want now? I thought you had company—”
I cut off mid-snap, staring at Lily. She was standing there in an immaculate white dress, two suitcases parked at her feet, as cool and collected as always.
“Is this a bad time?” She glanced behind me into the apartment.
“No, I… I thought it was Sebastian.” Alarm bells triggered as I noticed the two suitcases beside her. “Is something wrong? What’s with these?”
“Nothing’s wrong.” She smiled, her tone as calm as ever. “I wanted to surprise you. I’m moving into Sue’s apartment.”
I whooped and pulled her into a one-armed hug, trying to keep the waffles away from her flawless white dress.
“I can’t believe it!” I let her go reluctantly. “How come? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because it wouldn’t have been a surprise if I had. I decided to do it a couple of weeks ago. I didn’t tell anyone except Sue.”
“Come in, tell me everything,” I said, dragging her suitcases inside.
We sank onto the couch, and I nudged the waffle plate toward her—though let’s be real, I wasn’t letting her eat until she spilled.
“This place is so much closer to my office,” she said, crossing her legs with practiced grace.
I grinned. “True. Only a couple of subway stops away. I still can’t believe you and Sue managed to keep this from me. But I’m thrilled. We’re neighbors now.”
I was ridiculously happy to have her closer to me. Life was lonely for an only child, and although I was close to all the girls, Sue’s leaving had left a hole in my heart. Lily could fill that void, since she treated me as though I were her little sister.
“Me too.” She gave me a soft smile and reached for my hand, squeezing it. Her sleek black ponytail and high cheekbones made her look like she belonged in a glossy magazine spread. Classic, effortless Lily.
“So where’s the rest of your stuff?” I asked, relaxing into the cushions.
“The movers are bringing it tomorrow. You know I don’t own much.”
That was the understatement of the century. Lily was the queen of minimalism. Everything she owned could probably fit in three suitcases and a designer tote.
“You sure you’ll like it here?” I teased. “It’s not as swanky as your old neighborhood, but we do have… character.”
She laughed, her teeth gleaming. “That’s exactly why I moved here—for the weirdos. And by weirdos, I mean you.”
Her eyes landed on the waffles. “Well, well. Learning to cook?”
Heat flooded my ears, then raced up my face and neck like wildfire. One of the many perks of being a redhead—emotions never stayed private.
Lily raised an eyebrow. Her shrink face was on full blast. Observant. Patient. Deadly.
I squirmed. “Er, no. Sebastian brought them. I helped him with something last night. He couldn’t get in.”
Her brow lifted higher. “Do tell.”
I wished for a stronger AC unit to cool my blazing cheeks. “His door jammed. I helped him fix it. He brought waffles as a thank-you. That’s all.”
“That’s all?”
“I’m beginning to regret being excited about you moving here.”
She didn’t even blink. “Did you at least enjoy the waffles?”
“He used my dad’s recipe,” I muttered defensively. “Dad taught him how to make his special dessert waffles. I couldn’t say no.”
Her expression softened, but there was a foxy glint in her eyes. “I had no idea your dad and Sebastian were close. That’s really sweet.”
“Yeah.” I looked away. “I thought you were Sebastian when you knocked.”
“That’s a curious reaction for someone who just got waffles.”
“That’s not why— It’s complicated.” I started to rise, but Lily clamped her hand over mine like a velvet vice.
“It’s Sunday afternoon, I’ve got nowhere to be, and people pay me a fortune to listen to their problems. You get a free session. Start talking.”
I shot her a glare, but she didn’t flinch. No one won a staring contest with Dr. Lily Menendez.
Finally, I sighed. “Fine. He brought the waffles, we talked... one thing led to another, and for a minute, I thought he was flirting with me.”
“Was that why you got mad?”
“No. I got mad because, while he was maybe-flirting, Candi was on her way to his apartment. And I think that’s pretty damn inappropriate. Don’t you?”
Lily smoothed her skirt, her face unreadable. “I don’t judge. I listen, and help people figure out their own truths.”
“Oh, don’t pull the therapist card on me now. Just tell me what you think.”
She tilted her head. “Are you sure he was flirting?”
“I don’t know. We were talking about our horrible taste in partners, and how we keep falling into relationships that go nowhere. Then he asked if maybe we could save each other from shallow connections.”
Lily’s lips twitched. “That definitely sounds like flirting. What did you say?”
“Nothing. That’s when Candi messaged him. He told me afterward that it wasn’t serious or exclusive—which is exactly the kind of thing guys say when they’re trying to justify cheating.”
I could feel the bitterness in my voice.
“Want a drink?” I asked quickly. “Water? Bourbon?”
She grinned. “Just water. And maybe a fork. You are sharing the waffles, right?”
“Sure.” I jumped up, grabbing plates, forks, napkins, and a couple bottles of water from the fridge. Whatever this was turning into, we might as well stay hydrated for it.
Lily took a generous piece of waffle, drowned it in toppings, and took a bite. Her eyes fluttered closed as she moaned. “Oh, my. A girl could fall in love with a guy who cooks like this.”
“Plenty probably do,” I muttered. “I’ll take integrity and loyalty over a great waffle recipe any day.”
“What makes you think Sebastian doesn’t have either? Maybe he wasn’t lying. Maybe his thing with Candi isn’t serious.”
I huffed. “Maybe I just read too much into it. Maybe he wasn’t flirting, and I’m being dramatic.”
Lily chewed thoughtfully. “Sue thinks he’s had a crush on you for years. She told me he always asked about you.”
I buried my face into my plate. “She mentioned that once. I didn’t take it seriously. Sebastian always struck me as the type who’d sleep with any woman who was pretty and available. I’m not signing up for that kind of chaos.”
Lily’s expression gentled. “I’ve always thought you carried a deep distrust of men. Where’s that coming from?”
“Sometimes it only takes one bad experience to break your faith in people.”
“Did someone break yours?”
I’d never told anyone this story. Not the full version. But something about Lily made it impossible to deflect. Her tone, her eyes—they made me feel that I mattered. That every word I was about to say would be heard.
I leaned my head back against the couch. “Yeah. Someone did.”
She waited, quiet and open.
I took a deep breath. “You know that romantic idea of college sweethearts? My first love was the opposite of that. I met Alex my freshman year. He was older, a Fine Arts major. He had the tortured-artist thing down to a science—charming, impulsive, a little bit unhinged. I didn’t recognize it for what it was. ”
Lily nodded, encouraging me to go on.
“We painted each other nude. Got drunk on cheap wine. Had a lot of wild sex and zero boundaries. When Dad got too critical, I moved in with Alex just to prove I was independent.” I let out a bitter laugh. “Big mistake.”
Her expression didn’t change, but I saw the flicker of pain in her eyes.
“He was a drug addict,” I continued. “I didn’t realize how bad it was until his parents cut him off.
He spiraled. Took anything he could find—meth, coke, heroin.
I waitressed nights to keep us afloat. He couldn’t get any job involving art, so he worked construction.
Hated it. Hated that I made more money. He started resenting me for having talent.
One night, I came home and found that he’d sold all my artwork.
All of it—paintings, sculptures, all the projects that I had to turn in for my classes. I was livid, and he was—”
I stopped, recalling that night, searching for the right words. How could I describe that nightmare?
“He was wild,” I whispered. “I don’t know what he’d taken because I’ve never done drugs, but whatever he was on made him crazy. When I started yelling at him, he punched me. We’d had lots of fights, but he’d never laid a hand on me. That night, he beat the shit out of me.”
Lily’s hand found mine again. She didn’t say anything, just held on.
“I couldn’t fight back. I always thought I was tough, but in that moment I was nothing. He could’ve killed me, and I wouldn’t have been able to stop it. I blacked out at some point. When I came to, he was gone.”
Lily stayed quiet, giving me space.
“I didn’t go to the hospital. Didn’t call the cops. If I did, my dad would’ve found out, and I knew he’d kill Alex and end up in prison. I couldn’t let that happen. So I took a cab to a crappy motel and waited out the bruises. Told my dad I was fine every time he called.”