I smile. “No, but you can kiss me if you want to.”
“I like that option a lot better,” he says as he wraps his arms around my waist, pulling me tightly against him before his lips find mine. He tastes like freedom, as if his breath is the air beneath my wings and he’s letting me fly.
I hear the audience go crazy before Melanie says, “I guess we are giving them that kind of show.”
Evan and I both laugh into each other’s mouths before we break apart.
“There’s no pretending here!” Evan shouts, which is met with more whoops and clapping.
And I know there’s not because I did that for too long, and this doesn’t feel like pretending at all. It feels more real than anything I’ve ever known.
When I look back at the microphone, Andrew is gone, and I truly hope I never see him again, but I also hope he figures out how to love better…including loving himself.
***
“I’m so mad I missed that!” Lily squeals. “I’ve only watched a dozen videos of you putting that man in his place.”
Evan is busy signing books while I mingle among the fans with Lily. She got here fifteen minutes after the forum ended, wearing a chartreuse jumpsuit that most women could not pull off, but Lily is not most women.
I grin. “I wouldn’t call it that.”
“Girl, then what would you call it?” Lily asks. “You were amazing!”
“Well, thank you,” I reply. “It felt good.”
“And then that kiss!” Lily smirks. “I know this is going to come out sounding all kinds of strange, but I love watching you kiss my brother.”
I wince through my smile. “Yeah, that does sound weird.”
“It’s not the actual kissing. It’s that he looks happy,” she explains. “You make him happy, and that makes me happy.”
I go to lift my hand to tuck a loose curl behind my ear when a strong hand grabs it. I expect to turn and see Evan, but it’s not Evan.
It’s Andrew.
Again.
“RayRay,” he says sternly. “I think we need to talk.”
“I already said what I wanted to,” I tell him, pulling my hand away from his.
“He’s in this for the publicity. He doesn’t love you, RayRay. Not like I love you.”
And while he says the words I watch his eyes. They aren’t soft or understanding; they’re sharp and pleading.
“Look, Andrew. I know you think what we had was love. We were kids, and we were figuring things out. I think sometimes kids figure love out, but we didn’t. What we thought was love wasn’t love at all, and we’ve lived defined by that lie for too long,” I say. “You didn’t love me, not the way I’m meant to be loved, and you don’t love me now.”
He grabs at my hand again. “Don’t tell me whether I love you or not. I mean, RayRay, c’mon. That guy could have any woman. What makes you so special to him?”
And while Evan understands boundaries and lets me speak for myself, Lily lives to break boundaries, noses, hearts, and glass ceilings.
“Excuse me?!” she shouts from behind me. “Who do you thinkyouare to tell Rachel she’s not special?”
“That’s not what I said,” Andrew says, clearly irritated by this intrusion. “And who are you?”
“That’s exactly what you said, just in a more manipulative way. And me? I’m your worst nightmare,” she mutters as she positions herself in some kind of ninja-like pose.
What happens next is a blur of motion. I see a chartreuse streak strike at Andrew before he groans in pain, falling to the floor. I look back at Lily, and she’s standing proudly with her hands on her hips.
