“Damn straight,” she said. Lily just rolled her eyes at both of us and turned on to her back, staring up at the ceiling.
Eager to turn the conversation off of me and my new job—let alone my new boss—I said to Lily, “So, how did bringing Lucas home to meet the family go?”
A wide smile crossed her face first, and Jane poked me with her foot to make sure I’d noticed. I had. But then Lily’s smile faded a bit and more of a melancholy look took over her beautiful face. “It went okay. No, I guess better than okay. Or at least better than I’d expected.”
“Lots of covert sneaking into each other’s rooms at night after Mommy and Daddy went to bed?” Jane asked.
Lily took a deep breath, then let it out in a sigh. “Well, no, not really. And not for lack of trying on my part. Lucas got all weirded out about sleeping together in my parents’ house. Said it would be disrespectful or something.”
Jane hooted with laughter and Lily shot her a glare, but then softened and laughed along. “I know. Ridiculous, right? But I couldn’t sway him. He came back to Schoolport on New Year’s Day. I can’t wait to see him.” As if on cue, Lily’s phone buzzed and she smiled as soon as she looked at the screen. She answered in a low voice and looked around the room. I motioned for her to take her love-talk call in my room and she nodded and got off her bed and left the room, closing the adjoining door behind her. Leaving Jane and me alone.
“So, how was your sister’s wedding,” I asked, even though we’d talked about it on the phone already. I kind of wondered if, now that time had passed, and we were together in person and not on the phone, she’d be more forthcoming about the guy she’d danced with. And kissed.
“Half sister,” she clarified. “And like I said on the phone, it was fine.”
I didn’t want to push, because I certainly didn’t want her pushing me for any details, but I couldn’t stop myself. “So, no good guys there? With all of the groom’s friends?”
She snorted. “Those guys couldn’t get away from me soon enough. My…half brother, Joey, took me off the hands of the groomsman assigned to dance with me, and you’ve never seen a look more filled with relief.”
I crossed my legs and turned to face her more fully. “Oh, come on, I’ll bet you looked fantastic. You’re telling me not one guy showed any interest?”
Another snort, but it took a longer time coming and didn’t have quite the…oomph as the one previous. “Does an eighty-year-old geezer with wandering hands count? I told you about him, right?”
“Yes,” I said, studying her carefully. Perhaps a bittoocarefully, as she narrowed her eyes at me. “Why all the questions about guys at the wedding?”
Did I dare tip my hand? Mention I heard she had danced—and kissed—someone other than the old goat Senator? But that could all lead back to Montrose, and Jane was one sharp cookie.
I waved a hand nonchalantly, as if the question had minimal merit to me. “Just wondering ifanyonegot lucky over break. Sounds like Lily got frozen out by Lucas’ good-guy morals.”
“I kind of don’t blame him, though,” Jane said, surprising me. Jane was always one to rebel against what was expected of her. “I mean, Grayson Spaulding can be a formidable opponent. I think Lucas is smart enough to know that he should stay on Grayson’s good side if he’s going to go long term with Lily.”
“You’ve been around them more than I have. Do you think that’s the play? Long term?”
She looked thoughtful for a moment, then nodded her head. “Yeah, I do. They’ve got a lot going against them…but…yeah, I think so. I knowtheythink so.”
Wow. Halfway through freshman year and Lily was in deep. A third of our group was basically on the bench.
Jane and I looked at each other, neither one of us willing—or able—to talk about the men that may, or may not, be our equivalent of Lily’s Lucas.
Lily came back into the room then, and it seemed irrelevant to ask her if she wanted to go out tonight, it was obvious by her smile she’d be seeing Lucas later.
We spent the next couple of hours before Lily left just sitting on the beds and shooting the shit.
Lily didn’t stop talking about Lucas.
Jane didn’t bring up Ponytail.
I never mentioned Montrose.
Chapter14
I won’t bein until after four.I texted to Montrose Sunday morning. I’d received a call from the people at the admin building. They wanted to do some last minute testing before the new system went live at midnight and asked if I could come in. I initially said I couldn’t, but they must have been desperate because they offered triple-time pay, which I couldn’t pass up.
No problem. Except, I’ll miss you by an hour. I need to leave by three.Montrose replied to my text. I was already at the admin building, in my little cubicle, going through the list of data that needed to be entered. It was a long list, and I’d be hard-pressed to make it to Snyder Hall by four, but I’d wanted to give Montrose some time to expect me.
My disappointment that I wouldn’t see him at all threatened to pull me under. But then I remembered it was just the beginning of the semester, and we would have a lot of time together.
I knew I needed to be careful with Montrose and not let the intensity of my feelings show through or I was sure he’d be scared off. I also couldn’t let him know that I’d basically been in love with him (at least from afar) for five years.
