“So, a kingmaker?” I nodded. “And what’s that like to grow up with?”
I tipped my head back, closing my eyes. The blackboard still in my mind, adjectives still writing themselves.
“Exciting. Prestigious. Scary. Nerve-racking. Lonely.” Lucas didn’t say a word, but I could feel his presence next to me. I always seemed to sense when his body was near mine.
“There were times when I was in awe of my father’s genius, of his maneuvering, of his staying a step ahead of…everyone. Most of the time, though, I just wanted to stay out of his way.”
“Did your brother and sister do that too?”
I let out a long breath. “No, they’re both really…I don’t know, colorful, I guess. Kind of like Jane.”
I felt his big hand on my neck, could feel his breath as he whispered in my ear, “Sometimes muted colors are the prettiest ones, the most beautiful. Sometimes bright colors hurt your eyes if you look at them for too long.”
Oh God, I felt a tear slide out of my closed eye and down my cheek. Lucas caught it with his thumb, absorbing it.
“What if all I am is truly a Bribury Basic?” I whispered. Another tear slid down. God, so embarrassing. I had no idea where these tears came from. I truly liked the person I was. So what if…what?…there wasn’t much substance? I was only eighteen, for Christ’s sake. Give a girl a break.
“You are not just a Bribury Basic,” Lucas said, squeezing my neck. I heard him get up, the desk screeching across the floor, though his hand stayed on me. I could feel the heat of him as he leaned over my back and kissed the top of my head. “Iknow how much more you are. You just need to figure it out too.”
I didn’t open my eyes for a long time, and when I did I was alone.
Chapter17
Lucas
I tookmy dinner break around midnight. I was hungry from all the sanding I’d been doing to prep the steam room, but instead of digging into my packed lunch, I went back to the classroom where Lily had been on the off chance she’d still be there.
Part of me hoped not—she should be back in her room, in bed. But another part of me was hoping that—
There she sat. Well, slumped, actually. Asleep at the desk she’d been sitting in when I’d left her. Her phone was next to her, on mute, but I could see a bunch of missed texts from Jane.
Are you okay?andCheck in, asshole!I smiled, thinking of Jane’s angry fingers typing out of fear.
Lucas here. Lily fell asleep while studying in IM building. I’ll walk her home later.
A pause, but not a long one, before,Thanks.
“Lily,” I said quietly, laying a hand on her back, not wanting to startle her. “Time to go home.”
She jerked, her head coming up quickly. So quickly I had to take a step back or she would have head-butted me. “Hey, it’s me. You fell asleep.”
She nodded, as if she knew that, but she was looking around, taking in the room, her laptop on the desk in front of her, where she’d been resting her head on her arms.
“What time is it?” she asked even as she reached for her phone, which I handed her.
“Midnight.” She nodded, and nodded again as she saw my exchange with Jane.
“Are you on your lunch break?” she asked.
“Yep. I’m yours for an hour,” I said, stretching my arms wide, as if offering myself to her. Well, shit, I wasalwaysoffering myself to her, whether overtly or not. “More than enough time to walk you to Creyts and back. Maybe even get some goodnight kisses in, too.”
“Or…” She stood up, slid her laptop and phone into her backpack, and moved away from the desk. Taking my hand, she led me from the room. I turned the lights off as we left, but instead of turning right to the main door, she took a left, heading back to the locker room. “We could find a better way to spend an hour, and then I can walk home by myself…” She was at the locker room door and she turned, putting her spectacular ass against the door and pushing it open with an awesome flex of her hips. “…after.”
Oh, “after” was working all kinds of yes for me.
She locked the door to the locker room behind us and led me through the rows, dropping her backpack at the place I’d come to think of as “Lily’s row,” even though I’d only been in here one time when she had, that first day I saw her.
Holy shit, it seemed liked yesterday, and a lifetime ago, since I saw Lily Spaulding pull my sputtering baby brother out of the water.
