“Hey!” She holds the door open for me, and I step inside. She steps back over to the kitchen, fanning a muffin tray. “I was just finishing up some cupcakes.”
I follow her and take a whiff. “It smells amazing. What flavor tonight?” I ask.
“Red velvet. The frosting is ready, but I need to wait for them to cool.” She pulls the oven mitt off her hand and leans her hip into the counter. “How are you?”
“Good,” I say. I take in the sight of her, long hair braided over her shoulder, all domestic. A momentary flash of a potential future with her hits me hard, but I shake it off, remembering what Agatha said at the bottom of the stairs. “How about you? Anything unusual today?”
She narrows her eyes at me. “What did Agatha tell you?”
Smooth, Ryder.“Nothing in particular. Just that there’d be news.”
Lily chews her bottom lip. “So, it’s good news.” She inhales deeply. “Tristan dropped the lawsuit.”
“Wait, really?” I furrow my brow. For some reason, that’s not what I was expecting. It doesn’t line up with what I know of Tristan Jackson and his ability to hold grudges.
She nods. “He kind of disappeared, I guess. Because of that, his legal team decided to drop the suit.” She takes in a deep breath and pastes on a grin. “So that means I can leave the tower.”
“Like, now? We could leave now and go out in public?”
“Um…” She hesitates, her eyes darting to the balcony, then back to me. “I guess? But I want to, you know, get some new clothes and things. Since I haven’t been outside in a while…publicly, at least. So maybe this weekend, at the flower festival.”
And there it is. The hesitation she’s feeling, exactly what I expected and Agatha hinted at. I step around the counter until I’m right in front of her. She tips her head up to look at me and sucks in a breath.
“Lily,” I say.
She blinks up at me, waiting.
“Are you afraid to leave?”
She holds my gaze for a moment, and I see the tears forming in her eyes, then she gives a small nod.
I swallow hard, fighting the urge to pull her into my arms and wrap her in my security. “You don’t have to leave if you don’t want to.”
“Idowant to,” she says, her voice small. “But I’m scared.”
“What are you afraid of?”
She glances away, then back at me again. “I’m not really sure. I don’tthinkI’m worried about physical danger, but that’s always an issue. That and the questions. All the people wondering where I’ve been, what I’ve been doing. I’m sure a lot of them have seen the video. It was easy to hide away after posting that online, so I haven’t had to deal with the public fallout. But now everyone knows what happened between me and Tristan. I can just imagine the whispers and looks I’ll get.”
“They’ll be curious,” I agree. “You’re not wrong. But I’m sure once you get past the first or second appearance, they’ll move on with their lives.”
“I guess.”
I place my hands on her shoulders and give them a squeeze. “How about if I’m with you? Would that help?”
Her eyes widen. “Well, yes, it would. But my family doesn’tknow about you.” Her cheeks turn red, and she clears her throat. “I mean, about us being friends, you know? They’ll ask questions if you’re tagging along with us.”
“Then I’ll stay nearby, but not right there. Trust me, it’s going to be okay.” I let my hands drift down from her shoulders to her hands, and I give them a small squeeze.
I see hope flickering in her eyes. “You promise?”
“I promise.” I pause. “But remember Lily, if you’re not ready to go out, we don’t have to go.”
She gives her head a little shake. “No, I do. I want to go. I want to be brave and face my fears. I want to be around people again. It’s just going to be an adjustment.”
“That’s exactly right.” I look at her eyes, seeing a bit of myself in there after I started having anxiety over doing stunts. A little broken, fearful, and concerned that I wasn’t myself anymore. “Have you thought about therapy?”
“Therapy?” she repeats. “Why?”
