Not on her bed.
“Lilly?” I call out.
After a second, she responds, “What do you want?”
Her voice trails from the bathroom, so I make my way over there where I find her in a robe, washing her face.
I lean against the doorframe, arms folded at my chest. “Can we talk?”
“No,” she answers.
“Please?” I say in a stronger tone.
“Why do you want to talk? So you can apologize for being an ass again?” She splashes water on her face, then dries off with a towel. When she lowers the navy-blue terry-cloth fabric, she says, “That was humiliating today, Keller.”
“It was,” I answer. “You didn’t make it any easier.”
She points at her chest. “I didn’t make it any easier? Are you really blaming me?”
“No. I’m not blaming you for anything, hence why I want to talk about it.”
After hanging her towel, she picks up the serum that’s on her countertop and rubs it between her fingers before dabbing it on her face.
“Fine, talk.” She picks up another bottle, swabs a dab of white cream with the back of her nail before putting it on her face as well.
“Can we go to your room?”
She rubs the cream all over her face, then wipes her fingers on her towel. When she’s done, she moves toward her bedroom, her shoulder bumping me in the process.
Yeah, she’s pissed.
I so hate that I’ve angered her.She deserves better than that.
She settles on the settee in the middle of her room, crossing one leg over the other while examining her nails.
I move over to the settee as well and take a seat.
“Can you look at me when I talk to you?”
Her eyes fall to mine. “You weren’t talking yet.”
“Well, I’m talking now.” I press my hands down my thighs, shifting to get more comfortable. “This isn’t easy for me, Lilly.”
“What isn’t easy?” she asks.
“Marrying you,” I answer, causing her expression to fall.
“Then don’t.” She glances away. She’s putting up a front.
“Stop, don’t say that shit.”
“Well, what do you want me to say when you tell me it’s not ‘easy’ marrying me? This might be news to you, Keller, but women typically don’t want to hear something like that.”
“I meant the process is not easy. I wasn’t speaking about you, in particular.”
“What a relief.” Her sarcasm will be hard to break through tonight. “So then, what exactly do you mean by that? Are you too troubled to go through the process? Like you can’t handle it?”
“No,” I answer. “I can handle it, but it’s just hard, and I need you to know that.”
