“Thanks for escorting her,” I tell him. “She said it was painful staring at your ugly face all night, but I think we all know you weren’t there to please her.” My double-edged words even make me cringe. I don’t like to think about any other guypleasingLily. Not before we became a real couple. And definitely not after.
My heart beats so fucking fast. I take a step towards him, the glass crunching.
He stiffens, and I wait to see if he has the balls to shove me back.
Nope. I take my chances and squeeze between the door frame and his immobilized body. He stares right at me. Eye for eye. And I invite myself inside.
“Wow, this place hasn’t changed,” I say, walking further in. I stare at the high-vaulted ceilings and the marble floors. Ryke follows me, and Aaron closes the door behind us, his lip curled. I point at the cellar door by the kitchen. “Should we crack open a bottle of wine?”
His eyes flash murderously.
“Maybe not then.”
Ryke hangs back, but if Aaron even raises a fist, he’d be right by my side. That kind of support feels good. I’ve never once had that. Growing up, I always took the beating or found an escape. Fights were always me against a million. No one was in my corner. I wouldn’t let Lily be involved, and if she was, it was guys like Aaron that deviously pulled her in, knowing she was my best friend.
They’d fuck with her just to reach me.
And that’s not happening.
Aaron watches me closely.
“Who’s home?” I ask him.
“No one,” he says, his face blank.
I don’t believe him. “Your parents are in Barbados for the weekend.” Thank you Connor Cobalt with your great tech-savvy skills.
Aaron lets out a dry laugh. “Did your father find that out for you?”
Oh yeah, Ryke wasn’t the one to deter Aaron at the Fizzle event. While Lily was trying to dodge Aaron all night, she told me that my father came in and saved her. Leave it to my dad to inject debilitating fear into someone. Lily said Aaron fled the event after that. Never made a peep again. “My father didn’t help me figure out who’s at your house,” I say, “but I should call him up, thank him for molesting you with his words.”
“You’re a sick fucking guy,” Aaron says, “you know that?”
I’m just getting started.“Julie!” I shout. “Julie, come out, come out!”
Ryke wavers behind me. He’s seen me like this. I used to attack him. I still do. Plenty of times. But this is different. I am fueled by hate so deep that I can barely breathe.
Aaron glances hesitantly at the balcony above the double staircase. His house was used for debutante balls just for that entrance.
“JULIE!” I yell.
Aaron steps towards me, his hand leveled out as though he comes in peace. “Hey, I told your father I’d lay off Lily, okay? We made a deal. I stuck to it. I haven’t done shit to her since the event.”
“JULIE!”
The door clatters upstairs.
Aaron talks faster, “I waspissedthat night. I applied for a job, and they denied my application. I didn’t even get an interview because of you.”
“You’re going to blame me?” I glare. He should. With my father’s help, I called up his dream college and had the Dean take a second look at Wells. Next thing you know, he’s going to his safety school, not even waitlisted to the place he thought he had in the bag. We rerouted his future.
“I can’t compete with Ivy grads. Now I have to work for my father.”
A pair of feet pads across the second story.
“Don’t do this,” Aaron sneers, but he’s pleading. “I only scared Lily a little. I wasn’t going to force her or anything. I promise you.” He’s never had sex with her, thank God. If I ran into one of her old hookups, I don’t know what my reaction would be.
“That’s what you always do, isn’t it?” I say. “You scare her. Well, grab a membership card Aaron. You’re about to be fucking terrified.”
