ChapterThirty-Five
Alex was the king of distraction. From his boisterous pregame party mix playlist to the edible glitter he’d sprinkled all over her red velvet cupcakes, he was committed to keeping her mind a million miles away from Kieran. And against all odds, he accomplished it. Mostly. She’d already kept her phone off most of the week—more afraid of how her heart might break if he didn’t text than of anticipating what he might say if he did. What her friends offered in their endless encouragement and love was only further proof that maybe Kieran was right. Maybe she did deserve more.
Natalia and Jack moseyed about Alex and Ilya’s apartment, sipping cocktails and chatting with Ilya about some new winery while Alex finished pressing on his lashes.
It was supposed to be a night out. A belated celebration of her birthday. They’d moved the occasion to Saturday night so it could serve as a distraction from the tournament happening across the river, just one neighborhood over, at the very gym where she’d been offered a job.
Roger had said she could start immediately, but Lily had requested time to consider. Not because she didn’t want it—hell, she needed the money—but because if she started immediately she’d have been working tonight. Covering the tournament, just not for Neal and the South Siders.
She sighed and stared into the misty fizz of her drink. Tequila and Mountain Dew—one of Jack’s favorites. If she’d offered something like that to Kieran, his eyebrow would have arched, and his nose would scrunch. He was a dark liquor guy—whiskey as smooth and intoxicating as his eyes.
Nope, she chided herself.Don’t think about him.
A persistent buzz drew her attention to the kitchen island. Natalia’s phone was going off again. It had been like that all day. A constant, incessant string of notifications. The last time that had happened to Lily, she’d muted her notifications. But Natalia didn’t post much.
“Did you comment on a viral video or something?” Sometimes comments could go viral, too. It was one of her least favorite features on Hit It. You got a notification every single time someone liked a comment. Lily inched closer, each step deliberate so she didn’t snag her heel on Alex’s rug.
“Something like that.” Nat darkened her phone screen and shot a pointed glare at Alex.
He ignored her, choosing instead to touch up the corner of his eyeliner in the mirror mounted on his fridge.
Lily glanced between them, and her lips pinched together in a frown. “Am I missing something?”
“No.”
“Yes.”
They answered at the same time—Natalia as the affirmative—and shared a scowl.
“Come on.” Alex grabbed his wallet from the island and shoved it into his pocket. “We’re gonna get caught in a line from hell if we don’t head out. Move it, darlings!”
Natalia’s face darkened to a glower, and she crossed her arms over her chest. “She deserves to see it.”
“See what?” Had Natalia posted a video after all?
Alex grabbed his keys off a hook by the door and swung them around on his finger. “Tonight is adistraction, Natalia, in case you forgot. Now come on, people, the club train is leaving.”
Jack’s attention was on their drink, and Ilya stood by the doorway examining the toes of his brown Chelsea boots.
Lily set her drink atop the island and smoothed her hands down the sides of her black tube dress. “What’s going on, Nat?” She ignored Alex’s groan of protest and met her oldest friend’s gaze. “If you think I should know, then I want to know.”
Natalia rolled her bottom lip between her teeth, and her shoulders dipped. “I wanted to show you earlier, but Alex gave us all a speech about boundaries and had me doubting myself.” She unlocked her phone and passed it into Lily’s waiting hand. “But this is for you.”
Cued up and ready to go was a paused Hit It video. The waiting still-shot was a familiar one: the trail at Starved Rock.
@thatgymguy
Kieran.
He’d tagged both Lily’s and the gym’s accounts, and the video had over a million likes. Her brows shot up.How’d he manage that?
With no reason to drag it out, she hit Play.
“This video is for Lily Parker.” Hearing Kieran’s rich, smooth voice after a week of radio silence made her stomach flip-flop. “If you’re not Lily Parker, keep scrolling.” The hairs on her arms leaped to attention. She gripped the phone a little tighter andwatched the sweeping shot of the trail turn from views of the waterfall to a zoomed-in shot of her and Danny dancing behind her tripod.
“I fucked up. I know it and you know it. You have every right to hate me, Princess.” The hiking trail fell away and was replaced with her favorite brunch spot. What began as a shot of their entwined hands spanned upward, catching her dancing in her seat with her fork still caught between her lips.
Lily’s heart squeezed in her chest. She’d always assumed he was checking his phone while they were out and about together—why capture these intimate moments when he’d never agreed to be more than friends?
