She pulled the duvet over her head. “Shush! Not so loud,” she croaked and curled up into a ball on the bed. I chuckled loudly at her. “I’m never drinking again,” she groaned, and sounded really remorseful.
“It’s Christmas Eve, Elle. You’re not coming partying tonight then?” I smiled when there was no response to my question. Elle knew how to party on Christmas Eve.
I rolled over and pulled the duvet back, pushed myself off the bed, and stood on the floor. “Do you want a drink of something?” Elle didn’t reply. “Okay, well I’m going to get in the shower, it’s nearly midday.” I left her and headed into my bathroom.
I started the shower and went back to the room to find something to wear. My cell phone buzzed on the nightstand telling me I had a text message.
Will: I hope you arrived safely, send me an email when you’re settled. Miss you already.
My jaw dropped. I had forgotten to ring him. There were lots of other texts too. There was one from Saffy and lots from Alfie, who had labeled himself as SEXPERT in my cell caller ID.
Saffy: We need to talk. Give my love to Roslyn and Charlie. Call me. X
Will: Are you okay? You haven’t answered me. Let me know you are okay. We need to talk. X
SEXPERT: I stopped by your apartment, but everyone was out. Call me when you get this message.
SEXPERT: We need to talk. I wanted to share something with you.
SEXPERT: Okay! I get it… just friends. I’m cool with that, please call me.
SEXPERT: Why are you ignoring me?
SEXPERT: Okay, we crossed the line again, but you started it. I didn’t make a play for you. I did only come to you with the intention of a dance. Talk to me.
I sighed, feeling both guilty and relieved at not having to face any of them. Apparently everyone needed to talk to me. I definitely had a mess to face when I got back to Miami.
Alfie was the main reason I had come home for Christmas. Ever since he propositioned me that first day on campus, and somehow managed to talk me into a no strings relationship with him, I’ve been nothing but miserable.
I have no idea how I made this okay in my world, apart from pure lust and the fact that he looked like a fantasy bad boy. He was insanely good-looking with a breathtaking smile. He was almost the whole package.
He had the perfect bad boy look, plus mussed-up dark blond hair and the most amazing come to bed eyes. He even had that cute one dimple thing going on in his left cheek when he smiled. Alfie was hypnotizing and mesmerizing.
Apart from eye candy, he was funny, clever, a shit-hot musician, and the lead singer in an up-and-coming rock band. Alfie was definitely a rock-god in the making, as well as a heartbreaker.
The only thing that stopped him short of being the whole package was that he didn’t have ‘hearts and flowers’ relationships. To be fair, he did warn me before we got together that he couldn’t commit to me.
I have no idea why I thought I could handle that. Or fool myself into believing I wouldn’t become involved or affected by him.
Although I couldn’t fault him in the bedroom, our ‘friends with benefits’ relationship didn’t last long. Saffy summed him up perfectly as, “sex on a stick.”
Alfie was an amazing lover too, and the effect of his touch on me was sensational. He was very creative and considerate when we were intimate together. However, very soon after entering into our arrangement, I got cold feet after a visit from Saffy’s brother, Max.
Max kind of demonstrated to me the emotional aspects of a relationship that I was missing out on with Alfie. Max made me realize that I couldn’t have sex without my feelings getting in the way, and it was afterwards that I backed away from Alfie. I understood now that I had developed strong feelings for him.
It didn’t prevent me lusting after him though. Just one glance at him had me mesmerized. The way God had put him together was just perfection. Every time I saw him I had trouble tearing my eyes away.
I opened my laptop and saw Will’s Skype account was live, so I tried to ring him. It rang twice before he picked up. His room was in semi-darkness on the live video link, even though it was daylight over there now.
“Hey Lily, so good to hear from you, I miss your sweet face here. You look beautiful as always.”
I smiled, still searching the screen waiting to see him. “Can you put a light on Will? I can’t see you there.” Will shuffled around a little and there were some scuffing noises as his comforter was pushed to the side.
He had put his nightstand light on. I glanced at my cell. It was two pm here so I calculated the time change. “It’s nine am Will, why don’t you open the shutters so that I can see you properly.” Will cleared his throat and seemed reluctant to do that for some reason. “What’s wrong with you, are you hung over?”
Will tried to make light of me wanting to see him, but I knew him well enough now to know that he was hiding something. “Okay, Will, come on, what’s up? What’s going on?”
I suddenly thought I might have been interrupting something. “Oh, God, do you have someone with you?” I knew it couldn’t have been Saffy. She would be back in Oklahoma City by now, because she left to go home the same day I did.
I saw some movement and heard Will sigh. Then the screen suddenly lit up, and I realized that he must have switched his ceiling light on.
Will crawled back up on his bed and placed his laptop back on his knee. “Shit, Will. What happened to you?” His left eye was very purple and swollen.
Ouch, it looked painful. My hand automatically touched the screen around his eye. This wasn’t like Will at all. He never got involved in violence. He was too much of a peacemaker.
Will stared at the screen for a moment, and I thought the call had frozen. “Can you still hear me Will?” I said almost ready to cancel the call and ring back. There was nothing from Skype to indicate there was anything wrong with the connection.
He blinked. “Yeah, I can still hear you, honey. I didn’t want you to see this.” The look of anguish in Will’s eyes was painful. I just wanted to run over and hug him, but I couldn’t. “Saffy.” He sighed and struggled to form his thoughts into a sentence.
“Lily…Saffy punched me.” A sense of panic ran through me. She knows!
“Will…”I started to say, but he half smiled and looked awkward, shaking his head.
“It’s okay Lily. She doesn’t know what happened between us.” Thank God. I felt relieved and guilty all over again that we’d had oral sex that one time when we were drunk.
“What the hell happened?”
Will ran his hand through his hair and leaned back against his black leather headboard. “She’s gone, Lily.” I bolted upright. Gone? Gone where? Gone as in he’s finished with her?
“You are finished with her?” He sat forward and ran his hand across his head.
“After I took you to the airport, we went out to lunch together. She ended it with me, telling me she was getting back with some old boyfriend. She punched me cuz I wasn’t upset.” He chuckled. “I guess I shouldn’t have worried about ending it after all.”
I let what he was telling me sink in. He had been thinking of ending it with Saffy. Will had told me that he wasn’t going to continue to see her the night we’d been together. It was me that encouraged him to try to resolve their issues.
“I’ll call her, don’t worry, I’ll try hard to support her when I get back.” My whole plan for being in Miami revolved around Saffy.
“She went home to Oklahoma City. She asked her dad to try to sort out a transfer for her.” I was absolutely stunned by this. I really thought I knew Saffy well.
“I need to call her, Will. I don’t mean to cut our call short, but I need to find out when she’s coming back in January.”
Will dipped his head towards the screen. “I just told you, she’s transferred college, and according to Holly, she’s definitely not coming back.”
I snickered. “Of course she’s coming back, Will, you’re just a boy.”
> I was scrolling through my texts trying to see if Saffy had sent me anything else, whilst he was chatting. “Oh, one more thing before you cut and run,” he added. My eyes flicked back to the screen.
“Yeah?” Will’s face looked tense.
“He’s been here looking for you.”
I bunched my brows. “Alfie?”
Will nodded. “Who else? He came here to my house. I don’t know how he got my address, Mandy maybe? He said he needed to speak to you, and it couldn’t wait.”
I sat in silence for a few moments. “Thanks Will. I’m glad I’m not there, I don’t think I could face him after the other night.”
Will’s jaw tightened. “I’m glad you’re there and not here too, in that case.”
It felt weird to hear him say that, so I tried to lighten the mood. “You are? I thought you were going to miss me,” I teased.
“I miss you like I’d miss my heart beating, honey. However, if it keeps you away from him, I’d rather you were there.” I didn’t reply, not sure how to take his comment.
I hoped it wasn’t because Will had developed feelings for me. That would definitely complicate our working relationship in the future. I finished the call before our conversation could get any weirder and called Saffy.
The call went straight to voicemail, so I left her a message to call me back. Two minutes later I got a text message.
Saffy: Sorry Lily, I really don’t want to talk about it, but the guy I was dating before I went to Florida asked to get back with me. It was really complicated before, but we’ve worked it out, and I’ve moved back here to move in with him. Don’t hate me. X
I sat in stunned silence until my adrenaline connected with my brain, and I was extremely pissed. I could feel my blood rising, and I fumbled to punch out a text telling her that she was being ridiculous and to get her ass back to Florida after the break.
She certainly wasn’t considering what I had gone through to get over there and share an apartment with her in the first place.
Before I sent it I had an attack of guilt about Will and me. Why the hell hadn’t she talked with me about this?
So instead my tentative text I sent simply said,
Lily: I’ve moved halfway around the world to spend time with you. Can I at least have an explanation?
Saffy: I’m transferring to OKU to do Biology. My dad has sorted it out for me. I don’t want to come back, Will and I weren’t working. Besides, James… I always thought he was the one, we dated before and he left me brokenhearted. He knows he loves me. We’re good together.
Lily: What about your commitment to Holly and me?”
Saffy: I don’t expect you to understand it, Lily, but we were leading very separate lives anyway. I hardly ever saw you. I was just hanging around you and your music buddies.
I already understood that she felt left out sometimes when Will and I were writing or arranging some sets, but we were careful to include her in almost everything else.
Lily: What is Holly saying to all of this?
Saffy: She said that we’re no longer friends.
Saffy knew that the rent wasn’t a problem for me, but that wasn’t the point. She had just disregarded me. I thought I knew her well, and she was turning out to be someone that I really had no clue about at all.
Lily: It sounds to me like you had this all figured out, Saffy.
Saffy: Yeah, I kind of did but didn’t know how to tell you. Sorry :-(
CHAPTER 3 – PARTY NIGHT
Just like that, Saffy was gone from the life that we had planned for almost two years. I was mad, but it gave me hope that I wasn’t the only one that made bad decisions where men were concerned.
I’d like to think that I wouldn’t have thrown my friends to the lions over a guy though. Then again, who was I to judge her since I had let her down too, with what happened with Will?
Still, I was speechless. Saffy had never mentioned anything about this guy before. I was definitely seeing her and Max in a completely different light.
Between Saffy and Max, I’d been let down badly. Max, Saffy’s twin brother, had also played me for a fool, when he had an affair with me before I found out about his girl in Nashville.
I threw the cell on my bed and let out a growl of frustration. Almost eight years we’ve been friends and she couldn’t even speak to me about this.
One thing was for sure, I couldn’t let my parents know about it until after I was back in Florida. They would probably be able to talk me out of going back, the way I was feeling right now, and I didn’t want to make any hasty decisions.
Elle left to do some shopping, and I decided to focus on getting ready to party in London with my friends. So I pushed everything else to the back of my mind. By the time I headed out for my night of fun, I couldn’t wait to see everyone, especially Jack.
When I stepped outside, the nighttime temperature was almost freezing, and there was an icy wind blowing. My bones ached because I couldn’t stop my body from shivering as I made my way to meet them. I had butterflies about seeing everyone again. No one or nothing was going to put a damper on my evening with them.
I was just about to cross the road when I ground to a halt. I caught sight of all my friends sitting at a huge round table on the other side of the Chinese restaurant window. We had been meeting at the same place every Christmas Eve for the past five years.
The restaurant’s red and gold decor looked so rich, warm, and inviting. Maybe I was being sentimental, and it just seemed that way, because I loved the people that completed the picture I was staring at.
As usual, Elle was the life and soul of the party from what I could see. All eyes around the table were focused on her, engrossed in her animated storytelling. She must have said something funny, as they all reacted at the same time, throwing their heads back, mouths open, laughing.
Maddie put her hand to her mouth; she does that when she giggles, and all their upper bodies appeared to rise and fall as they shook with laughter.
David obviously almost choked on his drink from his reaction, and everyone’s head snapped around to look at him whilst Lauren slapped his back.
A wave of love, the love I had for them, hit me I really needed to feel their familiarity more than ever. In the three months since I’d left, my life had been crazy.
I wondered if they would be able to sense my mood, and how differently I viewed my life after all the issues I’d faced since the last time we had been together.
The only fly in the ointment I could see tonight was Sam, who was sitting next to his sister Elle. He had an empty chair beside him that was presumably mine. This was the one hurdle I needed to get over now that I was home.
A short burst of adrenaline pushed me forward in the direction of the restaurant. I took a deep breath, and when I saw a break in the traffic, I ran across the street.
It was starting to rain, and I pulled my cashmere coat tighter around my neck against the biting cold wind. When I reached the door, I placed my palm against the brass door panel and pushed the heavy door to make my way into the restaurant.
The heat inside hit me immediately, enveloping me. The aroma of Chinese spices wafted around the room, and I could hear the clanking of silverwear on plates as people ate. A waiter in a black suit and white button-down shirt stood grinning widely at me.
Before I could speak, David called out, “Lily! Over here.” He beckoned me with his arm, and I smiled at the waiter, pointing at the group.
“My friends,” I cooed. I made my way to the table, and all, except for Maddie, stood to greet me.
My eyes were drawn to her, and I noticed that she was nursing a definite baby bump that wasn’t there when I left. “Someone’s been busy!” I smiled, nodding at her swollen belly. Maddie blushed, and I immediately sympathized with her.
The dinner itself was absolutely delicious. We ate a Chinese banquet, which consisted of most of the dishes on the menu, such as noodles, tiger prawns, various rice and chicken dishes, and wonderful bana
na fritters in syrup for desert.
The guys were quick to compliment me on my appearance, and I felt a little self-conscious at being the focus of the group for a while. We had all co-existed for so long that it made me feel uncomfortable and a little out of things.
Jack, the charmer of the group and my very best friend, gave me a wolf whistle. “Damn, Lily, just when I thought there was nothing you could do to look any hotter you disappear overseas and come back sexier.” I grinned at his compliment.
Nothing Jack said could ever make me feel uncomfortable. He has been around me since I was four years old, and we sat together at our first group table in school. In fact, I would go as far as to say out of everyone, even Elle, he was the one person I could tell anything to, and he’d still have my back. We have a fierce loyalty to one another.
I was conscious that Sam tried to get my attention for himself on more than one occasion. I played this off by being involved in conversations across the table.
I was also thankful, in a strange way, that he was sitting next to me, because it meant that I had no awkward eye contact to deal with. “Okay, time to get clubbing!” Elle shouted.
After a couple of hours sitting down at dinner, Maddie groaned. “If you don’t mind, I’m going to head home, Paul is getting home at ten pm, and we’ve got a quiet night planned.” I hugged her after helping her into her coat.
“You look radiant, sweetheart,” I whispered to her. She hugged me back, squeezing me tightly.
I knew the pregnancy wasn’t planned, and she was scared, but she was in love. She’d been in a long-term relationship with Paul for the last three years. It was kind of off and on, but for the past three months they had settled into life as a couple.
Everything She Needs (The Everything Trilogy) Page 2
