“You know that I can’t have sex for weeks after I give birth, right?” I suddenly blurt out. I never thought it’d be an issue with him, but I forgot that he has needs—ones I’ve built to extreme levels. Ryke even said it: Lo f**ks the most out of all the guys.
And I’m going to take that away from him.
Lo says quickly, “I know, Lil.” He rests his hands on my shoulders and guides me towards the Audi. And then his lips nestle against my neck and he groans, a not so good one. “Your hair smells like Rose.”
“I think it’s the stuff in the basket she gave me.”
He kisses my temple. “I’m burning that shit.”
“It was a present.”
He grimaces. “Fine, whatever. It can stay as decoration.”
I crane my neck over my shoulder to catch a glimpse of him, and I notice his muscles have unwound a lot more.
“Lily.”
“Yeah?”
“Move faster.” He pats my ass, and my breath hitches. I’ve stopped about ten feet from his car. With this incentive, I quicken my pace. And the reality of where we’re headed sets in.
To Jonathan Hale’s we go.
* * *
“He changed the location to the country club,” Lo tells us as he drives out of our gated neighborhood. Oh. So to Jonathan Hale’s we don’t go?
Lo passes me his iPod that’s connected to the stereo system. This is the best part of being the side passenger. I have complete control over the music. That and I’m in touching distance of Loren Hale.
I cross my legs on the black leather seat and glance back at Daisy, her head on Ryke’s lap while she curls in a ball. “Theories?” she asks everyone about what’s going to happen with Jonathan.
I scroll through the iPod. “I think he’s just lonely.”
Lo taps the steering wheel. “He says it’s important.”
“He thinks brunch and golf is f**king important,” Ryke says roughly, his arm stretches along the black leather seat. It looks like he’s giving the Audi a little hug. His eyes suddenly land on me. “Why are you smiling at me like that?”
“Can’t a person smile at you?” I say.
“No,” he deadpans.
I flip my hair at him as I turn around, feeling cooler than I know I look, and I find my favorite song in the whole wide universe of brilliant tunes. The moment the electronic beats start blaring through the speakers, I turn the volume way up. It’s the only way to listen to Skrillex’s “Bangarang.”
Lo’s lips rise the moment he hears the song, as though memories and sentiments flood him. We’ve had good bedroom dance parties to this one. And epic sex against the wall.
Ryke groans while I start head-bobbing and shoulder dancing. If I wasn’t in a car, I’d be grinding up on Lo. This song deserves some body contact.
“This song f**king sucks,” Ryke declares.
I immediately freeze, and my jaw drops.
With one hand on the wheel, Lo uses his free one to shoot Ryke the middle finger. Ha! I stick my tongue out at him, a very immature slight, but I feel younger again with Lo. Like when we were teenagers, drowning out everything else.
Daisy is laughing so hard, her medicine probably kicking in.
Ryke says, “If your kid inherits your musical taste, I’m going to f**king rip my hair out.”
I smile. I kind of hope Maximoff does.
“Shit,” Lo curses, his jaw muscles twitching. Through his window, I notice a tan mini-van in the next lane, matching the Audi’s speed. I highly doubt the van is full of preteens and a soccer mom.
The paparazzi must’ve either seen us leave the neighborhood or they were tipped on our whereabouts. I have battled a lot of my “going out in public” phobias, but having a van tucked so close to Lo makes me nervous.
I bite my nails, and I shift so my heel is pressed to the spot between my legs.
“Try speeding up,” Ryke suggests while Daisy lifts her head off his lap to peek at the paparazzi. The van window rolls down and a cameraman points the lens at the Audi’s tinted glass. I doubt he’ll have any good shots, but he snaps photos anyway, flashes blinking.
Lo shifts the manual car into another gear, going about twenty over the speed limit on an uncongested two-lane road.
I lower the volume of the song so he can concentrate.
“Turn it back up,” Lo tells me, his voice only slightly edged. He doesn’t look panicked and neither does Ryke, so I increase the stereo volume once more. He switches into the left lane and then checks the rearview mirror.
“My theory,” Daisy says to lessen the tension, “is that Jonathan wants us to host some kind of charity function for him. Like PR stuff.”
“That’s a pretty good theory,” I nod. I can see that happening. My finger stings…I nibbled the nail to the bed. Shit.
“Lil, put your feet on the floor,” Lo tells me. He must notice the position of my heel.
“You should be watching the road,” I say as I set my soles on the floor mat, but I clench my thighs together, kind of hoping for a stronger pressure, just to take away this anxiety. A cl**ax sounds nice.
Stop, Lily.
“I can multitask,” he says, checking the rearview again. “Connor Cobalt didn’t patent that skill—goddammit.”
The stupid van has caught up to our car, and I squirm uneasily in the seat. Lo looks to me for a second, “Lil.”
I flinch at his reprimanding tone. My hand is creeping like a criminal between my legs. Nonono. I raise my palms in the air, surrendering. “I’m fine. I promise.”
His concern has elevated to extreme proportions. “Maybe we shouldn’t go to this meeting—”
“Nonono. I can do this. Lo, please.” My eyes widen like believe in me.
He studies my state of being, his gaze flitting from the road to me. And then he nods. “Hey, bro,” he calls back to Ryke. “I’m going to pull off the side of the road. Lil and I are going to switch with you and Daisy.”
“Fine with me,” Ryke says, actually looking happy about driving.
Lo is this worried about my anxiety. “I’m okay,” I try to convince him.
“I lied,” Lo tells me, slowing down onto the emergency lane. He parks the Audi and snaps off his buckle. “I can’t multitask.”
Oh. I lick my dry lips. “Okay.”
I unclick my seatbelt. The van parks ahead of us, the doors already opening. We’re on public property so they have every right to take photos. By the time we all step out of the Audi, two cameramen have left their van to snap pictures.
“Lily, look right here,” one of them calls out.
I’ve learned not to take the camera bait, focusing on Lo’s car and nothing else.
As Ryke passes his brother, he flips off both camera guys, and the flashbulbs blink repeatedly.
“Is Lily pregnant with your baby?” one asks Ryke.
“Daisy, how do you feel about Ryke sleeping with your sister?”
My stomach somersaults. I hate that she’s still being affected by my mistakes.
Except for Ryke’s middle fingers, none of us answer the paparazzi. We slip into our new seats, and Lo immediately wraps his arm around my waist, his hands in mine. It’s affection and touch that calms my nerves by a few degrees.
Ryke and Daisy buckle their seatbelts, and then Daisy reaches deep into Ryke’s front pocket…
Uhhh…I grow unexpectedly hot, and I can’t tell if it’s from embarrassment or something worse. I try to convince myself it’s the former.