Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 66330 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 332(@200wpm)___ 265(@250wpm)___ 221(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66330 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 332(@200wpm)___ 265(@250wpm)___ 221(@300wpm)
I shook my head, and he didn’t bother to finish the sentence. If Kim had legitimately fucked up, which she usually did, I’d use it in mercilessly. But I couldn’t risk setting her up. If Halley ever found out, she’d never forgive me.
And the list of unforgivable things that I was considering was long enough already.
14
LILY
At first, I had been too overwhelmed to process what Con had said. It was only when I was safely back in the condo that his words came back to me.
Stay away from me, Lily. Or I’ll send you back to Ohio where you belong.
He’d send me back, would he? I grabbed my suitcase out from under the bed and unzipped it with jerky movements, shame and anger coursing through me. I wouldn’t let him play puppet master with my life, jerking my strings depending on his mood. This way when he felt benevolent, that way when he felt malevolent. Generous and spiteful in turns. I tore Halley’s dress over my head and pulled on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. Then I began flaying the rest of my clothing from the hangers, tossing them in the yawning mouth of my knock off Samsonite that, like my clothes, came from Target.
But even before I was halfway through, I changed my mind. Con’s words, bitter as they had been, were already losing their sting as I remembered the look on his face. Set in stone to hide the need, but it still burned in his eyes. He’d curled his fingers into fists, but I could still remember how they’d felt tangled in the ends of my hair. The wide expanse of his palm wrapping around the back of my head while he kissed me so desperately I nearly bent backward.
He wouldn’t send me back to Ohio. He couldn’t. Even if he took the job away, and his daughter’s condo, he didn’t own the city and he didn’t own me. He couldn’t order me out of LA, and as long as I was here, I had a chance. I sat down on the edge of the bed, determination and pride replacing the shame and anger. Con wanted me, no matter how hard he tried to deny it. And I wanted him. If I had learned anything in life, it was how to work for what I wanted. I wasn’t like Halley—no one would ever hand it to me on a silver platter.
Slowly, I rehung my shirts and dresses, trying to formulate a plan. Con had told me to keep away from him because he knew what would happen if I didn’t. All I had to do was the opposite. I had to be in his way at every turn. And I knew just how to manage it.
It was one am before I turned out all the lights and crawled between the silky sheets. The city lights still burned against the underside of the clouds, and the night sky outside my window was ominously red. It felt like a warning. If I stopped now, I could protect myself.
I rolled away from the window determinedly. I had played it safe long enough.
I dreamed about Con all night, what would have happened if he hadn’t pushed me away. What still might happen if I managed to wear down his resistance. Over the weekend, I saw Victoria on Sunday morning for brunch—I paid for both of us as an apology for disappearing on her. It was a small price to pay to answer the question of whether she’d seen me and Con. She hadn’t. She looked disinterested when I said I’d run into an old friend, and she spent most of the time telling me in exhausting detail about each and every person we’d met. Then she moved onto the people who hadn’t been there, including the names of several D-list celebrities and socialites that I’d vaguely heard of.
Then, unexpectedly, she mentioned Halley. I had fallen into a habit of nodding mechanically, but at the familiar name, my eyes jerked to hers in surprise.
“Halley Walker,” she said significantly. “As in, Con Walker’s daughter. She’s in her senior year of college on the East Coast.”
I knew all that, even as I made a surprised, impressed face. But why had she come up? How was she connected to the group Victoria had introduced me to? And had any of them seen me kissing her father?
As Victoria went on, I relaxed. Apparently, Halley had dated one of the guys in high school, and he was still name dropping her. By extension, Victoria was now name dropping her.
“Do you know her?” I asked casually. It was genuinely impossible to tell by what she was saying. Victoria referred to Halley familiarly, but I couldn’t figure out if there was a direct connection.
“Oh, sure,” Victoria said as though it was no big deal. Her eyes slid to the side though, and I sensed she was lying. “You’ll probably meet her, if you keep hanging out with us.”