Page 88 of All the Beautiful Things
As far as Fridays went, it sucked.
I grabbed a T-shirt from my dresser as soon as a knock echoed, freezing me.
There was only one person who would come to my door unannounced.
“Nina! Do not answer that!”
I hurried toward the living room, shirt in my hand, only to slide to a stop at what I saw.
Nina, holding the door open, where somehow her dress had become unzipped, letting one strap fall off her shoulder, revealing a large swatch of pale skin and the upper curve of one breast.
“Who are you?” Nina asked and flung open the door until it banged against the wall.
And then Lilly.
With tears running down her cheeks, her hair a mess. And… was that… blood?
“What the hell?” I gasped at the sight of her.
Her whiskey-colored eyes flashed to me. “I think that’s what I should be asking you.”
Her gaze dropped to my chest, my bare chest, and then back to Nina. “Never mind. I think I know enough.”
She turned and I cursed. I rushed after her and managed to grab her as she reached the door to the stairwell.
“Do not run and do not leave. This is not at all what it looks like. I swear it to you.”
“Sure. Now let me go.”
“No. You are not running from this. Look at me,” I growled and the force of my words must have hit somewhere deep inside of her because she did. She glanced right up at me and showed me her pain and her fear.
And that blood.
“What the hell happened to you?” I asked. My thumb rubbed dried blood from her chin. She jerked back, but I gripped her chin with my thumb and fisted hand.
“It appears my night was not nearly as exciting as yours.”
“This is not at all what it looks like. But do not, for one second, believe I would cheat on you. You know I am not that kind of guy.”
Lilly had a tendency to run. She usually did it with a lighted fire in her first and seeing her void of any of that made my heart sink. What had happened to her?
“Lilly.” Her name was a growl. I’d had a really shitty day and my patience was just about gone. “Come back and fuckingtalkto me.”
Her face screwed up. “Oh, like you were such fun to talk to this morning?”
Shit. She was right. I’d been an ass. A total complete dick and worse, I’d known it and just hadn’t been able to fix it earlier. “I’m sorry about this morning, please, come talk to me.”
Her eyes searched mine. The beat of my heart pounded against my ribs. The very thought of her running from me again, and me unable to fix it, made me want to tear my heart out of my chest and stomp all over it. I was a half-second from throwing her over my shoulder and hauling her back to my place when her features softened.
“Okay.” She pressed her palm to my cheek and her lips wobbled, trying to smile but like she found the entire exercise too exhausting.
My shoulders fell and I dropped my head to hers. Thank fuck. This would be my last screw-up. “Thank you. And once I get rid of Nina, I’ll explain everything. I swear it.”
Taking her hand, I brought her back to my place where the door was still open. Inside, Nina was at the windows, leisurely sipping her wine, which she’d apparently refilled while looking out to the skyline.
At least she had the decency to zip her dress back up.
I leaned down to Lilly’s ear. “I swear on my sister’s life that I did not touch her or her dress and I wouldn’t. Ever.”
