“Tanner. He—uh—he called me one night. It was the night before Josephine and Eric’s wedding, and he was scared. He wanted to come stay with me. I’d been drinking, and–um—I couldn’t even get him. He begged me. He begged me to come, but I couldn’t. I failed him, and after that night, I promised to never fail him again.”
“It wasn’t your fault. You tried—”
Theo stands up, shoving out of his chair and pacing back and forth.
“It was, Lily. It was my fault, and I’m failing him again. And I don’t know how to change that.”
The tears are falling down his cheeks freely now, and the brokenness in his eyes makes it impossible to hold back any longer. I walk around the counter, and he watches me, looking like he might run if I move too fast.
My steps are slow as I approach, and when I get close enough, I wrap my arms around his neck. He stiffens for a minute before sinking into my hold, his hands wrapping around me and landing on my lower back.
“We won’t fail him, Theo. You did it on your own before, but you don’t have to now. I’ll help you.”
Chapter 14
Theo
Lily’s arms are holding me together. I was seconds away from falling apart before I came here, and now, she’s holding me together.
I was sitting in my house, the silence louder than anything I’ve ever heard, and I almost broke. I almost got in my truck and drove to the nearest bar. Instead, I found myself here, standing in front of Lily’s and waiting for her to get home.
I don’t know what drove me to come here. I kept thinking about how I owed her an explanation, and before I knew what I was doing, I was pulling up to the curb.
My arms tighten around her, and her head falls against my shoulder. I shouldn’t be here. I should be anywherebuthere. There are so many reasons why it’s a bad idea for me to be standing in Lily Carson’s kitchen, holding her in my arms, but right now, I can’t think of a single one.
The woman fries my brain.
“Go out with me.”
Lily’s head flies off my shoulder, jerking back to look at me.
“What did you just say?” She asks, wide-eyed.
My heart hammers against my ribs because whatdidI just say?
It slipped out before I could stop it—a moment of weakness. I chosenot to have a drink tonight, but I took a hit from a different addiction—and I am far from sober. But letting Lily know I’d slipped into another addiction would be detrimental to everything I’m trying to achieve with Tanner—even though the addiction is her—so I play it off in the best way I know how.
“Look,” I say, dropping my arms and stepping back. I need space to think. The smell of her citrus shampoo overrides all my senses and makes me stupid. “I think we can help each other.”
“By going on a date?” Lily asks skeptically. I’m walking a very fine line here, and I’m smart enough to know I have to watch my next step. “Hayes gave me the idea.”
He didn’t—not exactly—but it’s easier to blame him if all this goes wrong.
He shouldn’t have put the idea of her with Campbell in my head because it’s all I’ve been able to think about. I’ve already watched her pine after Hayes himself. I might strangle Campbell if I had to see that, too.
I watch her carefully, waiting for a reaction to the rent-a-cop’s name, but her face is a steel mask, giving nothing away, which irritates me because even though it’s none of my business, a part of meneedsto know if she still has feelings for Hayes.
“What idea, Theo? You’re being very vague.”
“To date me.”
Lily’s face turns green, and from the looks of it, she’s seconds away from puking.
A real hit to a man’s ego.
“Fake date,” I amend, if only to wipe away that look from her face.
“Are you sure this was Hayes? Did Abigail put you up to this?”
