Addicted After All(170)
“I want to do this fast,” I tell her, the phone heavy in my hand. Ryke has Moffy in the break room, and while I love my brother, he’s never been alone with my kid without Daisy present.
Lily peers at the phone. “Are you going to press the button?”
My finger hovers over the green call sign, and I hesitate to make this real. “You do it.”
Like she’s touching fire, she quickly taps the screen and scuttles closer to me. I put it on speaker so she can listen too.
The phone rings four times; I think she’s not going to answer. On the fifth one, it clicks. And my pulse races, my forehead beading with sweat.
“Hello?” she says.
“Hi…” I clear my sandpapered throat. “This is Loren Hale. Before you hang up, I need to seriously talk to you. Willow is here…” I blank on what else to say. I look to Lily, and she flashes me an encouraging smile.
“Is she okay?” Emily asks, her tone high-pitched with worry.
“She’s angry and broke, but besides that, she’s doing great.” I can’t restrain the edge in my voice, and I just pray she stays on the line with me.
Emily speaks frantically, “I just called her yesterday, and she said that she had enough money. I’ve been trying to convince her to come back. But I can’t leave work, and I didn’t want the police involved.”
“You should’ve called me and said that she was here,” I retort. “I would’ve seen her the minute she drove out to Philly.”
Emily goes quiet, her voice no louder than a whisper as she says, “That wasn’t an option for me. I don’t want the media to know about my attachment to the Hales.”
I realize that she didn’t want to call me. Never wanted to speak to me again. Not even for this. I cringe and grip the sink with white knuckles.
Lily wraps her arms around my waist, and her warmth eases the tension in my chest.
“I can fly you out this weekend,” I tell her. “You should talk to Willow, face-to-face, and then maybe she’ll return home with you.”
“She’s not going to want to come back,” Emily whispers. “She just learned that her half-brother is famous.”
I glare at the ceiling. “It’s not about that.” If she saw the pain in Willow’s features, she’d understand that it’s deeper. It’s about struggling to face a person who’s caused you agony. Hating that parts of your life were shadowed with uncertainty and doubt.
If this was about celebrity and fame, she wouldn’t have cried about her mom.
“And if she doesn’t come home, I’ll be right.”
“You won’t,” I snap back. “If she doesn’t want to come home, it’s because she still can’t stomach living with you.” I realize how harsh that sounds and so I add, “I’m sorry, but it’s the truth.”
“You don’t even know her,” Emily retorts defensively.
“You’re right, but I’ve been in her situation before.” I spent ninety days in rehab away from my father. When I returned, I began thinking about restarting a relationship with him. But I needed that space. What’s different here—Willow is in high school. She’s not a legal adult yet. “Let me fly you out,” I try again. “You can talk to her and go from there.”
After a long pause, she says, “I can only take off one day from work, if that.”
“You’ll be in and out of Philly within the day then,” I tell her.
She contemplates this option for another second. “Okay. I’ll text you my email.” And then she hangs up on me.
I pocket my phone.
“Lo,” Lily breathes, her fingers hooking on my belt loops again. “I want to apologize for her meanness to you, but I don’t know how.”
“You just did, love,” I whisper, kissing her temple. And then I take a deeper breath and kiss her outside the lips. It feels good, having Lily this close. I press her small body up against my hard chest. Her ribcage rises and falls in a sporadic, aroused motion. I’m careful not to build her up too much, but I just really want to kiss her here…
My lips meet hers, connecting our bodies on another level entirely. My hand disappears in her hair, and my tongue slides against hers. She moans and trembles, and I restrain myself from pushing harder—lifting her around my waist. I can’t right now.
My lips break from hers and then brush her ear. “Later.”