Addicted After All(22)

Mental power. That’s a smart person trait that I’m not so sure I have. With bad cramps, I just curl on my side, cling to Lo and have a Marvel movie marathon. I usually can’t concentrate on the films, just focused on the clenching in my abdomen.

I have faith that Daisy can do it though. She’s strong.

Shoes suddenly clap against the hardwood, and Lo appears from the kitchen, entering through the backdoor. “Hey,” he says to us, first scrutinizing my wellbeing, then his brother and Daisy. “We should leave now in case there’s traffic.”

I spot his nervous anxiety from his locked shoulders and cut jawline. His hand even shakes a little, but he balls it into a fist when he catches me watching.

Lo approaches me while Ryke carries Daisy out the front door, still cradling her. “I’m fine, Lil,” Lo assures me. “Come on.” He wraps his arm around my shoulders.

“How was work?” I ask.

“Boring,” he says, rubbing his lips, another giveaway that he’s anxious. I reach out and hold his hand. His shoulders slacken by a fraction.

He shuts the front door behind him. “What’s up with Daisy?”

“Cramps,” I say.

His face scrunches like, what?

“I questioned it too, but her periods are still out of whack.” What’s strange is that discussing Daisy’s periods has been the norm for some time. I wonder if she realizes that Rose spreads this news like wildfire, and it becomes a topic among the guys too. I hope she’s not that embarrassed by it.

We descend the short stairs and walk to Lo’s matte black Audi, parked by the fir tree. Growing up, Lo always bummed rides with me, but when he first started Halway Comics, Jonathan removed the monthly cap on Lo’s trust fund so he had enough to buy a car.

Ryke always tries to drive the Audi when he’s with Lo. Really, his love and obsession with the two-door car is grounds for cheating on his silver Infinity.

This time, instead of asking Lo to drive, Ryke climbs in the backseat with Daisy, ahead of us. He’d rather take care of his girlfriend than drive a cool car. If I was allowed on social media, I’d document this moment and upload it, literal cute proof that Raisy is meant to be.

Say that was me in Daisy’s position, Ryke wouldn’t crawl in the backseat on my account. In fact, he’d beg Lo to drive so he didn’t have to withstand my moaning and groaning. Our families’ publicists can’t see how useful this evidence is against the three-way rumors.

Lo lets out a short, amused laugh. “Ryke has to be dying.”

I have a feeling this isn’t about the car. Since Daisy is on her period, Ryke probably hasn’t had any action in a while. “He went four months without sex,” I remind Lo. “This has to be easy.”

“So easy that he’s most likely jerking off, counting the days until he can get laid again.”

I don’t know.

Ryke is a guy, but for some reason, I got the impression that he’d rather Daisy have periods than none at all.

“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*cks 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.