Kiss the Sky (Calloway Sisters #1)(114)

Julian rotates, looking over his shoulder at Daisy by the staircase. “What the fuck? Are you dumping me?”

“Hey,” Rose snaps her fingers at him, and the noise draws him back towards us. “She didn’t want to hurt your ugly little feelings.”

Julian immediately rises. “This is bullshit.” He stares at Rose’s sister. “Did they put you up to this, baby?”

She’s about to answer, but the front door suddenly swings open, banging against the wall. Rose and I stand up at the same time. Wild, angry voices pierce the room.

“I’m not being overdramatic!” Lily yells…dramatically. She carries a towering stack of magazines in her arms. Loren and Ryke push forward, past Brett and Savannah who try to squeeze through the doorway before them.

Lily rushes into the kitchen.

This doesn’t look good.

I make my way to the kitchen to deploy whatever airbags they all need to survive this crash.

Lily throws the magazines into the sink and then opens a cupboard. She pulls out a bottle of lighter fluid for the grill outside.

“Whoa!” Ryke and Lo yell in unison. They dart for her body as she squirts the liquid all over the magazines. I pry the plastic squirt bottle out of her grip, and Rose starts cleaning. She trashes all the magazines in a hefty bag before Lily has a chance to light them on fire.

Lo has Lily around the waist, and I stare at her eyes, filled with hatred and hysteria. “What’s going on?” I ask her, trying to be calm so everyone else feels reassured enough to relax.

But my tactics aren’t helping Lily right now. “People suck!” she screams, half crying on her words.

That explains nothing. I reach for one of the magazines in Rose’s hand before she tosses it. The paper is wet, and pages stick together. I don’t need to flip it open to understand the root of her anger.

The headline reads: Lily Calloway, Nymphomaniac and Reportedly Sleeping with Brothers

The photograph shows her walking down a street in Philly with Loren and Ryke on either side of her, which isn’t uncommon, especially when everyone is concerned about the girls’ safety without bodyguards.

“I don’t fucking care about the rumors.” Ryke extends his arms. “How many times do I have to say that?”

“I’m not a cheater! I don’t even like being an alleged cheater,” Lily says angrily. She points a threatening finger at the magazines. “And I hate being called a nympho!”

Nymphomania encompasses all hypersexuality, not just sex addiction. For someone like Lily, who identifies with being an addict, being labeled a nymphomaniac strengthens the debate that sex addiction is a myth.

“What do you want to do about it, Lil?” Loren asks. “Throw a tantrum in front of the cameras. Done. They’ve got your reaction on film.”

She settles down, and her face contorts in hurt. Before Lo can share in it, I speak up. “Or you could light this on fire.” I throw the magazine into Rose’s trash bag. “It might be cathartic.”

Lily’s eyes brighten at my permission.

Rose shoots me a disapproving glare. “Don’t encourage her.” She lets go of the bag and holds out her hands far away from her clothes. I can smell the lighter fluid on her from here. I’m about to help her clean up, but a loud voice overtakes all of ours.

“Are you fucking serious?!” Julian yells, his nose inches from Daisy’s. His hands rest beside her head on the wall, her back pinned against it.

She turns her face and winces, shutting her eyes tightly.

“Do you know the hell that I went through for you?!”

“HEY!” Ryke shouts, immediately sprinting over to Julian, his features darkening in a split second. Brett races beside him, whipping his camera towards an impending fight.

Rose curses and tries to turn off the faucet with her wrist, her hands dripping with water. Lo has Lily, calming her down. And as much as I want to stay and help Rose, she gives me a look that says, GO.

Crisis management #2.

The fact that we started this issue makes me want to resolve it even more. And I don’t begin running until Julian slams his fist into the wall beside Daisy’s head, screaming so loudly that veins protrude from his neck.

She flinches, and Ryke grabs Julian by the shoulder and slugs him in the jaw with a hard right hook. Julian stumbles back a couple steps before barreling into Ryke, trying to force him to the floor. But I grab Ryke and keep him upright from behind.

Ryke shakes Julian off him, and then hits him again in the face.

Julian curses and staggers back—further this time. He stops, breathing heavily as he touches his reddened eye.

He deserved a lot more than a fucking shiner for screaming in a girl’s face. I was kind of hoping Ryke would break an arm or a leg. I’m sure Rose wanted a detached penis, but we’re going to have to settle for this.

Julian looks up, his nose flaring as he glares at Daisy again. “You’re just going to fucking stand there?”

“What do you want from me?” Daisy asks.

“For you to give me back months of my life that I wasted with you, you stupid cunt.”

Instinctively, I grab Ryke by the shoulders as he tries to lunge for Julian. I hear Lo start cursing from the kitchen, about to storm over here, but Lily has climbed on his back to stop him. Rose’s heels clap towards us.