Love In Between(28)

I turned away. I didn’t want to hear anymore, and I wasn’t in the mood to get lectured. I get enough of that from my mom and Maddie. Gretchen got up and left the table. I looked over to where Lily was sitting, but she was gone, so I got up and walked over to where Sam was standing.

“Hey, bro, have you seen Lily?”

“Yeah, she’s over there in the water.” Sam pointed.

“Thanks, man.”

I walked to the shoreline and into the water, and she looked at me. “Want some company?!” I yelled out to her.

“Sure!” she shouted back.

I swam over to where she was. “I’m sorry about earlier.”

“Don’t be.”

“No, I was an *. It’s just that I don’t want to talk about certain things.”

“I get it, Luke. I’m the queen of not wanting to talk about things, so please, don’t worry about it.”

I smiled at her. Every time I saw her, I found myself smiling.

“I want you to come to the bar tonight,” I blurted out.

“I’d love to. Thank you for inviting me.”

We swam back to the shore, and Lily looked at me.

“I think I’m going to ask Giselle to drive me home.”

“If you’re ready to leave, I’ll take you.”

“No, you stay and enjoy yourself.”

“I’m taking you home, Lily. End of discussion.”

She shook her head at me and grabbed her bag.





13

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Lily

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I climbed onto the back of Luke’s bike and wrapped my arms him, making sure to close my eyes as he took off out of the parking lot. It was getting easier to ride with him, and I didn’t feel as scared anymore. He told me that I’d be safe with him, and that’s how he made me feel.

We reached the building, Luke parked his bike, and we both climbed off.

“Aren’t you going back to the beach?” I asked as I handed him his helmet.

“Nah, I think I’m going to practice some songs for tonight.”

As we walked to our apartments and inserted our keys into the lock, we both turned and looked at each other.

“See you later,” he said.

“Yeah, see you later.” I smiled.

I walked into my apartment and threw my keys onto the counter; then I went into the bathroom and started the shower. I looked at myself in the mirror; my hair was a hot mess, not only from the water, but from Luke’s motorcycle helmet. I stepped into the shower and washed the salt and sand off my body. After spending a ridiculous amount of time in there, I turned the shower off and stepped out only to hear my phone chiming. I grabbed a towel and wrapped it around me as I walked over to my bag to get my phone. There was a text message from Giselle.

“Brace yourself darling, I just got a call from your mom.”

I gasped, and my eyes grew wide. “What the hell did she say?”

“She said she misses you dearly, and she wants to speak with you. She’s trying to track you down. I told her that I haven’t talked to you in months, and that the last time I did, you were in Portland.”

“Thanks, Giselle.”

“You’re welcome. I’ll see you tonight at the bar.”

“You’re going?”

“Yep, Lucky invited me. He’s so sexy, Lily!”

Oh God, I didn’t know how to respond to that. Giselle and Lucky are total opposites. I messaged her back.

“Ok, see you later.”

I felt sick to my stomach. Why the hell would my mom be trying to track me down? I know why, because I’m her daughter, and even though she’s dead to me, I’m not dead to her. I needed to go lay down, so I walked into the bedroom and climbed onto my bed. When I settled underneath the covers, I heard Luke playing his guitar from the other side of the wall. Laying down on my side and tucking my hands underneath my pillow, I laid there and listened as Luke strummed the chords of his guitar. The sound was soothing, and it reminded me of the times when my dad would sit at the end of my bed, play his guitar, and sing me to sleep.

***

I was standing alone in the main entrance of the dark church. Looking down at my wedding dress, it suddenly turned black. My heart began pounding in my chest as I began to panic. I slowly made my way down the dark halls. As I approached the main part of the church, the white bows that sat upon the pews had turned black. I looked up at the altar and saw that the several arrangements of white calla lilies were also black. What’s going on? Where is everybody? I started calling Hunter’s name. I needed to find him. As I approached a small room by the kitchen, I heard noises coming from it, so I extended my hand and reached for the doorknob. Suddenly, I heard a voice behind me.

“Don’t open that door, pumpkin.”

I turned around to the familiar voice, and I saw my father standing there, shaking his head.

“Daddy, someone’s in there. They can explain what’s happening.”

“Don’t do it, Lily. Don’t open that door!” he screamed.

Suddenly, he disappeared. I slowly turned the knob and opened the door. Hunter was standing there, naked, with a naked woman pinned up against the wall. I couldn’t understand what was going on. Hunter turned his head, and the woman looked at me. That woman was my sister, Brynn, and the two of them were smiling at me. I put my hand over my mouth and looked to the corner of the small room only to find my mother standing there, pointing and laughing at me. I slammed the door shut and ran down the long hallway that kept getting longer and longer. I couldn’t breathe, and I started screaming. Tears were falling from my eyes so fast that everything became blurry, and I could no longer see, so I dropped to my knees...