Picking Up the Pieces (Pieces, #2)(34)

"You, uh, tappin' that?" Brian asked in a hushed voice.

I shot a defensive look at him. "What? No. I said she was just a friend." I didn't like these pervs talking about Lily and making assumptions about her. I was getting agitated. Fast.

"So you don't mind if I make a play for her?" Trevor asked.

I stared at him like he had seven heads. Is he f*cking serious? If I couldn't have Lily, I sure as f*ck wasn't going to let one of my friends have her. Especially since I knew what kind of pricks they really were. "Yeah, I mind," I replied gruffly.

"Why? You said she was just your friend," Brian interjected.

"Because she's too good for you douchebags. Stay away from her." My posture shifted. Tension radiated through every muscle in my body, and I was close as hell to punching one of these f*ckers out.

"Ha, friend my ass. He's totally nailing her," Matt scoffed.

I was up in his face the second the words left his lips. "Do you really think pissing me off is the best idea?" I threatened. Matt was a tall, lanky guy who I could put in the hospital with one hand. And he damn well knew it.

"Calm down, man. I'm just playing around." Matt held up his hands and backed away from me.

"Let's just get this straight right now. Lily is just my friend, but that doesn't mean she's not important to me. So back the f*ck off." I spun away from them and nearly plowed right into someone. I grabbed the person's biceps to try and keep us both upright. When I looked down, I saw a familiar pair of hazel eyes. Of course she's standing right behind me. "Lily, I just . . . shit."

"You just shit?" she asked, her lips twitching slightly.

I stared at her for a second and then shook my head to clear it. "Uh, no . . . gross. No, I meant sorry. For all of that." Unsure of how much she’d heard, I decided that keeping things vague was my best option.

"You're sorry for defending me?" Her eyes were twinkling, and I knew she was f*cking with me.

"No, I'm sorry for . . . how much did you hear?"

"Enough. I always thought your friends were dicks. They certainly didn't prove me wrong."

"You thought they were dicks? Why? You’ve never even met any of them." I was intrigued by her assumption about them. Though it was more than an assumption. She was completely correct.

"Exactly. Where the hell have they been? You've been going through a ton of shit in the past few months and who does your mom call to help you? Not them. They're clearly *s." She spoke loudly enough for the guys to hear her, and she didn't seem the least bit intimidated.

I stared curiously at Lily, loving this protective instinct, but wondering where it had come from at the same time. “This may surprise you, Lily, but I’m a pretty private guy,” I said with a smirk. She rolled her eyes in response and I continued. “I don’t need them to know my business. That’s why my mom didn’t call them.”

“But they’re your friends. Friends should be there for one another.”

“I didn’t say they were good friends.” I laughed, but Lily remained stolid. I couldn’t figure out why this bothered her so much. Was it because if I had better friends she wouldn't have had to get involved? I felt sick just thinking of that as a possibility.

“Max, this isn’t funny. When I struggle, I have people to support me, to help me through it. You just have a bunch of dickheads who want to see what they can squeeze out of you. I hope they all get Ebola and die.” She said the last bit a little louder than necessary while she stared directly at them. When did she become so feisty?

“Hey, I have people who support me.” I placed my hand under her chin and tilted her head to look at me. She looked . . . sad. I had just promised myself that I would never cause her to be brought down by our friendship, and I hadn't even been able to make it an hour.

She gently swatted my hand away from her face. “You need more than just your parents to be there for you. You deserve better than those . . . parasites.”

“I have more than my parents.” Gazing down at her, I tried to convey with my eyes all of the things I hadn’t been able to say—wouldn’t be able to say. How sorry I was for being so selfish. For ruining things between her and Adam. For almost ruining them between us. And how f*cking thankful I was that she was there with me now. That she could be the friend she knew I needed even before I did.

She looked back at me for a moment before rolling her eyes again and smiling, “Okay, I guess you have me too.”

“Good. Now that that’s all settled, can we please have some goddamn fun at this party? I’m thirty for Christ’s sake. This is a big deal. I am a big deal. And I expect to be treated as such.” I continued my rant about my greatness as we walked back toward the rest of the guests. But I left out how, the thing that was the greatest about my life, was that Lily was back in it.





Chapter 15: Adam


Lily and I had hung out a few times over the past two plus weeks. We’d done little things together that usually just consisted of grabbing a bite to eat after I’d finished work and before Eva got home from whatever activity she had that day. So far, we’d taken things slowly: a hug when we greeted each other, a quick peck on the cheek to say goodbye. But adults can only tolerate that pace for so long before someone takes things further. And since neither of us had, the sexual tension between the two of us was palpable.