Thrive (Addicted, #4)(127)

I channel the hurt that courses through me into something darker, but I notice the small bump through Rose’s black dress. And I stifle a vindictive retort.

“That’s your pregnancy pass for the fucking night. Whoever is growing in your belly is a demon. Straight up making you evil.”

Rose holds her hand out like shut up. “I don’t care about the baby. I want Lily to live with us, and if she wants to, then you shouldn’t be fighting me on it.”

“She doesn’t,” I shoot back.

“Have you asked her?”

“Yes!” I shout. No. I grimace internally, my hands shaking. I just haven’t hand the chance, really.

“How long has she been gone?” Ryke suddenly asks.

And the bottom of my stomach drops. I check the cushion next to me, already knowing Lily isn’t on it. “Shit,” I curse. I shoot to my feet. Fear rattles my bones, vibrating every ounce of me until I’m filled with dread and panic. And the rawest form of adrenaline.

Just forced to act by instinct. I barely hear Connor announce how long she’s been gone. I don’t wait for them to follow. I run to the one place she retreats to whenever she battles her addiction.



*



“LILY!” I scream, jostling the doorknob to the bathroom. I pound on the wood. “LILY!” Fear has already begun to cannibalize my soul. Yesterday, she rejected me when I attempted to kiss her after the luncheon. I thought space was what she needed—I didn’t think that it was this bad.

I’ve been so wrapped up in my own problems that I couldn’t see what was happening. I cannot lose her. Not for a moment. Not for second.

She is the only reason why I’m still living this life.

I frantically try to enter the door, the water gurgling through the walls. The shower is on.

“Move,” Ryke tells me.

I shift so he can slam his shoulder into the door. After two tries, it blows open. He barrels in before me, the shower curtain rings clinking against the rod as he yanks it back.

As soon as I see Lily, clothed, sitting in the plugged tub with the shower beating down on her thin body, I jump right in, the water freezing. I fit her between my legs while she trembles, while she clutches her knees to her chest. Water pours on us, soaking our hair, our clothes. And I hold her delicate face between my hands as she cries.

My chest collapses, every part of me screaming inside. I feel like I’ve broken the only girl I’ve ever loved. And all I want to do is rearrange the pieces and put her back together. I search her eyes that brim with tears, and even when Ryke shuts off the faucet, we both shake from more than just the cold.

“Lil, shhh,” I say, her pain just tearing right through me. “You’re okay.” She clings to me like I may slip through her arms, pull back and leave. I wouldn’t. I can’t. Our love is rare. It’s one I can’t abandon, even if I tried. When she screams, an identical one rips through me. When she cries, my world rains with grief. When she loves, I truly, truly fly.

I have never wanted anyone else but Lily.

“I’m…sorry…” she sobs, her black, long-sleeve shirt sticking to her thin body. She buries her head into the crook of my shoulder, and I hug her close, rubbing her back. Warming her with the friction. This is catastrophic. Another Wednesday, where we both lie exhausted and fractured on the carpet. Clung to the fact that we can’t live without each other, but beaten down by the roadblocks that say we should.

“Sorry for what, Lil?” I whisper.

“I meant to tell you…” Lily murmurs, coming out of her hiding place on my shoulder. Her wet hair is darker and molds her pale cheeks, sadness pouring out of her eyes. I stroke her head. It’s okay, Lil. “Yesterday, I was going to…I got scared…”

“Lily…” I say softly. “…you can tell me anything.”

“Not this.” She shakes her head, crying profusely. I brush my thumb over her cold skin. “Not this.”

Hot tears roll down my cheeks. She could have cheated on me. The thought chokes me for a second. I can’t think of anything else that would cause her this much agony and guilt. My lips are close to her forehead as she stares at her hands, like they’re a gateway out of this world.

I take them in mine, lacing our fingers together. One at a time. If she wants to leave, I’m coming with her.

“You have to tell me, Lil,” I whisper as more water pools in her green eyes. “I can’t guess.” I try to hold back more emotions, but I connect so succinctly with her that it’s almost impossible not to feel every single thing. Like the flick of each nerve. Like fingertips to fire then snow. I am terrified of what she might tell me, but I am more scared of losing her. “Please…don’t make me guess.”

She nods a couple times, staying quiet. And then her lips part in shock and realization. “Do you think…you think I cheated?” Her face shatters at that possibility. What? I almost start crying heavily. I suck it down, my nose flaring from holding it back.

This pain. It’s like someone bulldozes me flat. On the ground. “I don’t know, Lil,” I breathe. “You’ve been acting distant, and you didn’t come with me to Paris, so you had that time alone…I just, I don’t…I don’t know.”

“I didn’t cheat,” she says, her chin trembling again. She looks like she could punch me in the arm, like she usually does. But she has no energy to do so, no fight left for that blow. “You have to believe me.”