Thrive (Addicted, #4)(19)

“Even if you’re not her boyfriend, you should have stepped in like I did.”

“Clearly I’m not as moral as you, darling. You know this about me.”

Rose’s eyes narrow even more. Then she stomps forward, almost challengingly, and pauses for dramatic effect. With so much confidence, she grabs the back of his head and licks his face slowly, starting from his chin all the way to his nose—like a cat.

Connor stands poised, unmoving and unblinking. But his grin could shatter the world.

My smile grows. “Did she just…”

“Yeah,” Lo confirms, sounding impressed. She recreated a scene from Batman Returns where Michelle Pfieffer licks Michael Keaton’s face. I’m not sure if Rose has seen the movie or if it’s just a coincidence.

“Daisy?” Ryke suddenly glances around. “Fuck. She ran off…” He whips around to go find her, and as he rotates, a sharper piece of his bow hooks onto the strings of my corset. With Ryke’s haste (and strength), my costume rips right down the middle.

I gasp, my hands flying to my chest. Ohmygod.

I am naked! Nearly naked. Half-naked. Topless.

Shit.

I try to hold the costume together with just my fingers. “Lo!”

“Hey, it’s okay, Lil.” He spins me towards his chest and hides my body from view. Why is this happening? What Leprechaun did I piss off?

“Fuck…” Ryke says again, his hands on his head. “I’m sorry…”

“Can you go find Daisy?” Lo asks.

Ryke frowns and rocks back with shock. “Seriously?”

“Yeah. I’m going to help Lily, so…” He can’t go look for my sister himself. Neither can I now that I may have, sort of, flashed a crowd of superheroes.

“I’ll catch up with you once I’ve found her,” Ryke says before he disappears.

And then a couple Disney Princesses ask, “Hey…are you Lily Calloway?” Noooo.

I shake my head at Ariel, envious of her shell-bra that I could definitely use right about now.

“You called him Lo,” one girl says with a giddy smile, gesturing to my boyfriend best friend fiancé.

This is not happening.

I turn to look at Rose for more confidence. She points somewhere and mouths, Bathroom. Now.

“Lo…”

“I saw,” he says, already leading me to the bathroom. My knuckles whiten as I try to force this stupid corset together with just the strength of my fingers. The trek to the bathroom is surprisingly fast—maybe because I was thinking about side-boob the entire time.

The door breezes open, and Rose clears out the stalls with one shout: “Can you believe it?! Michael Fassbender is outside!”

I’ve never heard toilets flush that quickly in my life.

When the last girl exits, Connor and Lo enter.

I am praying upon every star in the universe and galactic, habitable planets that my genius sister has a plan.





{ 8 }

0 years : 02 months

October





LOREN HALE


“Stop moving, Lil,” I order, trying to tie the strings together on her corset. Most of the hooks are torn apart, but I find one intact.

It barely closes her top.

“Let me see,” Lily says to Poppy, who’s checking the internet for photos of us while Sam guards the door. Captain America’s greatest duty is standing outside a girl’s restroom. It’d be hilarious if Lily’s eyes weren’t about to pop out of her head.

“It’s just a couple photos,” Poppy proclaims, about to show Lily her cell.

Rose snatches the phone out of her hand, censoring my girlfriend from the news. “It’s fine, Lily. Don’t freak out.”

“How can I not freak out?” she asks. “People know we’re here. They could be swarming the area, ready to attack.”

I raise my brows at her. “This isn’t Mortal Kombat. No one is going to attack you when we step through the doors.” I whisper, “You’re safe, Lil. I promise.”

“Technically,” Connor says to Lily—I straighten up with a glare—“they only know about you and Lo. No one thinks we’re here.”

“Even better,” I chime in with a bitter smile.

“I have a plan,” Rose proclaims, hands on her hips.

Connor stares Rose down, his blue eyes popping among his black Batman attire. “Care to consult me first, hun? Our two brains are better than yours alone.”

“No,” Rose snaps with finality. “My brain can solve this crisis just fine.”

Connor leans his back against the sink counters and crosses his arms. “And if you add my brain to yours, we’d have a much higher IQ—”

“Our combined IQs wouldn’t even be humanly possible,” she cuts him off.

“Exactly. We defy the impossible,” he says with a smartass grin.

We’ll be here all day if they don’t shut up. “Okay, we get it,” I interject. “You’re both equally intelligent.”

“We’re not completely equal,” Connor says.

Rose huffs. “So what? You have a higher IQ than me. I don’t even want to be that smart. You know why?”