Until Lilly (Until, #3)(38)

“What the f*ck?” I hear before I’m being pulled away from Nico. I brush Trevor and Asher off and right myself.

“It’s cool; we’re cool,” Nico says, holding up his hands.

“Are we cool? Tell me what I want to hear.” I look at all three of my brothers. “You three all need to tell me that you’re on her side.”

“Dude, chill, we’re all on Lil’s side,” Trevor says softly.

“Don’t f*cking call her Lil,” I growl, and Nico laughs.

“Look, we get it, and we’re all sorry,” Nico says smiling.

“So why the f*ck did you have a background check done on her?”

“I wanted to see what she’s been up to,” he mumbles, and I run my hands down my face.

“I love you all, but I know what I'm doing. This situation with Lil is stressful enough for her. If she finds out that you’re running background checks or anything else,” I tug my hat off and run my hands though my hair, “that might send her running.” I close my eyes and shake my head. When I open my eyes back up, I look at the three of them. “I have to tell you, if she runs, I'm following her. Even if that means moving to another state.”

“The only reason I said anything was because I wanted you to know that I didn’t think she would commit check fraud,” Nico says, looking worried.

“I already knew that without you telling me you did a background check, dick. It’s called trust.”

“You know, if you ever did something like that to November, I would kick your ass!” Asher says, glaring at Nico.

“Yep, I would f*ck you up if you did that shit to Liz.”

“Just don’t do anymore shit like that,” I say.

“You have my word.” Nico nods. “She’s good for you. I see that, and I can tell she loves you and Jax,” Nico says.

“Just, all of you, stay out of my love life.”

“You haven’t had a love life in a long time; we’re all waiting to see what happens,” Asher chuckles.

“This isn’t The Real Housewives; this is my life!” I shout.

“Hey, that’s a good show,” Trevor mumbles.

“You’re all idiots,” I toss over my shoulder as I walk off to join the kids. A few hours later, after everyone has left and the kids are in bed, Lil and I are cuddled up on the couch watching Ridiculousness, laughing our asses off at the stupid things people do, when she reaches over, grabbing the remote and pausing the TV.

“Thank you for having everyone over today,” she says, turning towards me.

“I didn’t want them here,” I tell her, and her eyebrows come together.

“What?”

“I didn’t invite them. They just showed up. All I wanted to do today was relax with you and the kids.”

“Oh,” she says, her eyes searching my face.

“They wanted to prove to you that they’ve got your back. They do care about you, baby.”

“But—”

“No buts.” I cover her lips with my finger. “They know that they shouldn’t have placed you in the same category as Jules. They wanted to show you that we are all family, and we all stick together.”

“I really like them all. And I'm happy they have been here for you,” she says, leaning in and kissing my chest before turning her body back around and laying her head against my chest. Then she lifts the remote in her hand towards the TV and the sound of Rob Dyrdek’s voice fills the room. I sit watching the show, but not really seeing it. My mind is full of thoughts about the past, and if I'm lucky, what the future will hold for all of us. I hold Lil a little closer when I hear her laugh. This is my boom. I knew it years ago, and I know it now.



Chapter 7





Lilly



“Stay away from my husband.” I look up, along with every child in my classroom.

“Can I help you?” I stand up from where I was sitting on the floor in a beanbag chair having story time.

“You need to stay the f*ck away from my husband!” It takes a second for me to realize who she is and who she’s talking about. She looks different from the last time I saw her at Cash’s parents’ house; her once brown hair is now blonde, and she’s wearing jeans and a sweater that is cut low, showing way too much cleavage and it looks like she has lost twenty pounds.

“Let’s talk in the hall,” I say softly. I have a classroom full of seven and eight year olds; I don’t need her to start yelling and screaming in the middle of my classroom.

“I don’t want to talk to you in the f*cking hall. I want you to tell me that you will stay away from my husband.” I walk to the door of my classroom. Once there, I turn slightly to look at my students.

“Molly, will you please finish reading the rest of the story to the class?” Molly stands, picking the book up off the floor before sitting in my chair. Once I see that she is seated, I turn to face Cash’s ex.

“Let’s just step out into the hall.” I step out, hoping that she will follow me and not cause a scene in front of my students.

“I told you already, I’m not talking to you in the f*cking hall. I am not talking to you at all. The only thing that I want is for you to tell me that you are going to stay the f*ck away from my husband.”