“No!” Cole lunged to his feet so fast that Lily yelped and stumbled back in fright.
Sloan grabbed her as Cole scrambled to his desk and began hurriedly righting everything she touched.
“Don’t touch!” he snarled at her. “You can’t touch!”
Color washed out of Lily’s face. “I … I’m sorry…”
“You could have ruined everything!” he said, his voice loud enough to be heard somewhere downstairs. “Don’t touch!”
“Hey!” Sloan glowered at his brother. “Chill!”
Face still a mask of fury, Cole looked from him to Lily and realization seemed to dawn. The anger melted off his face and disgust followed.
“Shit, Lil. I’m sorry.” Cole sighed. “I’ve been writing papers and essays and studying for tests every day for the last month. I haven’t left this room in weeks. I guess it’s starting to get to me.”
Lily took a cautious step forward. “We’ve been trying to call you.”
Cole puffed up his cheeks and blew out the air. “Yeah, I don’t even know where my phone is. I think Beth has it.”
“Why does Beth have your phone?” Sloan asked.
“Because I told her I couldn’t have any distractions. I needed to focus. I guess I should have told you guys, too.”
“That would have been nice,” Sloan muttered.
Lily closed the space between her and Cole and put her arms around him. “We just missed you so much and we were worried.”
“Missed you too, Lil.” Cole gave her a squeeze before stepping back. “I need a shower. My head is starting to itch.”
Lily grimaced and jerked back. “Ew.”
Cole started for the bathroom. “Why don’t you guys call Beth up and we can all go out for dinner, or something. I’ve been living on granola bars and rice crackers. I need meat.”
“Are you done with your work?” Lily called after him.
“I will never be done,” he mumbled with a tremor in his tone before the door shut behind him.
“He’s okay.” Lily turned to Sloan.
“Or something,” Sloan said. “This room needs to be fumigated.”
Laughing, Lily waded her way through a mountain of crap to the windows across the room. With a deft yank, she drenched the room in dull, gray light. She tried the lock, but the window remained firmly shut.
“Maybe a fan,” she decided.
An hour later, Beth stood in the cramped space with them as Cole rushed around finding his clothes, shoes and keys. The shower had done him wonders. He no longer resembled a mountain man, one that had no concept of soap. He seemed more alert as well. He chattered on about his courses and the mountain of work he was being forced to do while strapping his sneakers on.
“I haven’t seen him in two weeks,” Beth chimed in.
“I just wish someone had told me becoming a lawyer was such a bitch!” Cole muttered. “My brain is fried.” He got to his feet and glanced from Lily to Sloan. “So, how have you guys been? Anything new, or interesting?”
Lily shot Sloan a glance while her mouth opened and closed rapidly.
“Nothing that can’t be discussed over food,” Sloan interjected.
“Yes!” Cole agreed with a loud crack of his palms slapping together. “Food! I am all for food, and I know just the place.”
He took them to a steakhouse that was filled mainly by college kids. The waitress took one look at Cole and beamed.
“You’re alive!” She and Beth laughed like they shared a joke. “I was beginning to think maybe you died in that apartment of yours.”
Cole grinned back at her. “Not yet.”
Still chuckling, the girl motioned for them to follow her towards the back and the corner booth. She gave them a smile, promised them their waitress would be with them soon and left.
“Come here a lot?” Lily asked as she slid in across the smooth leather.
“We practically lived here at one point,” Beth said as she unwound her scarf and pushed in after Cole.
Sloan took the bench next to Lily.
“I am starving!” Cole growled, craning his neck around Beth to search for their waitress.
“Oh!” Beth dug into her pocket and tugged free Cole’s cell phone. She slid it across the table to him. “I know you said not to give it to you until you were finished everything, but I figured you should at least check your messages now that you’re taking a break.”
Cole picked it up, but no sooner had he switched the power on when the thing burst to life in his grasp, shrieking, tolling and vibrating loud enough to force him to stuff it under the table and clamp both hands over the device until it stopped.
Grimacing, he pried his hands apart and peered at the screen. His eyes widened.
“Eighty-three text messages and fifty-two voicemails? How is that even…?” His thumb scrolled over the screen. “Lily. Lily. Lily…” He raised his head and pinned Lily with a glower that was tactfully avoided as she straightened the salt and pepper shaker. “Seriously? Eighty-three?”
Cheeks an endearing shade of pink, Lily met his gaze with a defiant tilt of her chin. “I really doubt all eighty-three are mine. Maybe like … half!” The last part was mumbled as she went back to fidgeting with the shakers. “Okay fine!” she snapped when Cole continued to stare at her like she’d lost her mind. “Maybe I called a few times, but I was worried.”
Cole turned to Beth, held up his phone for her to see the screen. “This,” he swung the device side to side. “This is why I told you to take the phone.”
Lily gasped in offense. “Maybe if you had texted me, even once, I might not have called that many times.”
Cole put the phone down. “You’re crazy!”
“You’re an ass!” Lily shot back.
“Well, that’s hardly a valid argument,” Cole muttered, sitting back in his seat.
The two laughed.
Sloan exchanged slightly amused glances with Beth from across the table.
“Are they always like this?” she wondered.
“Worse,” Sloan muttered.
Their waitress arrived, gave Cole and Beth a personal and delighted greeting before handing them menus, taking their drink orders and leaving.
“Oh!” Beth patted Cole on the arm, her gaze fixed on something over Sloan’s shoulder. “I see some of the girls from my dorm.” She looked to Lily. “I want to introduce you.”
Lily started. “Me?”
Beth laughed. “I might have mentioned you a few times and I know they’re curious. Good things,” she promised when Lily narrowed her eyes warily.
“Tell her the truth,” Cole mumbled under his breath.
Beth sighed and rolled her eyes heavenward. “Okay, the truth is that they didn’t think a guy and a girl could be friends, at least not as close as you and Cole are without something … more between you.”
Cole and Lily exchanged glances, and Sloan realized Cole hadn’t told Beth about his night with Lily.
“I told them that was ridiculous, you guys have been friends since forever and neither of you are interested in each other romantically. I mean, it’s totally possible and I know I don’t have to worry about anything.”
“Lily and I are friends,” Cole mumbled in a tone that suggested they’d been over this way too many times. “We’re perfectly happy staying that way.”
“It’s true,” Lily piped in. “I don’t feel that way towards Cole at all.”
Beth smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Right, so I was thinking if the other girls met you, they could lay off the topic. You’d be doing me a huge favor,” she added when Lily hesitated.
With a sigh, Lily smiled. “Okay, sure.”
Beaming widely, Beth scooted out of her seat as Sloan did the same to let Lily out.
“You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to,” he murmured when she squeezed past him.
Lily rolled her eyes. “It’s not a big deal. I’ve never felt anything towards Cole, except friendship anyway.
I don’t love him the way I love y … cake.”
Sloan blinked. “Cake?”
Cheeks a startling red, Lily nodded. “I really love cake.”
He could say nothing when she darted past him and hurried to join Beth.
“Just the dudes!” Cole declared when Sloan regained his seat. “How you been, man? How’s the company?”
“Good,” Sloan answered. “Nothing new on that end. How’s school?”
“Beating my ass!” Cole exclaimed. “I am exhausted, my sleeping pattern’s all out of whack, my diet is all messed up, and don’t even get me started on my bowel movement.”
Sloan grimaced. “Please don’t.”
Cole slumped back in his seat and rubbed viciously at his face with both hands. “This is the first real break I’ve had in a month.” He let his hands drop into his lap and met Sloan’s gaze from across the table. “I’m sorry I made you guys worry. I guess I was just really stressed about getting everything done and not falling behind. I didn’t even think it had been that long.”
Sloan waved a hand dismissively. “Lily was worried.”
Cole glanced over to where the girls were now sitting with a group of other girls. They were all laughing at something a pretty brunette was saying, including Lily.
“She would fit right in here,” Cole mumbled. “I kind of wish she would change her mind about attending.” He turned back to Sloan. “It would certainly save you from having to keep driving her up to see me.”
“I don’t mind,” Sloan said.
“She been driving you nuts yet?”
Sloan stole another peek in Lily’s direction, took in her beautiful face and the twinkle in her eyes. “No.”
Cole snorted. “Yeah, well, she always had a thing for you so I guess she wouldn’t be her normal pain in the ass self with you.”
Sloan stiffened. His gaze shot to Cole. “What?”
Cole laughed. “Don’t tell me you never knew.” At Sloan’s slack-jawed expression, he sobered. “Seriously? Dude, how clueless are you? Yeah, she like had this huge crush on you back when we were kids. It was disgusting.”
“What are you talking about?” Sloan narrowed his eyes on the other man.
“Relax.” Cole grinned. “I’m sure she’s over it. You weren’t exactly warm and welcoming towards her the last nineteen years, Sloan,” he explained when his brother could only stare at him.
“Why did you never tell me this before?” Even to his own ears, the question was quiet and riddled with betrayal.
Cole shrugged. “Why would I? The last thing I wanted was to make things even more uncomfortable for Lily when she came over.”
The leather squeaked with the shift of Sloan’s weight. His gaze slid the twenty feet over scuffed hardwood to the table across the way. Lily was leaning forward with her forearms braced on the table, listening to something Beth was telling her. The two laughed and Lily flicked a napkin at the brunette. Sloan’s chest tightened at the happiness that seemed to radiate off her. She looked so content sitting with other girls her age, like they’d sat at that table a million times. Cole was right, this was where she belonged, building a future for herself. It wasn’t right that she was always sacrificing for everyone else.
Lily took that moment to raise her head and their eyes met. She was still smiling, but it softened; the kind of smile a girl gave the guy she cared about in a way that was more than a friend, as though they shared something deep and intimate. Not once had he ever seen her give that look to Cole, or anyone else. But there it was, aimed straight at him. Had it always been there? Had he simply never paid attention to it? How was that possible when there was very little about her he didn’t notice?
Sloan had always known he could have been warmer towards her over the years, even cordial, but it had felt safer to keep her as far away from him as humanly possible. Even now, he couldn’t trust himself not to hurt her. She was just too important and he was too damaged. Wanting her the way he did hit him as something someone like him didn’t deserve.
“Sloan?” Cole was waving his hand from side to side, attempting to get Sloan’s attention.
“What?”
“You okay?”
“Yeah, I, uh…” He cleared his throat and tried to focus. “I just thought of something.”
Cole raised an eyebrow. “It looked painful. You sure you’re okay?”
Nodding, Sloan glanced over at the other table just as the waitress arrived with their drinks. She set them down and asked if they knew what they wanted.
“The usual for me and Beth,” Cole said, handing back his unopened menu.
Sloan gave the waitress a sheepish wince. “We might need a bit longer.”
“They’ll have the same.” Cole ordered. “Trust me,” he said to Sloan. “The ribs and steak platter is to die for.”
Shrugging and passing his menu over, Sloan grinned. “Ribs and steak sound great. Two of those.”
With a smile, the waitress left.
“So, how are things with you and Beth?”
Cole shrugged. “Great. I’m still crazy about her.”
Sloan nodded slowly. “Lily seems to like her.”
Cole laughed. “Trust me, it’s really hard not to like that girl. She’s disturbingly sweet.”
Again, Sloan bobbed his head. “Hey, I wanted to ask you something. Do you remember that camera Lily used to have?”
“The one she used to take everywhere with her? Yeah, what about it?”
“What happened to it?” Sloan asked. “I mean, she has a million photo albums of all these pictures she’s taken, but I haven’t seen her camera.”
“No idea,” Cole answered. “That thing disappeared like three years ago and never turned up. Hey, how did you know she has a million photo albums? Those things are like the Holy Grail to her. She doesn’t show anyone.”
Sloan looked down at the table between them, knowing full well he just put his foot in his mouth and there was nothing to do about it, but tell the truth, because he had already lied too much where his brother was concerned.
“Lily moved into your room.” He lifted his head and met his brother’s stunned expression. “Yesterday.”
“Whoa, Lily is living with you?” His brow creased with deep confusion. “Why?”
“I asked her to.”
“Why?” Cole said again with a little more emphasis on the word.
Sloan straightened the utensils wrapped in the blood-red napkin and continued to study the sparks pinging off the metal prongs of his fork every time the light hit the metal.
“Maybe because she’s not the only one who has had feelings all these years.”
“What?” Cole’s bellow of shock and outrage silenced the restaurant for a full minute before people realized nothing was going on and went back to their meals. Cole was oblivious to everything, except Sloan. “Are you kidding me?”
Sloan gave the slightest shake of his head.
Cole leaned forward, narrowed his eyes and stared into Sloan’s face like he was searching for a brain deformity.
“Are you in love with Lily? My Lily?”
Sloan’s teeth clenched at the words. “She’s not your Lily.”
“She’s my best friend!”
“But she doesn’t belong to you!” Sloan shot back, feeling his own temper rising.
Cole reared back, head rocking rapidly from side to side. “Jesus! You’re in love with her!”
“In love with whom?” Beth appeared at the table, sans Lily, Sloan noticed. She slid into her spot next to Cole and glanced from one to the other. “Who’s in love?”
Neither Cole, nor Sloan spoke. They were too busy having a heated death match with their eyes.
“Does she know?” Cole demanded.
“No.”
Cole rubbed a hand over his mouth. “I don’t even know what to say…”
“Say about what?” Beth demanded. “What’s going on?”
Sloan ignored the question. He turned his head and searched the o
ther table for Lily, but her spot was empty.
“Where’s Lily?”
“Bathroom,” Beth replied. “Now can someone please tell me what’s going on?”
“Lily moved in with Sloan,” Cole answered.
Beth frowned. “Like, moved in moved in, or moved in?”
Cole scowled at her. “What does that even mean?”
Beth shrugged. “Well, one implies a lot more adult activities.”
“Ugh!” Cole jerked away from her like she’d just contracted a fatal disease.
“What?” Beth laughed. “We’re all grown ups here.”
Lily appeared then. She slid in next to Sloan and looked around the table with a smile on her face.
“What did I miss?”
“Sloan was just telling us you guys moved in together,” Beth supplied.
Lily’s eyes widened. They shot from Sloan to Cole and back.
“I was kind of hoping we could tell him that together,” she said in a small voice.
“I know,” he murmured.
“Is there anything else you guys need to tell me together?” Cole shot in.
Lily tensed. It was subtle, barely noticeable had she not been pressed into Sloan’s side. Some of the color left her cheeks and he nudged her drink over.
“What?” Cole demanded. “What are you two not saying? Lily?” He rounded the full force of his accusation on her. “What aren’t you telling me?”
Sloan felt the tremor that passed through her and anger washed through him.
“That’s enough,” he warned.
“Lily!” The slam of his palm on the table rattled the salt and pepper shakers, but it also made Beth squeak in surprise and Lily jump.
Sloan would have leaped to his feet if the table hadn’t been bolted into the ground, instead, all he could do was lunge over the table and grab the front of Cole’s sweater.
“I said enough!”
“I’m pregnant!”
Those two words seemed to have the power to still the very air in the room. No one moved, except Sloan, who relinquished his grip on his brother and sat back. Cole, Sloan was sure, wasn’t even breathing. He stared at Lily as though she had just announced she was undergoing surgery to become a bird.
“What…” His mouth worked a while longer, making the shapes of words without anything coming out. Finally, he blurted, “How?”
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