Page 81 of Lust & Lollipops

On the people I’d loved and lost.

Tears welled in them, and I didn’t try to wipe them away. Sometimes, letting myself feel sad for a bit was the best way to accept the emotions and keep living.

“I was still a teenager, then. Seventeen. I could’ve joined the fight, and I wanted to, but my grandma guilt-tripped me into staying with her. She thought I needed to grieve, and she was right. I don’t think I’d fully moved on when the war ended, and you showed up at her door. Hell, I don’t know if I’ve even moved on now.”

Cam set his hand on mine. “Grief has no proper timeline, Lolli. It strikes when it decides to, and it stays as long as it chooses.”

“Who did you lose?”

“Many friends. We fought our hardest to end the war without exposing ourselves and our magic. We should’ve stepped in the way we did much sooner.”

I nodded. “Some people say the fae won the war, even though it was between humans. Because of the way you took over.”

“No one wins a war, Loll. We’re just the ones who stopped it.” He slipped his hand beneath mine and laced our fingers together. I held on tightly, needing to feel his support more than I realized. “Your grandma will be thrilled when she finds out we’ve mated.”

A sputtered laugh escaped me. “You have no idea. The woman is obsessed with you.”

He flashed me a grin. “I bet she watches every episode the moment it comes on.”

“I bet she emails the Society daily in an attempt to convince them to let her watch the episodes before they come out.”

His grin widened. “All of her friends probably watch it with her.”

“And they all probably have to fan themselves when Kyle and the other bastards walk around naked.”

“They won’t be rooting for me, simply because I wear shorts,” he said.

We laughed together, and I leaned my side against his. He didn’t release my hand, holding firmly even as the laughter faded.

“Do you really think they’ll like me?” I finally asked, my voice growing softer. We both knew I was talking about his family.

I wasn’t good at making friends. My only friend options were at work, and they all knew that I wasn’t going to be there long.

Everyone had been waiting for the Society to call me in for Bachelorette. They didn’t treat me like one of them. The women acted like I was fae—but one they didn’t want to fawn over, considering I had tits.

The men acted like I was invisible, not wanting to accidentally piss off Cam.

“I think they’ll like you more than they like me,” he said.

Another laugh escaped me.

We stayed on the beach for a few hours, talking and letting the water wash over us.

It was blissful.

Two days passed by slowly, but peacefully.

Travis and Kyle tried to convince me to choose them a handful of times each, but they weren’t pushy. I think we all knew they’d already lost.

When the third day came around, we all walked to the voting place for the final time.

Rhett stood beside me while the three guys were instructed to sit down.

“Congratulations to all three of you,” Rhett said, studying the group of us. “You are the final survivors. Now, the game rests in Molly’s hands. Do you have any questions, Molly?”

He looked at me.

I shook my head. “Nope.”

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