Page 39 of Creeping Lily
I turn in time to see him melting into the darkness, hands in his hoodie pockets, like he didn’t just crawl into my life and lay claim to it.
And me? I’m left standing there, breathless and shaking, my thighs trembling with something that disgusts me. Because no matter how much I want to deny it, my body’s response tells me exactly how broken I really am.
20
JUSTIN
Everyone has an agenda when it comes to Lily Snow.
Everyone.
Even me.
The difference is, not everyone’s agenda is as clean on the surface. Some are obvious—others, like Goliath’s, are buried under layers of convenient lies.
They told me Lily was a “priority” target. Someone they had to protect at all costs.
The story went like this: her wealthy family was concerned for her safety and wanted her shadowed without her knowing.
What a load of crap.
I wasn’t born yesterday, and I wasn’t born poor either. I grew up around people who could weaponize a dinner party, who could smile while bleeding you dry. I know the smell of bullshit when it’s right in front of me, and this? This reeks. Lily is nothing like the pedigree princess they’re making her out to be.
And that’s fine by me. Money doesn’t impress me—my father always said everyone starts somewhere. Whether that “somewhere” is a high-rise penthouse or a basement apartment, it’s what you build that counts.
No, what I don’t understand is why Goliath wants her under a microscope. Why she’s on their radar at all.
And that curiosity?
It’s enough to keep me in this for the long haul.
Because the day might come when Lily doesn’t need protecting from whoever’s out there… she might need protecting from Goliath.
I watch her slip away from the table, the sway of her hair catching the strobe lights, before dropping back into my seat. My hand scrubs down my face. Truth is, I find her intoxicating. She’s sweet and innocent in ways that clash with the rest of my world—light against my shadow. But she’s also more than that: she’s sharp and stubborn, the kind of girl who could walk into a room and disarm everyone without meaning to. Fire and ice. Storm and calm. The kind you’d introduce to your mother and your crew, knowing both would approve.
And beneath all that? Secrets.
The only problem? Trick saw her first.
I know she’s not interested in him—she’s told me so herself—but I can’t bring myself to step in. The guy’s my best friend. Going after her now would be like driving a knife between us. So I’ve been trying to push them together, giving him every shot I can. But she won’t bite.
Trick says she just doesn’t know what she wants yet. That she’ll come around. I’m not convinced. But until I know for sure, I’m stuck in the waiting game.
On the dance floor, Trick is moving with Wendolyn. His body’s stiff, like every touch from her is a bad fit. His eyes keep scanning until—there—he spots Lily. And just like that, Wendolyn loses him. She notices, of course. Hooks her fingers in his jaw and pulls his attention back to her.
It won’t work.
Trick’s too far gone on Lily to see anyone else.
When fifteen minutes pass since Lily vanished toward the restrooms, concern starts to flow through my veins. My phone feels heavy in my hand before I finally set it down, a knot forming in my chest.
I yank Bethany away from the guy she’s practically swallowing whole and send her to check.
“She’s not here,” she says, stepping back out of the restroom with an annoyed shrug.
It’s not like Lily to just disappear… but then again, this isn’t really her scene.
I start searching. Eventually, I find her outside—sitting on the top step beyond the alley exit. The night air clings to her bare arms, goosebumps dotting her skin.
