Page 29 of Everything Is Yours
“I knew how it was between Jack and you, Lily. I had a guy friend just like your relationship with Jack. I’ve never felt threatened by you. I think when you find the right person you just know, and I know that Jack’s love for me is every bit as strong as mine is for him. This sounds arrogant, but it doesn’t occur to me that Jack would stray.”
Lily shifted a little on the sofa, and her palm rested on my head while it still lay across her lap.
“Jack is Jack, Mya. He may appear one way, but I know that if he gave you his heart, that’s it. He’ll never want another woman. It took him a while to find you, but I’ve never known him so contented and committed to anyone the way he is to you. He’ll never stray. He’s not the type.”
Emily cleared her throat; “I worry about that with Dave at times. He’s so flirty and acts like one of the lads. I’d never say one hundred percent that he’d be totally faithful to me. Don’t forget I’ve been around him for all of his adult life and watched him operate. He and Jack used to pick up women as easily as ordering drinks from a bar.”
“You’re blind if you think that, Emily,” Emma barked.
“I agree with Emma, Dave thinks the sun shines out of your butt,” Mya said concurring with Emma. Lily surprised me when she didn’t.
“Sorry, but I get where Emily is coming from.” Lily’s tone was flat.
In a quieter tone that was supposed to evade my ears, she continued, “I feel like that about this one sometimes.”
This one, meaning me. I almost moved to reassure her when all three girls disagreed with Lily’s assessment of me.
“No way. That’s never going to happen. The guy totally dotes on you, Lily.”
I felt Lily draw a deep breath and exhale in a long agonized sigh.
“I wish I felt as confident as you all do. Alfie is an incredible man. Look at him. He’s everything. Everything. Sometimes when I see how women look at him, or grab him, even just try to touch him, it makes me feel sick. I worry that at some point his head will turn. What happens when I get older? What if I don’t do…kinky things he’s done with other women? Do you know how it feels to live with someone and wonder every day if that’s the day he wakes up and realizes you’re not good enough for him anymore?”
Lily adjusted in her seat, and her uneasy thoughts weren’t suppressed in her body language. There was tension in her thighs that hadn’t been there, and her hand was resting just that little bit heavier on my head. I was about to sit up when Emma spoke again.
“Have you ever thought that Alfie may have the same insecurities about you, Lily? That some other celebrity may muscle in and sweep you off your feet? Look at you. You and Alfie are the perfect match. Two equally beautiful, talented people with good hearts. You belong together. The way you look at each other…it’s uncomfortable for everyone else when you both get ‘that look’ between you.”
Lily must have been shaking her head because Emma said, “Don’t shake your head, Lily. To that guy there, you are the only woman in the world. You are his everything.
Lily argued further, “I’ve seen them. You have no idea how many women hit on him in a twenty-four hour period. Even when I’m with him, I’m not a deterrent. It’s like I don’t exist. They throw themselves at him, pass him telephone numbers and want their arse or boobs signed. Some even offer to blow him in front of me. He’s had women feel him up and try to sit astride him when I’ve been sitting next to him.”
Emily had been sitting quietly listening to the others before she added her observations.
“What about you, Lily? What about the guys that are constantly staring at you? What about all those guys that pass youtheirphone numbers, hang around you and try to get a few minutes ofyourtime. How about you consider what that may be like for Alfie? You’re a musician as well, and you have more male fans than female. You travel in a band full of men. What about Cody?”
The fact that Emily mentioned Cody made my heart pound in my chest. What did she mean? “What about Cody?” Had they had conversations about him before?
Lily shifted uncomfortably in her seat again, and I heard her swallow audibly.
“I can’t help how someone else feels about me. It isn’t reciprocated. We’re close. I don’t know what else to tell you. He’s very dear to me and I love him, a lot. But I could never be in love with Cody.”
“No? Why not?” Mya asked loudly.
“Shh.” Lily shushing Mya made my heart stutter, and an uneasy feeling ran through me. The pace of my heartbeat picked up again, and I had to concentrate to keep my breathing steady. The last thing I wanted was to alert Lily that I was awake. I shouldn’t have been listening to their conversation. It felt sneaky that I was. But Lily sounded anxious that Mya had hit a nerve, and I knew I was going to hear exactly what Cody meant to Lily.
“Cody is…amazing. He’s got everything Alfie has in bucket loads. Intelligent, kind and he’s definitely charismatic. I also love how protective and reassuring he is with me when we’re on the road. He has a good heart, and I love him to bits, but he’snotAlfie. Cody is someone else’s man. I’m not attracted to him like that.”
There was a brief pause while Lily spread her fingers and sifted affectionately through my hair again, then she continued.
“Have you ever looked at a man and your only thought has been FUUCCK? Just…fuck. Because the way he’s been put together stops your heart for a split second. Then, when it kicks in again, heat, desire and want flood over every inch of your body. You’re rendered speechless because your mind flips to some instant fantasy that consumes you before you’ve even interacted with him? And when you finally get to thinking again your mind is blank, and all you can do is drool? Alfie Black did that to me. Hestilldoes that to me. Every single time he walks in the room. I’ve never met a man before or since that can hold a torch to him. I mean that killer smile, those dimples, tattoos, piercings and all on a man that hot already, right?”
Hearing how I still affected her meant the world to me. Any doubts I had disintegrated at that moment.
Emma cleared her throat and gave a small giggle. “Damn Lily. You lucky bitch.”
Lily stopped sifting my hair in her hand, and a soft laugh escaped her throat.
“I know, right?” she chuckled sounding like she couldn’t believe it herself.
