Page 17 of Cross Check My Heart
Lilly nods her head slowly, a weary expression taking over her face as she focuses on bringing the mugs to the island.
“Yeah, it’s my first time doing all of this so I’m still learning a lot. It’s nothing crazy. I mean there’s a good chance the book doesn’t sell well, or the publishers don’t like the final copy.”
I turn the burner off, readying her plate and turning toward her.
“It’s still amazing that you’re this far, I mean I don’t know much about publishing a book, but I can’t imagine it’s easy to get where you are right now. How long have you been working on this book?”
She watches me over the brim of her mug, eyebrows slightly drawn together as I walk around the island with our plates to sit down next to her.
“I started working on it a while back but put it on pause. Until Paige found out and basically hounded me to send it to her.”She smiles slightly. “I thought she was about to reach through her phone and somehow get it herself when I tried telling her no because it wasn’t ready.” Smiling, I realize I’m grateful to Paige for pushing her to do this.
“Paige was more than happy to take the first opportunity to drag my ass down here and be close to her again.”
“Have you known her for a long time?” She smiles brightly at me as she answers.
“Yeah, we’ve been friends for fifteen years. She’s basically family, and someone I desperately needed to balance out the chaos created by my brothers.” Lilly shakes her head, the mention of brothers has me craving more information about her and her life.
“How many brothers do you have?”
“Two.” She smiles fondly.
“Add Paige to the mix and your parents must have had a full house.”
I don’t miss her smile falling slightly.
“Yeah, my mom was definitely kept on her toes.” She scratches her forehead before shaking it off and changing the subject. “What about you? Any siblings?”
“Garrett is basically a brother to me, I’ve known him since third grade. By the time we reached fifth grade he had moved in. Shit hit the fan with his parents and the police got involved…” I trail off, thinking about how much my best friend had gone through in the first couple years we had met. “My mom had seen how close we had become and did what she had to do to make sure that I didn’t lose my only friend. Whenever she was asked what made her take him in, she would joke that she didn’t want to hear me complain about losing my friend. But, we all knew that she had fallen in love with him after our second playdate.”
My chest tightens as I finally think about Sarah, and I give Lilly a sad smile.
“Up until nine months ago, I had a little sister.”
Her smile slips off her face and I focus on the eggs as the realization hits. That’s the first time I’ve said it out loud. I sip my coffee, needing something to keep my hands busy and help avoid facing the inevitable pity.
The feeling of a hand on my thigh has me sucking in a deep breath and bracing myself before finally turning to Lilly. Emotions tighten in my chest as I meet her gaze and find her bright eyes watching me. Worry lining her features as she reaches forward to caress my cheek.
“I can’t even imagine how you feel. Do you want to talk about her?” Swallowing is hard, but I manage to hold her gaze and shake my head. Giving me a nod of understanding, she leans in to kiss my cheek and sits back in her chair but leaves her hand on my thigh.
“What’s your favorite thing to do in the city? I’ve only been here for a couple weeks and feel like I know absolutely nothing about where I’m living.”
Appreciating her understanding to change the topic, I take another sip of coffee before answering.
“I actually just moved here last week. I’ve been a couple times to visit Garrett but…” I trail off realizing that I didn’t pay attention to where we went after leaving that last night. I can’t help the small laugh that escapes as I look back at her.
“Um, I just realized that I don’t know where we are. I just…blindly followed you home.” She smiles teasingly in response.
“Do you always follow strangers’ home?”
“No, this is a first for me.” She smiles brightly at me as she bites a piece of bacon.
“Well, we’re on Lightning Street.” I feel my eyes bug out of my head as I gape at her.
“Wait…” I study her condo, only this time I really take it in. My mouth gapes as I stutter, “How the hell did I miss this?”
Lilly glances around her place before glancing back at me, confusion lining her beautiful face.
“What did you miss exactly?” I shake my head as I start laughing, and nod toward the balcony.
