Page 37 of Heartstruck at Dawn
“No.” Cecile gripped my hand even harder. “We’ll get our costumes tomorrow, and I’m sure you can ask three friends to come with us as a friendly group date, and we’ll have the best time.” She stared at me with an intoxicating determination. Sophie didn’t seem to know what to say, but I could tell by the sad look on her face that she felt terrible about the situation.
“Okay, you’re right,” I replied, trying to convince myself that going to CJ’s party was a good idea.
Sitting around to mope over William wasn’t an option. I should’ve known better. And yes, I did have friends, and I was planning on having a great time with them.
I planned on texting Ren to invite him to the party. Maybe he could ask two more friends to come with us.
I took a deep breath and stood up.
“Come on, let’s go. Lily’s waiting for us.”
My phone buzzed.
W.S:Hey, Guille. I’m at the airport.
Good for you. I tossed the phone back into my purse.
I would never believe a single word that came out of William’s mouth ever again.
LILY OPENED THE DOORand greeted me with a hug. “Lily, this is Sophie and Cecile. Sophie, Cecile, this is Lily.” I introduced them, and after all the double cheek-kissing, we stepped into the apartment. I was doing my best to hide my emotions, but Lily quickly noticed something was off.
There was a bottle of red wine and four wine glasses on the coffee table waiting for us.
“Shiraz, anyone?” Lily offered.
“Yes, please,” the three of us replied in unison. We laughed. We needed it. I needed a freaking glass of wine. Or two. We’d have to wait and see.
“For how long are you guys staying? Do you have any plans for the weekend?” Lily asked.
“We leave on Sunday,” Sophie replied. I wished they could stay forever. Sunday was only three days away. I was already sad about them leaving, and they had just arrived a few hours ago.
“It’s CJ’s birthday tomorrow. We’re going to his Halloween-themed party. But I have no idea what I’m going to wear yet or who I’m going to invite. We need three guys to get in.”
Lily sprang up from her seat. “I have the perfect costume for you!” she cried excitedly and disappeared into her bedroom.
She came back holding a beautiful teal silk dress with a thigh-high slit and tiny rhinestones sewn on both the straps and the plunging v-neckline’s hem. On her other hand, she held a short blonde wig with bangs.
“Elvira Hancock.” She angled her head at the wig. “It will lookbeautifulon you. Besides, we’re the same size.”
I didn’t know if I could pull that look off. I mean, that was some badass, revealing costume. Lily was taller than me, but the dress didn’t seem very long. With the right pair of heels, it would work perfectly.
“Just try it on,” she urged, walking toward the guest room. I followed her. She shut the door and said, “Okay, tell me what’s wrong.”
I pursed my lips and glanced at her from the corner of my eye as I undressed. “Lily, I don’t know, it’s—” I hesitated. I wanted so badly to tell her everything, but she was too close to William. I felt like she was his sister.
“You can trust me.”
She removed the dress from the hanger and passed it to me.
“Okay.” I sighed as I put the dress on. “It’s about William.”
“What did he do this time?” Lily asked, zipping me up.
“He’s been telling me how he’s ended things with Erin and that it’s all for publicity. But Sophie just saw this stupid tabloid on a magazine stand with a photograph of Erin and William holding hands in Europe.”
Lily’s eyes went wide for a second. I sat on the bed and continued. “I’m so disappointed because I really like him, Lily. And I know I messed up kissing Thomas that day, but he didn’t let me explain.” I huffed air out with exasperation.
“Billy can be—a bit proud sometimes.”
