Page 38 of Heartstruck at Dawn
No shit.
“But it doesn’t matter now because he’s been lying to me this entire time.”
“I know you’re thinking the worst, but don’t believe everything you read in tabloids. I’m not trying to defend him, but do you know how many times I’ve ‘broken up’ with Joel? I’ve lost count already. It’s insane.” Lily sat next to me.
“I get how words can be easily made up, but this was a paparazzi photograph, Lily. I saw it.”
“Look, I know this sucks. And I wish I could tell you more, but I haven’t talked to Billy. He’s been super weird and hermetic about Erin. He’s been away too, and he’s not talking to Joel about her either. I don’t know why that is, but he tends to shut off from the world sometimes, including us.”
“I don’t know why I even got excited about him. I should’ve known better.”
“Well, he’s insane. He would be the luckiest guy to have a girl like you as a girlfriend. And yeah, he’s dated a shit ton of girls. I’m not going to lie to you. But I’ve never seen him like—in love, in love. And I thought I saw him genuinely excited about you during the summer.”
Lily stood up and gave me a pair of heels to see if the length of the dress was okay. I tried them on and stood up to check. It was perfect.
“When we were at the cottage,” Lily continued. “I thought I saw this—spark in his eyes. You two had some good fun that night, didn’t you?”
I didn’t want to remember that weekend at the cottage. Our conversation, the kissing, the flirting. I missed it. I saw that spark in William’s eyes too, and I’m sure he saw a million more in mine. But a spark can extinguish as fast as it gets ignited.
“I guess we did.” I wrinkled my lips to the side. It was useless to reminisce on any of that. “Please don’t mention any of this to Joel.”
“Of course not. You know I wouldn’t.” She placed her hands on my shoulders and led me out. “There’s a floor-to-ceiling mirror in the foyer. You need to look at yourself and see what Billy’s missing out on.”
The dress was made for my body. It hugged me in all the right places. I was convinced Thomas would’ve asked me to change out of it.
“It looks great on you,” Sophie said with a sunny smile.
“Mhm, it’s a definite winner,” Cecile agreed.
“You have to wear it.” Lily insisted. “Besides, the wig is so much fun. Touch it. It’s natural hair.”
“Are you sure it’s okay to borrow this?” I hesitated as I stared at my reflection in the mirror. The dress looked expensive, and I was afraid to ruin it.
“Of course, silly. I really don’t mind. I’ve already used it twice.”
I guess Lily had much more from where that dress came from. She told me how designers would give her lots of clothing, bags, shoes, etc., so I accepted Lily’s offer and agreed to dress up as Elvira Hancock for the party.
We heard a key unlocking the door to Lily’s apartment from the outside. And something tensed up inside me.
Joel walked in with a guy behind him, rolling a big suitcase each, and I relaxed once again because I didn’t care to see William’s face right now.
“Nate!” Lily shouted. “What on Earth are you doing here?” She ran to the door, kissed Joel, and hugged Nate.
“Nathan’s moving back to New York. He’ll be staying here until he finds an apartment,” Joel said to Lily.
“Oh, my God! That’s amazing! I don’t know if I should be happy for you guys or worried about me. Please don’t take my boyfriend away.”
Nathan laughed. “I can’t promise anything,” he replied with a crisp British accent. “You know how clingy he is.”
Joel shoved Nathan’s shoulder with his and greeted me with a hug afterward.
“Nathan, Billie, Billie, Nathan.”
“How do you do?” Nathan removed his jacket and grinned at me, looking down at my dress with his grayish-green eyes. He was wearing dark gray slacks and a neatly tucked-in white button-down shirt. His shoes looked pristine. He reminded me of my father, who always travels in style. The only thing that gave him away from the fact that he had just flown across the Atlantic was his brown, wavy hair that was a second away from looking unruly.
Hi.
“Nice to meet you, Nathan.” I looked down at my dress and said, “I should probably go change.”
