Page 90

CHAPTER 90

WILLOW

PROTECTION OR GOOD LUCK

I had no idea what Lorelei wanted but I really wasn’t expecting her to pull me into a hug by the drinks.

" Oh. " I blinked, surprised. "Um, are you okay?"

She pulled away from me, eyes were shining with tears. She hurried to brush away at them. "I never wear makeup—the one day I wear it—I can’t tell you how sorry I am. I’m not trying to make anyone feel?—"

"No, you’re fine," I assured her and dug in my purse. "I have tissues here, somewhere…"

"You’re so beautiful." Gingerly, she took the tissues from me. "You don’t know how sorry I am."

"What do you have to be sorry about?"

"I told King to stop seeing you."

Yeah, I knew that happened but there was also clear evidence Lorelei’s persuasion tactics weren’t all that persuasive. "We’re still together, it’s okay."

"It’s been years since I’ve seen him so happy. No, I’ve never seen him so happy—" Lorelei reached for my hands and the rings pressed against my skin. "You’re such a presence. Such a light. I can sense these things."

"Thank you," I whispered.

"Do you know how I knew about his tattoo?"

The blush burned.

Oh my god, she knows about that?

"When King was born, there were willow trees outside of the hospital windows. That’s how I knew the tattoo. You’re in the cosmos." She squeezed my hands. "You’re so good for him. You’re so good to Jasmine. I’m so grateful he met you."

I whispered another thank you.

"I brought you something." She released my hands to rifle through her crossbody bag. "I could’ve bought you something but I’m sure King does that already and I didn’t know what to get you."

"You didn’t have to get me anything."

"But I did." She produced a green rock, about the size of my thumb. "It’s not jade, King said that’s your favorite, but it’s green and it’s very important to me. I picked it up in Colorado, and it’s been on my windowsill for years. It's very clean, I clean them once a week, and now it’s yours."

I stared down at the crystal. I’d been over for dinner a few times since I watched Jasmine and Lorelei never did anything but shoo everybody away from her collection. Now she was giving me one.

"It’s a protective crystal. Or good luck. I can’t remember. A bit of both." She placed it on the inside of my palm. "I want you to have it."

My fingers curled over the crystal. "Thank you."

"Of course." She hugged me again. "Welcome to the family."

I was speechless while King’s mom apologized, needing to find Jasmine. She gave me another quick hug before she left. I couldn’t stop staring at the crystal. Those meant everything to her.

It was complicated with King and his mom, I couldn’t pretend like it wasn’t, but the two of them were fiercely protective of each other, and I knew this was his mom’s way of extending that same love to me. I brushed at my eyes. Those weren’t tears, they couldn’t be. It was a happy night.

It would be, after I found my mom.

I hurried through the crowd and found her talking to a few of the other parents. She looked so beautiful in her formal gown and my throat squeezed at the sight of her. My mom, who was also fiercely protective of me and loved me to pieces.

I wrapped my arms around her and yanked her into a hug.

My mom yelped but I didn’t release her, I hugged her tighter. How lucky was I to have a mom who wanted the best for me? Who loved me so deeply and was so excited to meet my boyfriend tomorrow?

"Willow, is everything okay?"

"I love you. So much."

"Oh, baby." Her arms went around me too and she hugged me back.

How lucky am I?

"Willow," Kassie interrupted. "Sorry, can I borrow her?"

"I love you, Mom."

My mom’s smile was so beautiful. "I love you too."

That wasn’t quick enough for Kassie, she dragged me back to the dance floor.

I laughed. "What is it?"

"Is this fake? Is this photoshopped?"

I had no idea what she was talking about until she flashed her phone and then I stared down at the picture on her screen.

That was the hockey party.

It was a snapshot of June’s old house, with the table tipped to the floor, and bottles everywhere. It was taken from an angle, you couldn’t see King’s face, but it was pretty clear it was him with Elijah’s shirt in his fist, in the middle of their fight.

With me, in the crowd behind them.

All the breath left my body. "Where did you get this?"

"Someone texted it to me."

" What? Who sent it?"

"No idea. This is fake, right? This isn’t real? Because Willow, this looks bad. Like, bad ."

"No—no, that’s not fake, but it looks worse than what happened, it doesn’t show everything—who sent this?" I grabbed her phone and scanned the details, like I could’ve figured it out, but I had no idea. An idea struck me. "Elijah sent this."

"I…don’t think so."

"It has to be him," I insisted. "There’s nobody else who could’ve—oh."

"What?"

"Um…Elijah told me about the things King did in high school. He said someone told him, but they didn’t want me to find out who revealed it." I hesitated, mind whirling. "Who else knows about King?"

"I don’t know. Everyone in our group knows. It was probably Zariah?—"

I shook my head. "He said whoever told him didn’t want me to find out—I don’t know Zariah. I’ve literally never met her." My eyes flickered around the room. We were surrounded by the Romans football team and their families, everyone I’d spent the summer with. Suddenly, it felt so claustrophobic. "Kassie, who told him? Who sent you the picture?"

"I don’t know."

My phone pinged from my purse and my stomach lurched when I saw the exact same photo, from an unidentifiable number.

I jerked up. "Where’s King?"