Page 62 of Everything After (Everything Trilogy)

ALFIE

Lily looked wiped out when Oscar opened the car door, and she climbed out beside the helipads. Her emerald eyes appeared dull, and I figured the meeting had drained her. Nevertheless, she still managed to make my heart race the moment I saw her again.

“Thanks, Oscar,” I said, then pulled Lily in for a long hug. Both of us stood there a fraction too long, enjoying the physical contact. I took another moment to breathe her in, filling my lungs with her heady, intoxicating scent before stepping back.

“Missed you, baby. How did it go?” I asked while I reached for Lily’s purse, took it from her and helped her climb into her seat.

“She apologized,” she replied curtly, twisted her lips and her eyes clouded with tears. I held her hand for a moment and gave it a squeeze in support then let it go.

“Which we both knew she would. That’s all you wanted, right?” I suggested, sounding matter of fact, while I buckled her in and handed her a headset.

“Yes… and it appeared genuine, but I’m not interested in a friendship with her again. I told her as much,” she admitted quietly.

Closing her door, I jogged to the other side and took my seat beside her. We stayed silent while I did. “So what happened?”

“There was little to say, really. I said my piece, she looked suitably remorseful, and I’m glad to say there was no begging or desperation in her apology.

I guess we both knew too much time had passed and we’d never get that closeness we’d had back.

So, she said sorry, I said I forgave her…

I’m still not sure if that was more for Holly’s sake than anything else. ”

Lily might have sounded clipped, but I heard the hurt she carried at the prospect of letting go of someone she once held dear.

“Well, I think you’re cool to have put your differences with Saffy aside for Holly.”

“Yeah, I’m sure she appreciates it,” she remarked with a tight smile.

“Anyway, changing the subject, I’ve been a naughty boy while you’ve been away,” I confessed, grinning to lighten her mood.

“I’m guessing this has something to do with Kara and Neil? Did you cancel on them to come pick me up?”

I chuckled. “No, they’re still at the house.”

Lily leaned forward to see my face better, her eyes wide in surprise. “Let me get this straight. You invited two people that don’t know each other to our home, then you left them there all alone?”

I chuckled, my grin widening. “Trust me, Lily. They’ll get to know each other much better with me out of the way for a while.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means I kinda meddled, but only this much,” I said, gesturing with my thumb and forefinger an inch apart. “Oh, and I might have asked her a crude question.”

“Alfie! What did you say?” Lily’s frowny face stared back at me, making me laugh again.

“You should have seen Kara’s reaction to Neil when she first saw him. The woman’s ovaries might have taken a hit.”

Lily giggled and shook her head which then morphed into a nod. “Well, I can’t lie. Neil’s extremely hot-looking,” she replied, sounding amused.

“Yeah, so… I might have asked her if he made her wet.”

Lily’s jaw dropped like it had become unhinged. “You did what? Tell me you’re joking.”

“I didn’t set out to do it. I just opened my mouth and my question fell out.”

“Don’t think I can’t see that devilish grin on your face, Alfie Black. Why would you embarrass her like that?”

“She said something like ‘her lady parts were weeping’,” I said, changing course as we reached the edge of the water and flew along the coastline.

“So, I asked if she was telling me she was wet.” A giggle burst from Lily’s throat that was so sweet considering the topic of conversation, making me chuckle.

“Anyway, both Neil and her had instant chemistry so I figured I’d bow out under the guise of picking you up and we can see what’s developed when we get back. ”

“Now I’m curious,” Lily admitted. “Who would have thought you cared about other people’s love lives. You’re giving me second thoughts about going back to work and leaving you with this baby.”

“Baby, our kid will be my sole focus when he arrives. Meanwhile, when we get in there, watch their interactions and tell me if I’m wrong,” I stated.

I turned off the engine and while we waited a few seconds for the rotors to fully stop, I helped Lily remove her headset, smoothed her hair down and cradled her face in my hands.

“But before we go in, there’s something I want to arrange, Mrs. Black. ”

“What?” she asked as our gaze became more intense the longer we stared each other out.

“You’re not working on the album next weekend, right?”

“No. The weekends are free. I don’t have anything scheduled on weekends for about three weeks.”

“Cool. Then I think we should take this ride, find a bolt hole and spend some quality time together before this baby gets in the middle of everything.”

Lily flashed me one of her coy smiles, the ones that always made my dick stir in interest. “Hm, what did you have in mind?”

“Ah, now that would be telling, but trust me, I’ve been googling, and I found something I think you’ll enjoy.”

“As long as it isn’t line dancing,” she quipped.

I unbuckled my seatbelt, slid off my seat and jumped onto the ground.

I jogged around to her side of the helicopter, unbuckled her seatbelt and lifted her down to the ground.

“No, there might be some music and slow dancing involved but no line dancing… promise,” I said.

“Oh, in that case, I can’t wait.”

On arrival home, I volunteered to make dinner as everyone gathered around the breakfast bar while I cooked.

At first Kara and I spoke about our pasts, how we’d initially met and although Lily had heard some of my history with Kara before, there were snippets of information about my family Lily hadn’t known.

“Your mom was an amazing singer,” Kara said, sharing her opinion. “She had a Karen Carpenter slash Alanis Morisette quality to her tone, depending on the song she sang.”

My heart squeezed tight with a sudden wave of emotion that swelled from my chest at Kara’s memory of the one woman, aside from Lily, I’d have laid my life down for.

For a moment my throat burned, and I became too choked to respond.

Lily, sensing the shift in my mood, slid off her bar stool and came around my side of the kitchen counter.

She wrapped a hand around my waist and laid her head on my shoulder, in a show of her comforting support.

“You’re so lucky to have gotten to know Alfie’s mom, I wish I’d met both of his parents. ”

“They were great people,” Kara confirmed again. “So, you and Neil went to college together, he’s told me,” she stated, which told me, she too had seen how mentioning my mom had affected me.

“We did,” she said, smiling. “He was kind to me when I first got here. Amanda, Neil and Will took me under their wing for a while.”

I stiffened at the mention of Will. Lily cocked her head to the side, then avoided my gaze. My eyes narrowed and I scrutinized her closer because I’d always suspected something went down between them, even if I’d never asked her about that

For a moment I wondered whether to ask Neil if he’d heard anything about them, and decided against that, because when it came down to it, I figured I’d rather remain in the dark.

“Yeah, Neil told me a bit about his ex,” Kara said, and placed a hand over Neil’s which rested next to the beer given him before I’d started cooking. The contact between them drew Neil’s gaze to their hands, but he made no attempt to pull it away.

“You two look like you’ve been getting along,” Lily suggested, nodding at how friendly they appeared.

“We’ve had a while to find common ground from our pasts, and she’s not hard to look at,” Neil suggested.

“I think there’s a compliment in there somewhere,” Kara replied, laughing.

“Oh, I got plenty of those, but I figured I’d hold something back for that date you agreed to go on with me next weekend,” Neil replied.

“Told you,” I said to Lily, waving a spatula between Kara and Neil, then turning my back to stir a pot of gravy.

“Told her what?” Kara asked with suspicious eyes.

“That you two were almost eye-fucking the minute you laid eyes on each other,” I said, looking over my shoulder at Kara.

Lily swatted my arm. I chuckled about the mischief I’d made.

“I wasn’t that crude,” I argued, biting back a smile and shaking my head. “I only said that you told me you were wet before you’d even spoken to Neil,” I clarified with Kara, for everyone else.

“Alfie!” Lily admonished. Her eyes widened horror, thinking I’d back track on what I’d said.

Kara held both hands up in surrender. “Well, I did…” she paused. “But not like that. I was only expressing how attractive you were,” she said, addressing Neil.

“Are we really having this conversation?” Lily muttered. She glanced at both of our guests, mortified.

“We’re all adults here. But I could tell them a few stories about you, if you want me to even the score.”

I saw the heat creep into Lily’s cheeks, and she shook her head. “Do that and you’ll be wearing that gravy,” she warned.

I chuckled and went back to stirring the pot. “Don’t you love it when adults have frank and open conversations?” I teased. “Lily, remember that time when…” I trailed off, pretending I was going to overshare something embarrassing about her.

“Alfie.” My name sounded like a question on her lips, but I figured she thought if I’d said something embarrassing about her, she’d have returned the favor.

“Only kidding, baby. I’ll leave the imagination up to them about our private bedroom kinks.”

“Great idea,” she gushed. “Or there may never be another opportunity to participate in them again.”

Chuckling, I went back to making dinner while Lily changed the subject and caught up with Neil’s assessment of the alumni reunion.