Page 131 of Everything After

“And you didn’t think to call?” The injustice of Lennie’s one-eighty turn in his support for me felt completely unjustified.

“What is there to say? He fucked up, and how would me calling you have changed that?”

His total disregard to commiserate or to give me some moral support sent a violent shock of electricity through my body. And it was the most careless response to something that had devastated me.

In that moment I felt helpless, until I finally realized what Alfie had been frustrated with me about. My lack of firm boundaries with Cody during performances had made people suspect there was something more than there was. The mess it had created had not only brought into question my faithfulness to my husband, but it had dragged Alfie into the problem as well.

“For one thing, you could have said he’s a dick and you’re here for me, but you didn’t. So, I get who has my back and who doesn’t now. It’s taken something like this to shake me awake and let me see exactly how things are. It would appear my needs came after yours all these years, but that’s about to change.”

“My needs?” he asked, about to protest but I cut him off.

“Lennie, I’m not doing another gig with XrAid right now. And I’m not recording another song on our album. I’m taking time off.”

“You can’t do that. We have obligations to?—”

“Watch me—sue me. Are you paying attention now?” I asked, interrupting what I suspected would have been a lecture in band responsibilities. “For the past few weeks, I’ve been wondering who the fuck you are and what have you done with the man I thought I knew. But I don’t think I knew who the real Lennie was until now.” I cut the call and stole a glance toward Alfie.

“Wow, youaresuper-pissed. It’ll do them good to consider what you could do,” Alfie confirmed.

“It’s no longer what I could do. I’m serious. I mean it, I’m done. As of now, I have no interest in pleasing anyone apart from myself.”

“And me. You still want to please me, right?” Alfie mumbled, wagging his eyebrows.

“I’m serious, Alfie.”

“As am I. This affects us both, Lily. Someone questioning your fidelity affects me too. Makes me look like I took my eyes off the ball… or the prize… whatever that saying is. Cody made me look like a chump.”

“I hardly think anyone would think that of you, Alfie,” I scoffed, but my heart ached for him. “How are people allowed to spread such lies and sleep at night?” I grumbled.

A text alert chimed on Alfie’s cell phone, and he quickly read what it said. “My attorney is coming over with Joanne from PR, to help us straighten this out. Meanwhile, once legal comes down hard on him we should get some answers because that guy is a worm. He won’t protect his source if it threatens him going to jail.”

“What I want to know is who the person was at our party that spread the word about the argument you had with Cody,” I mused.

Alfie shrugged. “No one I can think of, apart from the two players already showing their hand.”

“You mean Lennie, or Cody himself?” I asked in disbelief but nevertheless perturbed by that thought.

“Maybe we’ll find out once legal leans on that influencer,” he suggested.

“I hope so because that guy needs to be stopped from spreading lies, and the sooner the better.”

CHAPTER 69

ALFIE

While Lily continued to vent, my mind had already turned to which one of our guests had betrayed us by spreading lies about us. I could see how that argument I had with Cody could have been misconstrued, by someone looking on, as me challenging him like he’d had an affair with my wife.

However, I’d thought our circle of friends were tight. What happened behind closed doors should have stayed there. Most of us present that day had been the focus of public scrutiny at one time or another.

When Lily put Lennie and Cody’s names into the mix for the likely culprits, I thought she could have a point. But I quickly dismissed this because Lennie was still loyal to Cody, and it did XrAid no favors to have a cheating scandal between their bandmates.

My chest tightened as the rage built within me. Turning, I headed inside. Lily followed, still ranting about the influencer’s lies as I flopped onto my back on the sectional sofa and closed my eyes.

“What’s wrong?” Lily asked, sounding stressed.

I opened my eyes to see her standing over me, her eyebrows knitted in a frown. My heart squeezed in frustration when I saw her cradle her baby bump in her hands. I reached up, shifted onto my side and gently tugged her down beside me.

Wrapping her in my arms, I buried my face in her neck and once her sweet smell surrounded me, a sense of peace in that otherwise stressful situation washed over me. I began to rub her back too and felt her sag further into me.