Page 28

Chapter Twenty-Three

LILY

Today’s our final meeting for the fundraiser. I arrived early at the Turtle Tide and ordered our usual drinks, with a double order of hushpuppies, to get things started. And as I sit here, waiting for Sophie and Mia, I imagine what it would be like…feel like if this were my norm.

Living in this quaint beach town, joining my new friends for lunch, working a more normal job, going to Payton’s games…

What if I didn’t go back to England?

Would Payton even want that?

I give myself a mental shake. Those are thoughts I shouldn’t entertain.

Thankfully, Sophie bought my story about the job interview and pushed our last meeting to the day after Payton’s away game.

Though I keep saying to myself—and Payton—I’ll be glad when this fundraiser is over, it’s not true.

I’ve come to enjoy these meetings with Sophie and Mia, which means I’m getting attached.

To them…to Payton. Becoming emotionally invested is one of the biggest dangers of my job. So far, I’ve avoided it ve ry well, but this situation has blurred all my boundaries, and now it’s affecting my emotions.

Not to mention, I’m itching to pick Payton up from practice in a couple of hours. I look forward to the evenings when he’s at the apartment, making dinner for us. And how he insists on walking me to my bedroom door, how careful yet attentive he is.

When I picked him up last night, he was so exhausted he dozed off in the car. But that didn’t stop him from holding my hand the entire ride home. And I let him. Just more proof that my resistance is weakening.

Despite my insistence that he go to bed, he still walked me to my bedroom door again. For a moment, I thought he’d kiss me this time, and I probably would have let him do that, too. I know I shouldn’t be acting so unprofessional, but he’s making it difficult to resist.

He looked so adorably sleepy and in need of a hug, which is what I did without even thinking about it first. I wrapped my arms around him and pressed my face against the warmth of his chest. And I’m pretty sure he smelled my hair, then sighed.

If I shut my eyes, I can still feel the strength of his arms around me and the hardness of his torso against me.

This man is going to be my destruction if I’m not careful.

But oh, how I want to give in and let it happen.

To let him deconstruct me piece by piece.

I want to let go instead of constantly holding everything close like I always do.

But I’m simply playing a role, and I’ve made peace with that. Or I thought I had.

“Lily?” Sophie’s voice startles me back to the present.

I blink at her and Mia’s concerned expressions, berating myself for again letting these two walk up on me without noticing. I’m facing the entrance, and I still didn’t pay attention to who’s coming and going .

Am I losing my edge? I push a smile onto my face. “Hi, there.”

Sophie slides into the booth next to me while Mia sits on the opposite side. Both are staring at me now as if I’m sick or dying.

“Are you okay?” Sophie takes my hand in hers.

“I’m fine. Just lost in my thoughts.” And don’t ask me what those thoughts were, or this meeting will run twice as long.

Leaning forward, Mia crosses her arms on the table. “Is there anything you want to tell us?”

I bounce my gaze between them. What am I missing here? “Nothing I can think of. Are we on track with the planning? Did I forget something?”

Sophie and Mia exchange knowing glances.

“You know you can talk to us about anything, right?” Sophie squeezes my hand.

I squirm against the booth seat, making it creak. “Um, sure. Why do I have a feeling this has nothing to do with the fundraiser?”

Again, they trade covert looks.

“Are you and Payton okay?” Mia blurts.

Sophie widens her eyes at her friend as if to say back off before facing me. “We’re not here to judge. We just want to help. Both of you.”

What do they know? Did they somehow find out the truth? I push a smile onto my face. Until I know the facts, I’ll continue to play my part. “We’re fine.”

Letting go of my hand, Sophie sighs, then tugs her phone out of her brown bag. “I really didn’t want to do this.”

She moves deft fingers over her screen and then flips it around, showing me an image of a couple standing in a hallway by a hotel room door.

I recognize Payton right away. Takes me a moment longer to realize the blonde is Del in one of her wigs.

It’s all very incriminating, which explains why Sophie and Mia are acting so oddly.

My first reaction is to brush it off because I trust Del. She wouldn’t risk breaking cover unless it was important. But seeing her with Payton like that, combined with her not mentioning it to me AT ALL brings up something I never expected to feel.

Jealousy.

Heat rises up my neck, and the one hushpuppy I ate threatens to make a reappearance. There must be a simple explanation, but at the moment, I can’t think of a reason why Del would have kept this from me. For her to initiate contact like that with the principal isn’t our normal MO.

“Luke took it the night before the last away game.” She puts the phone face down on the table and takes my hand again. “He wanted to talk to Payton about it on the bus ride home, but I told him to wait until I talked to you first.”

I’m scrambling for what to say, how to react, or what to do. And then it hits me, I don’t have to act in this situation. What I’m feeling is very real and accurate.

Even the burning behind my eyes. I clear my throat. “I didn’t know about this.”

As much as it pains me to admit it, it also feels good to tell the truth to these two women who mean more and more to me on a daily basis.

Sophie throws her arms around me. “I’m so sorry!

This is just awful. I never took Payton to be that guy.

” She leans back to stare at me with watery eyes.

“Maybe it’s not what it looks like. Do you want Luke to talk to him first and find out what’s going on?

” She grabs her phone. “I can text him right now, and he’ll do it.

Trust me, you don’t mess with Luke when he’s dead serious. He’ll get the truth out of Payton.”

Mia nods in agreement with Sophie’s borderline frantic diatribe. Both look fiercer than half the soldiers I did duty with. And it’s all for me, for my benefit. They want to defend me .

The realization makes my head feel like it’s floating in some surreal alternate reality.

I can’t ever recall a time when someone wanted to stand up for me.

In the past, I was the one looking out for the younger kids in the group homes or in foster situations that were less than ideal, to put it mildly.

And because of my height, sometimes, the ones I wound up protecting were older than me.

As much as I love that they want to fight this battle for me, that would just open the bigger can of worms that’s hiding Payton’s true identity and mine.

And I can’t stand the thought of how Sophie and Mia would react when they found out this whole thing has been a sham.

I need to get to the bottom of whatever is going on in that picture so I can do damage control.

I press my hand down on her phone. “Thank you, but I think Payton and I should have this discussion first.”

Now, even Mia looks teary-eyed. “You’re so strong. I’d be a puddle on the floor if it were me.”

A wan smile is all I can manage. “I probably would be if it weren’t for you two.” And I mean this too because I know I’ll mourn the loss of their friendships when I return to England almost as much as not being with Payton anymore.

But first, I need to find out what’s behind that picture. Like Mia said, I can’t imagine Payton doing something like flirting with me while he’s making moves on Del. She’s smarter than that, and so am I.

At least, I used to believe I was. But now, my emotions are so wrapped up in all this that I’m not sure what to think.

After copious amounts of iced tea, hush puppies, and hugs from Sophie and Mia, I leave the restaurant, intending to send a text to Del from the car, saying we need to talk. But I know exactly where she is, and this needs to be a face-to-face conversation.

Del’s rental sits by a curb near the arena, so she can keep eyes on the area from a discreet distance. I park a few cars down on the street and walk up to her rental.

She jumps when I tap on the passenger side window, then hits the button to open it. “Bloody hell, you startled me. Are you trying to break our cover?”

I reach in and unlock the door, then get in. “We need to talk.”

“What’s happened? You alright?” She shifts in her seat to face me.

In one swift movement, I open my phone and show her the picture I had Sophie send to me.

Del’s expression turns guarded as if she’s hiding something. “Dash it. I thought I did better staying in the shadows.”

“What’s going on, Del?”

She titters. “It’s not what you think, luv. I promise.”

“Then what was it?” I demand.

She hesitates, pressing her lips together. “I guess you might as well know the truth. It was Payton’s idea.”

Oh, no. Something is going on between them.

How could I be so stupid to believe Payton’s interest in me was more than convenience?

I should have known not to take him seriously or read so much into his words and actions.

But he was so tender and caring. The otters…

the cat videos…his gentle touch as he kissed my forehead.

But Del doesn’t know about any of this because I haven’t told her. “What did he do?”

“You know that scene in Love, Actually, where the guy uses signs to tell the girl he can’t have that he’s in love with her?”

“Yeah, you made me sit through that movie twice. How could I forget?”

“That’s what he did. The sap stood below one of our cameras with a series of paper signs, asking me to help him woo you. He actually used that word, too, you know? Woooo . Who says that anymore? ”