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Chapter 18

Lily

T he next couple of weeks pass in a blur. Tyler has traveled two of the past three weekends, and I’ve been knee-deep writing this new story. By the season opener this weekend, which is at home, I’ll be done with book one of my new series. This level of excitement buzzes under my skin as I approach the finish line that makes me giddy, and nothing is more satisfying than typing those two glorious words: The End. Morgan has begun launching a few teasers, my notifications have been going wild, and just feeling the readers’ enthusiasm for something new from me has me agreeing to a late lunch when Camille invites me over. Should I go to lunch? Probably not. I have work to do, but spending time with new friends sounds amazing too.

Of course it didn’t take long for word about me being an author to travel fast. At least through Tyler’s friends. He told Jonah, who told Sophie, who told Camille, who’s now looking at me from across the table in her kitchen in complete awe.

“I can’t believe you are Lily Keegan. I’ve read all of your books, I follow you on social media, and I’m sorry to say this, but I’m fangirling over you right now, and I can’t help myself.”

I laugh at my friend, who this time isn’t holding her gorgeous baby, but has her in a swing nearby. She’s sleeping, and I’m in awe of how much she has grown since I’ve been here.

“Right! When Jonah told me, and I looked up the books, my jaw dropped. You’ve been trying to get me to read that cowboy series for the past year now.”

“That’s because it’s so, so good,” she says, looking over at Sophie.

Camille leans across the table, and she pushes a glass of white wine my way. “Please, you have to tell us what you’re working on now. Is it a football series? It has to be. I will die.”

I grin at them. “I see how it is. You think this wine will give me loose lips. You should know the way to my heart is through donuts.” Not that I’m complaining about the spread in front of me. She ordered a bunch of food from a place called Wright’s Gourmet House and had it delivered. There are sandwiches, assorted salads, soups, and the most delicious-looking cupcakes.

Camille grins back. “Noted.”

“No, it’s not football. Although I had completely ruled that out at one time, and now I might be reconsidering. Tyler is adamant that I do once he found out I wrote a hockey series. You would have thought I killed the family pet with how put out he was.” Just mentioning him casually has me smiling, and it doesn’t go unnoticed. “Currently, I’m working on a small-town romance series set on a lake in North Carolina.”

“Oh, I love small-town romance. I saw those pictures you posted a while back at the lake. I was just hoping you were combining mountain men and football.” She laughs. “Can you imagine?”

What would that even look like? You’d have to choose a city in the mountains, and it would have to be large enough to house professional sports teams. Maybe Denver? Someone might be able to swing the mountain-man vibe there.

“Nope. Not this time, but I do love a good small-town romance, too. I thought about starting another family saga. I’m not oblivious to how much everyone loved the Harrod family, but the overlap is a lot, so I’m taking a break. This one will be interconnected stand-alones. There will be some overlap, but mostly, each story will be separate from the others. I do have so many pieces of plots floating around about another family, though. I know I’ll get back to it real soon.”

“Can you give us any hints about this one?” Sophie asks as she digs her fork into the pasta salad.

Hints are all that’s really out there. Morgan has posted a couple of the tropes, aesthetics, and a few teaser lines, but she hasn’t announced any of the book details like name or release date yet. Our plan is to solidify the editor and the proofreader by the end of the week so we’ll have that date. I’m hoping for about a month from now. That gives us two weeks to get it ready for early reader copies. After that, it starts pushing too close to Christmas, and I do not want to get lost in the shuffle of all the holiday books.

“Currently, it’s called the Lake Loon series. I’ve wavered back and forth on the Lake Loon Resort series because it’s about four guy friends who bought the resort there on the mountain, and they’re restoring it to what it once was. Each book is about one of the guys, but the resort is a ski resort in the winter and an outdoor adventure resort in the summer. I waver on adding ‘resort’ or not, because I want the stories to take place all over town, at the resort, on the lake, et cetera. It also makes the series name longer and more difficult for branding purposes.”

“I don’t think you need ‘resort’ in the name. I think the Lake Loon series sounds nice,” Camille says confidently. She’s already on board with whatever I’m about to put out, and my heart expands. I went from only being able to talk about my stories with Morgan to suddenly a handful of people, and it feels surreal.

“My friend Morgan agrees with you. We’ve been together a long time, and she’s now my assistant. It’s nice to have someone on the back end doing all the things I don’t want to do. I just want to write the stories.”

“I understand that,” Camille says.

Camille owns a company called Vintage Soul. She finds old pieces of furniture that need some love and refurbishes them. Most have a shabby-chic feel that fits perfectly with homes in the South or coastal homes, but she does custom pieces too and will make whatever you want.

“Well, if you need anyone to read what you have, I’m your girl. I promise I’ll give you excellent feedback.” She smiles at me before glancing over at her daughter.

“Absolutely. When it’s all done, I’ll send it to you.”

She lets out a small squeal. “You and I are going to be best friends.” She grins.

“Hey, what about me?” Sophie tosses out, but we know she’s just kidding.

“And of course I’ll buy it once it’s live. I love supporting my friends, and you can inscribe it to me, to my best friend.” She waves her hand in the air.

We all laugh.

“So,” Sophie says, changing the subject. “You told us at the cookout that you’ve known Tyler for a while?”

I’m not oblivious. I knew the topic of him was going to come up. I take a sip of the wine and get ready for the inquisition. I do understand where they’re coming from. I’m the new person to the group, so of course there will be questions.

“Yep. I had gone to tour the college, and Lance let me crash at his place, which also happened to be Tyler’s.”

It’s funny because when I think about that trip now, I remember details about Marissa that I didn’t necessarily before. She was very sweet to him, and she had no problem leaving him that night so the four of us, Lance and Casey, could spend some time together. I thought she was being nice, but he told her she didn’t need to leave. He wanted to include her, but she claimed she had to study. He was disappointed, but at the time, I thought she didn’t notice, when now I guess I’m realizing she did, but chose to ignore it. I wonder how often during their time together she did that.

But it was that night, after Lance and Casey went to bed, that my crush on Tyler amplified. Tyler walked me all over the campus, in the dark, while we drank milkshakes. He told me about his favorite places and things he loved about school, and when we got back to the apartment, instead of going to bed, he suggested a movie. Together on the couch, him on one end and me on the other, we shared a blanket and laughed for hours over dumb comedies.

“What was he like back then?” This comes from Camille.

“Pretty much the same as he is now. He was kind to me then, always cracking jokes to try to make people laugh, and he was just as committed to football then as he is now.”

“Has he ever dated anyone?” she asks. I bet Sophie already knows this answer from Jonah.

“He dated Marissa for a long time, but I don’t think he’s dated anyone seriously since. But then again, I’ve never asked, so I don’t know.”

Just saying her name has my blood boiling under my skin. I’ve heard of a lot of terrible things happening to people over the years, but what she did to him takes the cake. She manipulated him in a way to be exactly what he wanted and needed to make him fall in love with her. And he did love her. I saw it firsthand. But to be so deceitful, to steal his identity and his things, to try to expose him to the world through blackmail, no wonder he is the way he is. Everyone is a red flag to him. He firmly believes trust is earned and not given, and it takes a lot for him. I feel honored to be given that trust.

“Well, I know,” Camille says. “He hasn’t dated anyone, according to Reid, and he’s known him a lot longer than Jonah.”

He hasn’t dated anyone. I can’t decide if this makes me happy or sad. Happy for me, which is ridiculous because there is no us, but sad for him because he’s found himself living alone and not sharing himself with anyone. Tyler is so kind. I’ve seen how much he loves Lance. He has so much to give to someone.

“He really is the best, too,” Sophie says. “He’s so good with Vivi. I know without a doubt he’d make a great father one day.”

Why are they saying all of this to me? Are they somehow hoping that maybe we’ll start dating? Well, joke’s on them. Tyler has never looked at me with any interest. He’s been a stand-up guy and very platonic as long as I’ve known him. I'm certain any looks I might have seen or wished to have seen come from this innate sense of brotherly concern. Although, should those looks change, I wouldn’t be opposed to it.

Being around Tyler in the capacity that we have been, it’s been hard not to acknowledge my attraction to him. That teenage crush, there’s a reason it lingered for so long. It’s been knocking on the door wanting to make a reappearance, and I’m doing my best to keep it at bay. It would be so easy to give in, but what does that do for either of us? Nothing.

However, just the thought of giving in to it, to him, has my cheeks heating. Any red-blooded female in my position would get lost in thought too, thinking about how he could physically wreck me, and I’d love every second of it.

Roommate.

Brother’s best friend.

Athlete.

All reasons I remind myself of why this is a bad idea and why I purposely don’t think about it.

“You should come to the game with us on Sunday,” Camille announces as she picks up a small piece of a Cuban sandwich.

Go to the game? Just thinking about being spotted in public has anxiety creeping in under my skin. I know I went to the team barbecue, but that was a contained space. This feels a little more like tossing me out into the wild.

“Oh, I don’t know. I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

I know I shouldn’t have, but I did read some of the comments about me. While a lot were curious about what I was doing there, just as many shouted their opinions about me being a traitor.

“Why? You’ll be with us,” Camille says like it’s no big deal.

“Are you kidding? Someone will see me, and then even more pictures will be taken and then leaked.”

She looks at me thoughtfully. “So? You can’t stay locked up forever. Even as much as you try, eventually, someone somewhere will see you, and it will all have been for nothing. Besides, didn’t you and Dean split up a while ago?”

“Yes, I moved out at the beginning of May.”

“See! That’s four and a half months ago. There’s no reason for you to stay hidden away any longer, and we won’t let you. It’s time to get back out there and live your life. It’s also really fun to cheer on the team. While they are focused and play hard, they’re also a bunch of clowns.”

“Yes! Jonah told me they’ve been practicing touchdown dances.” Sophie shakes her head.

“Touchdown dances?” I ask them.

“Think synchronized group dancing,” she tells me.

“Has he shown you any?” Camille asks her.

“No, and trust me, Vivi has begged. He’s embarrassed to do them at home, so I have no idea how he’ll do them in front of sixty-five thousand fans.”

I saw Tyler dance at Lance’s wedding. Even with his large frame, he’s got moves, but watching him shimmy in those tight uniform pants? Now I’m intrigued.

“Well, maybe I do need to go see this,” I tell them.

They both cheer.