Craving Lily (The Aces' Sons 4)

Leo’s nostrils flared as he reached out and grabbed my arms so I couldn’t shove him again.

“Poor, poor, Leo,” I said nastily. “Give me a fucking break.”

“You’re bein’ a bitch,” he said, his fingers tightening on my arms.

“You’re a fucking joke,” I hissed, leaning forward. “You have a scar on your face? I went blind for years.”

“This isn’t a goddamn competition,” he said, giving me a little shake. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

“You.” My shoulders relaxed suddenly, like all the fire inside me had suddenly been extinguished. I’d blown up, and now I was left with nothing but an ache in my chest.

“I’ve been nothin’ but good to you for your entire life,” he growled, shoving me a little as he let me go. “You wanna act like I’m some monster, that’s on you.”

“You know,” I said, shaking my head. “You know how I feel about you.”

“You’re seventeen years old!” Leo yelled, throwing his hands in the air. “What the fuck do you want me to do?”

“Wait,” I yelled back, the word falling between us like an anvil.

“Lily,” he said quietly, his eyes sad.

“It was like the moment I got my sight back, everything changed,” I said, taking a step backward. “One minute I had you in my corner, and then when I needed you, you were gone.”

“That’s not how it happened,” he replied, taking a step forward every time I stepped back. “You know it’s not.”

“All of a sudden, we were different,” I said softly, lifting my hands palms up. “You kissed me and everything imploded.”

“It didn’t have to,” he argued.

“How can I go back?” I shook my head. “I can’t watch you with her. Why would you make me?”

“It’s nothin’,” Leo murmured, reaching for me but not making contact as I shrugged him off.

“You changed everything right when I needed you the most,” I choked out as my eyes began to water. “And now, I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing.”

“Stop it,” he growled, yanking me against his chest. “Stop. I’ve been right here. You know that I’ve been right here. Goddamnit, Lily.”

“I hate this,” I rasped against his cut.

“I know.”

His hand went to the back of my head and pressed until my face was tucked into where his shoulder met his neck, and his other arm wrapped around my back, pulling me as close as I could get. I tried not to cry as my hands found the bottom of his sweatshirt and burrowed inside, but I couldn’t stop the small sobs as I pressed my fingers against his smooth back.

I hadn’t realized how much I’d counted on Leo’s friendship until it wasn’t there anymore. I was close with Rose, so close that we could finish each other’s sentences, but Leo had always been the person that I could tell anything to and not feel judged. I could complain about my mom helping me without feeling guilty. I could tell him about how frustrated I was that other kids got to do so many things that I couldn’t, and he wouldn’t feel guilty the way Rose would.

He was a vault, and I was pretty sure he was only that way for me. I couldn’t see Leo having the patience to listen to anyone else’s complaints the way he listened to mine.

He held me tight against his body until my hands stopped shaking and my tears subsided, but he didn’t completely let me go even after the storm had calmed. Instead, he just stood there in the middle of the room, running his rough fingers through my hair over and over again.

“I accidentally told my dad that you kissed me,” I said apologetically, tightening my hands against his back as he stiffened.

“Jesus. You are pissed,” he replied. He continued to run his fingers through my hair.

“He took me out back and we shot at a stump for an hour.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“He thought it might help me get my anger out.”

“Did it?” he asked, resting his cheek against the top of my head.

“Not as much as yelling at you,” I confessed.

Leo laughed and kissed the top of my head.

“I’m sorry if telling him causes you problems,” I said, tipping back my head so I could meet his eyes. “That’s not why I did it.”

“It probably will,” Leo replied, as his hand shifted and his thumb rubbed gently along my cheek. “But he’s the one that told me you were in here, so I think we’re okay for now.”

I smiled and rolled my eyes.

“You don’t need to worry about seein’ me with anyone else,” Leo said after a long moment of silence. “Alright?”

“What?”

“That’s over.”

My eyes widened in surprise and I sputtered.

“If you start seein’ someone else, though—”

“I don’t want anyone else,” I interrupted.

The wicked smile that appeared on his face was the best thing I’d ever seen.

Chapter 11

Leo

I was in over my head and I knew it. I climbed off my bike in front of Ashley’s apartment and glanced at the door I’d been using as my escape hatch for months. Ashley was a sweet girl and fun, too. She didn’t want me all up in her business all the time, but was around when I wanted to hang out, and was cool about it when I was busy. We were no great love story, and both of us knew it, but we’d had a hell of a good time.