Craving Lily (The Aces' Sons 4)

“Aw, sweet of you to get me a mixer,” I said, laughing when he pinched me.

“Jack’s for me and Trix. Soda’s for you, smartass.”

“Trix is here?” I asked, smiling. The two of them rarely had a chance to be out at the same time since my twin nephews were born. Most of their potential babysitters attended the same parties.

“Yeah, Molly and Will have all the little ones tonight.”

“Well, that’s brave of them,” I said as a cold can was pushed into my hand.

“Yeah, we said we’d take ’em next time, but you know how Molly is. Doesn’t really like Rebel sleepin’ at other people’s houses,” he replied as he guided me back through the room.

“It’s because she doesn’t sleep,” I reminded him.

“Yeah, yeah. I know. Just hard for them, not bein’ able to cut loose.”

“I’m pretty sure they do just fine,” I said with a smile.

Molly and Will were awesome parents. I knew that sometimes they were stressed about Rebel’s limitations, but I also knew that they wouldn’t have it any other way. Will had gotten in plenty of partying before he and Molly got together, and she wasn’t really the type to ‘cut loose,’ as my brother called it. They were happy to stay at home.

“Lily, what the fuck are you doing here?” my sister-in-law asked, setting her hand on my arm in warning before pulling me into a hug. She was one of the only people I knew that gave me notice before she got all in my space. It was sweet. The rest of my family just went in for the kill without even thinking about how jarring it was to suddenly have someone wrapped around you.

It was pretty dim in the room, and as I hugged her back, I got a little pit in my stomach when I realized that what little sight I’d been enjoying was practically nonexistent without the presence of some relatively bright lights.

“Me and Rose were bored,” I told her as she set my hand on the back of an empty chair. I sat down and gingerly set my soda on the table in front of me, right at twelve o’clock.

“I thought you were doing applications tonight?”

“I’ve sent most of them out. I was just finishing up the stragglers. It’s fucking mind numbing.”

“Yeah,” she laughed. “I remember. College applications suck balls. I can’t imagine trying to do it on that computer you have.”

“Eh, I’m used to it. The only thing that gets annoying is trying to proof the essays when I’m done. The way it translates from voice to text isn’t always super clear.”

“You’d probably be a really good public speaker or speech writer,” she mused. “You’ve been writing all of your papers orally for years.”

“Truth.”

Cam said something too quiet to hear, and I tuned them out as Trix said something quietly back. If they weren’t raising their voices above the music and laughter, they obviously weren’t trying to talk to me across the table. I took a deep breath and relaxed, listening to the people around me.

Old Poet’s laughter came from across the room. Somewhere nearby, the president’s old lady, Leo’s mom, was talking about an extra keg stored in the garage storage room. Someone, I wasn’t sure who, was singing really badly along with the music playing through the sound system. Glasses and feet were tapping around the room as people walked and talked and visited.

“You’re supposed to be at home, Lilybug,” my dad’s voice said quietly in my ear, making me jump. “Pretty sure my little girl told me she was doin’ schoolwork tonight.”

“Hey, Daddio,” I replied cheerfully, leaning into him as he kissed my cheek. “I was bored and almost finished with the applications anyway.”

“Well, why didn’t you just get ’em done, then?” he asked, pulling a chair close to mine with a screech against the floor. “Quit draggin’ your feet. Deadlines are comin’ up quick.”

“I know. I just wanted you to look a couple of them over and then I’ll send them off.”

“Oh, so now it’s my fault you’re in the middle of a party instead of sittin’ at home where you’re supposed to be?” he laughed and yanked at the braid in my hair.

“It’s not like I can see any of the bad things happening around me,” I pointed out playfully, even though I knew I shouldn’t. “Someone could be stripping on this table and I’d have no idea.”

“Don’t say that shit to me,” my dad replied, his tone growing dark. “Your mother lets you get away with it, but you know I don’t think that shit’s funny. It ain’t a joke to me, Lily.”

My heart pounded as I nodded, instantly feeling like an asshole. I had my mom’s sense of humor, completely. I made jokes at the most inopportune times, and they were usually offensive to at least one person around me. Not rude, exactly, but not in good taste, either. Where my mom would snort at one of my jokes about being blind, and give me shit right back, it affected my dad differently. He hated it. It wasn’t funny for him in the slightest.