Craving Lily (The Aces' Sons 4)

“Yeah, he’s pretty,” Rose replied, dragging out the last word.

I turned that over in my head for a minute, then grinned. “Then it’s probably a good thing our dads aren’t going to see him. Can you imagine the shit they’d stir up?”

“Why do you think I pushed to get picked up somewhere other than our houses?” she joked. “It sure as shit wasn’t for my date. Jayden might be a pussy, but he’s still built like a tank and has the face of a bulldog.”

My giggle turned into a full-on belly laugh. “We’re fuckin’ pathetic,” I wheezed out.

“Truth. Now where the hell are we going to get ready?”

“Trix and Cam’s?”

“Beep! Wrong.”

“Poet and Amy’s?”

“You’re kidding, right?”

“What about Tommy’s place? Isn’t he out with Leo tonight?” I asked, rolling to my side. “Hawk would be cool about it.”

“Keeping tabs on Leo, huh?”

“My sister was talking about it on the phone earlier.” I pushed myself to my feet and reached down to center myself in the room. I was right between the left side of Rose’s dresser and the wall, which meant I was two medium sized steps from the end of the bed.

“You’re such an eavesdropper,” Rose replied as she climbed off the bed.

“Kind of hard to ignore her when she’s in the same room,” I shot back.

“Fair enough,” she agreed. “I’ll call Hawk and see what’s up.”

* * *

An hour later, we were hauling our dresses and backpacks full of beauty supplies into Tommy and Hawk’s house. I had to be careful. They’d been remodeling the place for a few years, and since things were never in the same place twice and there were power tools lying around all the time, it had never been safe for me to hang out there. I got around pretty good without my sight, but Tommy’s place was a fucking crucible for me.

“Oh, your dress is gorgeous, Lil,” Hawk said as she took it out of my hand. “Not my style, but it’s going to look hot as hell on you. I’ll hang it up so it doesn’t get wrinkled as shit, yeah?”

“Thanks, Hawk.” I smiled in her general direction and tried to slow down my racing heart. I liked going to Tommy and Hawk’s house. It always smelled good, and Hawk was awesome. But after the time that I’d stepped on a nail so hard that it had come through the top of my foot, I’d never been able to relax there. I’d thought Tommy was going to fucking cry when that happened. He’d tried so hard to make sure there was nothing left out that could hurt me.

“What about my dress?” Rose asked, taking my hand and setting it on her shoulder as she started walking. I followed her easily, trusting that she wouldn’t run me into anything. I’d been following my cousin around for five years, letting her be my eyes when I needed them, and she’d never let me down. Not once.

“I’ve already seen yours,” Hawk reminded her. “You guys can get ready in the downstairs guest room. We set it up for when one of the guys crashes here and they’re too drunk to make it up the stairs. Works out well with the connected bathroom.”

“Thanks,” Rose said, slowing down. “Walking through a doorway, Lil.”

I reached out and slid my hand against the doorframe as we walked inside the room.

“Want me to help with your makeup?” Hawk asked as she sat down on the bed, making it squeak.

My eyes widened in horror right before Rose’s laughter-filled voice answered.

“Goth isn’t really our style.”

“Hey, now,” Hawk replied. “I’ve mellowed!”

“Not enough,” Rose said as she reached up and patted my hand. “No dresser in here, Lil. Straight ahead and to your left are walls. Bed is a queen, about three steps forward and one step to your right. Bathroom door is about a foot to the right of the door we just came in. No lamps and the bed doesn’t have a headboard or footboard. Shit, this room is depressing.”

“It houses drunk men. It doesn’t need to be cheery,” Hawk cut in.

“Oh, and the comforter on the bed is a lovely shade of puke green, in case you were wondering.”

“I wasn’t wondering,” I said dryly. “But thanks for the info.”

Moving gingerly into the room, I followed Rose’s directions until I’d reached the foot of the bed and dropped my bag on top. I didn’t have much in the way of beauty supplies, but I’d carried over a ton of Rose’s stuff. She did my makeup whenever we had something going on that warranted it, but for the most part I just went without. My skin was pretty clear most of the time, and I’d never really been self-conscious about my looks. It probably had something to do with the fact that I hadn’t even seen my reflection in years. I was slender and strong, and even though I didn’t have big boobs or an ass like Rose—yes, when she’d grown hips she’d let me feel them, and anytime she thought her ass was getting bigger she’d ask me to check, because I always remembered her size—but I was happy with what I had. My parents weren’t very big people, so I’d never really imagined myself as anything different.