Page 17 of Four Times Taken

Lily

The fuse burned out. Tick, tick, tick. My blood echoed like the hand of a clock, counting down the timer of a bomb. And boom!

"You know what, Eric? Stay away from me," I exploded.

The eruption was loud. People turned around to regard us, and my skin overheated. The nerve of Eric to approach me in the first place, but once I saw that the confrontation was unavoidable, I tried ignoring him, and that didn't work. I tried being short with him, but he didn't take the hint. I tried biting my lip, but I couldn't anymore. Hurrying away from the eyes burning into me, I stalked off toward the garden.

Ann-Marie hurried after me, but when she took my arm, I jerked away from her, thinking it's Eric. "What happened? Did that man do something to you?" she asked.

Oh, hell. I'm such a sucky friend. She should be enjoying her day, and I couldn't even hold it together for her. "I'm sorry. No. He's someone from my past." Letting out a breath, I took her by her shoulders. "Go back to your husband. I'm sorry if I ruined your big day."

"Listen to me. You didn't ruin anything. Do you want to talk about it? Is he one of your abusers?" she asked, and I looked over her shoulders to see him coming toward us.

My body tensed. "No, he's not. He's just someone who let me down. You don't mind if I take a walk to calm down, do you?"

"Not at all, sweetheart. I shouldn't have forced you to stay," she started.

"Hey, don't do that. I stayed for you. Okay?" I reassured her. "Now, go enjoy your day. I'll be fine." I looked from Eric to her. She turned around and saw him.

"Do you want me to get rid of him? I don't really know him. He's just that photographer's friend. I extended an open invitation to him..." she began to explain, and I sighed.

Well, of course he's the photographer's friend. What a hell of a fuck up that would have been if I had hooked up with his friend. Then again, maybe it'd be just the thing to hurt him, even a fragment of the way he hurt me. But that would be too much drama, and I wouldn't want their male slander to be directed at me behind my back. I wouldn't want to give Eric anything else he could use to take me as a joke.

Yeah, I dodged that bullet.

"It's okay. Go. I'll be okay." I kissed her on the cheek, hurrying away before Eric could get close enough.

"Lily," he called after me. When he caught me, he took me by the arm again.

"You're going to lose that hand if you keep touching me," I warned.

"I just want to talk about things." He backed away.

Closing my eyes, I shook my head, laughing a little. "What exactly did you think would happen here, Eric? You've managed to stay away for over ten years, so what if you happened to run into me at an event? Did you think I would just jump in your arms with glee?"

"I shouldn't have left the way I did," he said.

I bit my lip. I didn't want him to know how his leaving affected me. You know what's even worse? I knew that if I let him get close enough, his wormy little charm thing would slither itself in, because he's an expert at this game he plays. I'm angry at his audacity, sure. But I'm even more angry at the way my belly flipped at his compliment, the way I stirred when his eyes lingered on my lips and moved over my body with appreciation. I hate the way the sides of my lips were infected by his smile inspiring my own, leaving me to fight with myself. I hate that he assumed I'd acquiesce to his offer of a dance or that if we did, I'd be tempted to forgive all his wrongs and pick up where we left off. It would have been so easy for him to make me his victim again and I hate him for that.

"Yeah, well, it was easy for you to pick up and leave all those years ago. It shouldn't be hard for you to do so now. So what? We ran into each other? Okay. We've talked, and we can go back to being strangers..." I said.

"It wasn't easy for me," he interrupted.

Those words added fuel to the fire, and my chest swelled with the need to explode again. Whatever he thought he could say to force my forgiveness, he could forget it.

"I don't care, Eric. Just because we were friends once, it doesn't mean you're entitled to anything from me, not my attention, not conversation, nothing. I meant what I said—stay away from me."

"Lily, please. If you'd just let me explain..." he tried.

I gritted my teeth, trying to hold back, but it's impossible. He kept trying to push past my barrier, and I refused to let him in.

"Are you deaf? Eric? Seriously. Take the hint. It was nice seeing you, I guess. But this thing you're doing? It's not going to work on me anymore. I'm not interested in what you have to say. Have a nice life or whatever." I walked away.

Chapter 12

Ethan

My heart broke for Eric as he emerged from a path of fruit trees with his shoulders slumped over. Matt and I had left the reception area to go after him when Lily returned without him. His features were drawn, and it's was like he'was shouldering the weight of the world. To be fair, when Lily returned, she didn't look so great herself. Although, making a scene like that was unnecessary. Anyone would think that Eric had tried to harm her, as if he'd done something unforgivable. Based on what Eric had told us, her outburst was unwarranted. Over something that happened over ten years ago, when they were kids? Come on.

---