Page 25 of Four Times Taken

Shoving open the bathroom door, I sighed when there's no one inside and shut it behind me. Splashing cold water on my face, I tried to convince myself that I'm overreacting. But my mind filled with distorted images of Marco. He always had someone watching me. Somehow, he would know which guy flirted with me at the grocery store, or whether someone catcalled me on the street, whether I smiled with them or not. It was like walking around with a camera attached to me or something. He'd beat the shit out of me for giving anyone the slightest attention until I stopped talking to anyone at all and kept my head down everywhere I went.

Gripping the counter, I reminded myself that Marco is history, and Eric would have no reason to send his friends to spy on me after so long. For what? And to go as far as to make up a story about a drug-addicted mother or donating more money than I can imagine earning in my entire life? He can't be that crazy or extreme.

Still, there's no convincing my brain when I stepped out of the bathroom, fooled into thinking I had it under control, only to run into 'just call me Ethan."

Ethan

We almost bumped into each other as Lily rushed out of the bathroom. She's looking at her feet, and I hesitated, unsure what to say to her. That speech was inspiring to say the least, but I'm unsure whether she'd welcome the invasiveness, especially if she's recognized me. However, at the sight of her damp cheeks, alarms went off inside me. Has she been crying?

"Lily," I called out to her.

She stumbled, almost stopping in her tracks.

"Hey." I hurried up behind her, but she hurried up as well, toward the exit. Leaving the banquet.

Sharing that story must have taken a toll on her. Looking around for someone to go after her and seeing, through the glass doors, that she's moving toward her car, I made a split decision. Pretty sure I'm not the one she wants consolation from, but no one else has spotted her leaving. She's moving so fast.

Swinging the door open, I ran after her. "It's Lily, right? Eric's friend?" I shouted louder. She dropped her keys, giving me time to catch up to her. She's trembling when she turned around.

"What do you want?" Her voice was meek, as she dashed her eyes all over the place. Is she scared of me?

Backing off, I held my hands up. "I'm Eric's friend." In my attempt to meet her eyes, she looked away, wrapping her arms around her body, shrinking into herself. "I don't mean any harm. I promise. I heard your speech in there, and I just wanted to check if you're okay."

She nodded. "Yeah. I am."

She took small steps backward to her car. It's obvious I was freaking her out, although I wasn't sure why. Her eyes were bloodshot and from what she said about self-medicating in the past, I wondered if she had just taken something in the bathroom. But it wasn't my place to ask or even assume that.

"Are you sure?" My attempt to make eye contact failed again. "Would you like me to get someone?"

"No. I'm okay." She shook her head and offered me a smile. It didn't meet her eyes. In fact, she was still trembling. Her lips were shaking. It was like she was trying to be as agreeable as she could to get me to step away, which was less like the drug shakes and more like terror. The parking lot was dark and empty, and she had no reason to trust any man, even worse, someone chasing her down out here, with no witnesses. Damn, the men in her life had fucked her up. She may have recovered from drugs due to her strong willpower, but she hadn't recovered from everything else, the stuff that was embedded in her veins.

As much as I wanted to stay and convince her I wasn't a threat, I knew the best way to do that was to leave. She gulped as I backed away. The further I got, her ease became more visible. Satisfied that she wasn't in imminent danger of a relapse, I waved her off. "Okay, well, it was nice seeing you again?" I made my voice more high-pitched but gentle. "Take care of yourself."

By the time I turned around, the car door slammed, and the engine rolled over.

"Guys! I brought food," I said, resting the cloth bag filled with container boxes of collard greens, biscuits and gravy, fried chicken, baked macaroni and cheese, and creamy shrimp dishes.

Food is the way to a man's heart, and by the way the guys hurried into the kitchen like they were responding to a signal, I could attest to that. Ms. Patsy got that right when she packed up boxes of food for me to take home, for the days ahead. There was no refusing her offer, and I was glad I hadn't. After Lily left, I found it hard to eat anything else for the next couple of hours.

"Appreciate you, brother," Eric sang as he, along with Ryan and Matt, pulled out containers, checking the boxes. "Mm! I can't wait to dig into this mac and cheese, man!" He salivated. You'd think these men were starving.

Grabbing plates and silverware, I laid them out on the counter. "So..." I paced myself. "You won't guess who I ran into tonight."

"Who?" Matt asked, grabbing some cans of beer from the fridge and handing them out.

Eric plopped the macaroni and cheese in the microwave and watched it as it warmed up.

"Uh... Lily," I said, popping the beer can open and gulping some down. Eric spun around as fast as lightning. Ryan's fork clattered to the ground. Matt sighed as he shared some food for himself.

It was unexpected when Ryan spoke first. "What did she say?" he asked, eyes wide. Eric turned to look at him and back at me, before repeating his question.

"Bet she was an ass, as usual." Matt rolled his eyes.

Ryan, Eric, and I All turned to stare laser beams into him. He froze.

"What? She wasn't?" Matt defended, with a mouthful of food.

"Matt, don't play with me," Eric warned.

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