Page 49 of Four Times Forever

I stretched, not wanting to move, but wanting Lily's body against mine. I headed over to the pile and pulled her onto me for a cuddle. If we were sure we didn't have someone hunting us, sleeping outside would sound amazing. But, I didn't think my parents would take kindly to coming across all five of us naked and entangled in the morning. So, it was best we go inside anyway.

After her heartbeat settled into a steady rhythm and we were lying silent for a while, she sighed and rubbed her cheek against my chest.

"Where's Ryan?" She asked. "I know we've been avoiding each other, but we should probably check in on him."

Oh, hell. Where was Ryan?

"Don't tell me you still want more?" I teased, hoping he was just sleeping it off in my room or something.

"As always." Ethan grinned, smoothing his hand over Lily's ass as he lay on his side and started nodding off.

She smiled. "That's not it. It's just, I didn't think about how the wedding would work out, since we haven't been speaking to each other."

Matt started hurrying to his feet. His movements alerted Lily and she eased up off me. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah." Matt smiled down at her, but it was strained. She noticed it.

"What are you not telling me?" she asked, getting to her feet to throw on her dress and cross her arms.

Matt swallowed. Now, I was nervous and I jumped to my feet, wrapping my arms around her tense body.

"He's probably just sleeping, isn't he?" I said, running my hand down her back.

"Yeah." Matt nodded. I was just grateful he was better at lying about murder than he was about Ryan.

"Come on, spit it out," Lily pressed, stepping up to him.

He sighed and stroked her messed up hair out of her face. "He..." A beat. "He knocked me out earlier and stormed off. Now, I don't know where he is."

"Why didn't you say something earlier?!" she yelled, storming away. "Have you searched everywhere? We might have to call the police."

That woke Ethan up. "Police?"

Ahh! I yelled inside my head and swallowed a fuck. When I found Ryan, I was going to wring his neck.

"Let's try calling his phone first before we call the police. He's a grown man. I'm sure he's alright," I suggested, grabbing my clothes and hurrying after her.

Chapter 39

Ethan

"Yeah, I just heard from Ryan. He went ahead without us and booked his room in a hotel. He's alright." I smiled at Lily who refused to go to sleep until she was sure he was alright.

"See? Nothing to worry about. We're going to have to learn to trust him to take care of himself. We can't be around him twenty-four seven," Eric assured her.

She scowled at him. "Well, he's vulnerable right now. When I was going through withdrawals, I wouldn't have been able to get through it without constant support." To me, she nodded on an exhale. "Well, at least he picked up your call, huh?"

That little breath of worry left her parted lips and my belly clenched harder.

"Don't worry about it. Losing you is a lot for him to deal with at the moment. But that's not your fault. He knows if he plans to win you back, he'll have to change. I don't think he would jeopardize that." I reached out to stroke her arm.

"Yeah." She smiled. It was shaky, but she bought it, yielding to her affection and kissing us all goodnight before we left her alone in her bedroom.

"So, which hotel is he staying at?" Matt asked as soon as her door closed. I pressed my lips together. "What?" he asked.

"Shhh." I nodded him toward the staircase.

"You didn't hear from him, did you?" Eric narrowed his eyes on me.

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