Page 6 of The Road to Finding Us

When I first met Maverick, I didn’t imagine him having a gorgeous and witty twin sister.

Now I’m even more excited about this whole college thing.

4

Lily

Present

“Close, motherfucker,” I chant over and over again as I repeatedly sit on my suitcase. My butt bounces off the hard shell and comes down one last time while I try to pull the suitcase zipper tight.

I’m met with the sweet, sweet victory of the zipper pulling closed. As soon as I register the sound of the final zip, I do a happy dance. My hands are spinning over my head, my hips gyrating, my hair flying every which way, when I hear a knock at my front door.

The sound stops me right in my tracks. No one ever knocks on my door, unless it’s a food delivery guy or my neighbor, Edna. But it’s already past seven at night, so there’s no way she’s awake right now.

I blow the hair out of my face as I consider my options, my feet staying planted on the hardwood floor. Maybe they have the wrong apartment and they’ll just leave.

I’m assessing my outfit when a second knock sounds through my tiny studio. Technically, I’m not wearing anything that’d be deemed inappropriate to greet an unannounced guest, but it still isn’t my best look.

I’m wearing a pair of leggings, with my skin peeking through a small hole on my knee. My hair was in a messy bun a few hours ago, but after packing for hours and hours, most of it has fallen out. The dark strands have fallen in every direction, with only a small portion still wrapped in the hair tie.

The sweatshirt covering the top half of my body has seen better days. It has the mascot of the college I graduated from on the front, but the stitching has started to fray, and tiny threads poke out from random areas. Selma has told me multiple times to get rid of it, but I can’t. It’s comfortable, and big enough that no one can tell I’m not wearing a bra when I have it on.

A third knock echoes through my apartment, and the sheer force of it causes me to jump.

I let out a huff as I walk the small distance to the door. I’m supposed to be leaving for South Carolina tomorrow morning, and I still have two more bags to pack before I can even think about sleeping.

I couldn’t find anyone else to carpool with me on the long trip, so it’ll be me, myself, and I driving the many miles. I had to take my car into the shop earlier in the week to make sure it would make the sixteen-thousand-mile drive.

The pounding on the door becomes more erratic. “I’m coming!” I shout, reaching out to grab the doorknob. I swing the door open, not bothering to hide the annoyed look on my face.

There are plenty of people I expected to see on the other side of the door. Possibly Edna, even though it’s past her bedtime. Ralph, the ten-year-old who lives below me that I sometimes sneak Snickers bars to in return for him not throwing his ball up against the side of my apartment early in the morning. A Jehovah’s Witness trying to get me to repent for my sins. A little girl selling Girl Scout cookies.

Any of the above were possibilities. However, the last person I ever expected to see standing a foot away from me on my doorstep was Aspen Bellevue in the flesh.

“What the fuck?” I whisper, my eyes roaming all over his body to see if he’s real. I haven’t seen Aspen in so long. Not since we graduated college more than two years ago.

I’ve seen the occasional post from him on social media, but other than that, we haven’t spoken.

Aspen and I didn’t end on the best terms in college. We’d made the mistake of blurring the lines of our friendship. If you could even call it that.

I was weak. He made me weak. And in one of those weak moments, I had given him all of me—not only my virginity, but also my heart—on a silver platter. I fell in love with his cocky attitude and crooked smile, with his reckless tendencies and loyal heart.

I went from hating him to loving him in a simple snap of his fingers. I became a puddle at his feet, and he walked right over me. Didn’t spare me a second thought.

Just as soon as we began…we ended. The ending of our story came abruptly in the first chapter.

After falling for Aspen Bellevue, I swore I would never fall at another man’s feet. Especially not Aspen’s.

I was perfectly content with never seeing that beautiful face again.

But here I am, face-to-face with him. Aspen, in the flesh. An older, more distinguished flesh. He was hot in college, but now…he’s something more.

“Don’t look too happy to see me, Lily Bear,” Aspen finally speaks, pulling me from my thoughts. His arm reaches up to lean against the doorframe. This new stance causes him to draw even closer to me. My hand clings to the doorknob like it’s the only thing keeping me standing. And in a sense, it is. After all this time, he still makes me weak. God damn it.

It’s not like I’ve spent the last two years of my life pining over Aspen. It was actually the opposite. It was almost as easy to go back to hating him as it had been to fall in love with him. But seeing him standing in the doorway of my apartment? I feel at odds with myself and my warring emotions.

This new life I’ve created for myself in Dallas has nothing to do with him. It hasn’t been tainted by his dirty jokes or piercing green gaze. It was perfect. But now…

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