Page 71 of The Road to Finding Us

“We have one more surprise for the two of you…” Maverick begins hesitantly, looking down at his fiancée.

“Yay, more surprises,” Lily cheers with mock enthusiasm.

“We’re having an engagement party. Tonight, at my parents’ house! I can’t wait for you guys to meet them,” Veronica rattles on. “Oh, and I forgot. Lily, your mom and dad are already here. They’re staying with my parents. Selma’s flight lands soon too, so she’ll be there as well.”

Lily’s eyes flick to me briefly as she plasters a smile on her face. “Looks like we’re getting the gang back together. It’ll be like old times.”

I don’t try to hide my annoyed sigh.

If it’s just like old times, I know what I can expect from her—hate.

35

Lily

Present

Sighing in frustration, I look around the room to see if there’s anything that might help me with my current debacle. The zipper of my dress is caught on something at my lower back, and no matter how many positions I contort my body into, I can’t pull it the rest of the way up.

I contemplate going down to Maverick and Veronica’s room to see if either one of them can help me out, but I’m already running late. My hair and makeup both already complete for the engagement party, all I need to do is find a pair of shoes—and zip this freaking dress.

A knock on my door startles me. I turn around, met with a grinning Aspen.

A grinning Aspen in a fucking suit.

He allows me to check him out, the cocky smile never once leaving his face. Finally, when I feel like I drank in the sight enough, my gaze meets his.

Aspen nods his head to where I stand in front of the full-length mirror before shutting the door behind him. “Can I help you?”

“Uh, yeah, I need a favor.” I sigh out of frustration, turning to show him my exposed back. “I can’t reach the zipper.”

His only response is a quick nod, his dress shoes slapping against the hardwood floor of the bedroom as he makes his way over to me.

I turn and face the mirror, sweeping my hair to the front. I feel Aspen’s body get closer, sucking in a breath when I feel his breath against my neck. He lightly brushes a stray hair away while I try my best to steady my breathing.

Why must the smallest touch by him send my body into overdrive? Ugh.

His hand holds one side of the dress lightly while the other begins to pull up the zipper. As he slowly zips, I can feel the brush of his knuckles against my bare skin. I hope he doesn’t notice the trail of goosebumps left in its wake. My eyes find him in the mirror, and he’s staring at my reflection. The emotion in his eyes is too much for me so I resume looking at the floor.

Once the zipper is pulled all the way up, I turn around, letting my hair fall back into place.

He doesn’t take a step back, so he’s still close to me. His emerald eyes travel over my face, now caked in more makeup than I normally wear. “Lily, I need to talk to you.”

“Haven’t we done enough talking lately?”

He looks up at the ceiling and when he looks back at me, I see the irritation brewing behind his eyes. “Really? Because I feel like we’ve done zero talking lately. I feel like it’s a lot more like me talking and you arguing.”

Walking away, I cross the small distance to search through my shoe suitcase, deciding on a pair of pumps. “I can’t talk right now, Aspen. I have to finish getting ready. Please, just let go of whatever you want to talk about. We have to be there for Maverick and Veronica and celebrate their engagement dinner. This isn’t about us right now, it’s about them.”

“We have to talk about it,” he mutters so quietly, I almost miss it.

“But—”

“But nothing,” he growls, caging me in. My only options are to fall into the small closet or remain close to him.

His finger traces over the off-the-shoulder sleeve of my dress, and he lazily pushes it down even more, his lips replacing the spot where it’d been. “Truth or dare?”

I huff, mad at myself for leaning into him. “I don’t want to play this game, Aspen.”

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