Page 100 of Lyrical

“Wow, that’s… pretty honest of you, Cassie.”If it’s true. “But it also doesn’t make a lot of sense. Why dumb yourself down if you feel you need to be better?”

“I know, I ask myself that sometimes. Maybe because then I won’t be disappointed if it fails, knowing I didn’t give it my best? If I act helpless, then he’ll have more reason to take care of me? His nature is very giving, so I want him to feel like I need him because I can’t do it on my own. That’s how much I care about him and how badly I want us to work out.”

I was running that through my brain at full speed and hitting brick walls. I’d never even had dreams that wild before.

“But do you want it to work out based on a lie?”Wait, back up—it shouldn’t work out at all! Why am I helping her?I felt my guard slipping ever so slightly, and it was pissing me off.

She sighed. “You’re absolutely right. It started feeling so natural that I even became that way around his family too. I don’t want to be like that anymore, Jillian. I’m going to try being more authentic from now on, I promise.” She snapped her arms around me and squeezed. “Thank you so much. This meant the world to me, and I know it will to Daniel too when he hears about the time we spent together.”

She pulled her phone from her purse. “Smile.”Click. “Now, Jillian. That wasn’t a smile. Try again.”Click.“Jillian. We need these for Perry, and I also want to show Daniel.” I gave a weak smile, still not sure what the hell was going on.Click. “Better. Thanks.”

She set her phone on the bar top and took a sip of her soda. “How about a little drink now? We can make a toast. One of those pink flamingos? Those were pretty mild.”

Fuck, how about just skip the pink shit and bring me the bottle of tequila?

“No, Cassie. Once again, I’m done for the night. I have the shower tomorrow to worry about.”

“That’s at noon, right?” Her screen flashed. “His ears must have been burning.”

“Daniel?”

“Yes. I didn’t expect to hear from him tonight.” She picked up the phone, scrolling through the message. “Eww… that doesn’t sound good.”

My pulse jacked up. “What? What’s wrong?”

She glanced at me. “Um, I don’t think I should say.”

“Cassie!”

“Nothing’s wrong in the sense you’re probably thinking of….”

Dammit, woman. She typed something out, then slid her phone back into her purse before lacing her fingers together. “Well… Daniel left the party early. He didn’t really want to be around that kind of… atmosphere?”

“What the hell does that mean?”

She put her hand on my shoulder. “There were, um, prostitutes there.”

“What?”What the motherfucking what?

“I’m so sorry. I knew I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“Just tell me what Daniel said. Okay?”Before I take this bar stool and beat it out of you.

She puffed out a loud breath. “He left before the girls were completely naked, so I don’t know what happened after that….” I closed my eyes for a second.No, this can’t be right. But why would Daniel lie?“God, I’m sorry, Jillian. He said all the guys were extremely drunk. Every single one. There was a lot of tension in the house. Then the girls showed up, and it just became too much. I know he probably broke some man creed by telling me anything at all, but that’s the kind of guy he is. He doesn’t feel right keeping things from his girlfriend.”

“Cassie,” I said so slowly it came out in six syllables. “Stephen is like Perry. He wasn’t interested in anything wild either. I know my brother. He wouldn’t even want a stripper, much less a….” Fuck, I couldn’t even say it.

“I know, Jillian. I understand. But like I said before, it’s usually not the groom or bride-to-be who causes the problems. It’s one of the others, and then everyone just seems to jump on board. I mean, look at me, right? I hired some strippers because I thought it’d be harmless fun. Perry had nothing to do with it, but she probably would’ve gone along with it just to be a good sport. Now, of course, a stripper is completely different from… well, other things.”

My stomach was rolling hard. I felt fucking sick. All right, time to take in a calming dose of air. I trusted Chase, and I trusted Stephen. Neither of them would do anything so asinine. It didn’t matter what the other guys were doing. As long as I kept that bit of reality in my head, I didn’t need to freak out.

“I know I’m not Perry, but I’m right here if you need a shoulder to cry on.”

“What? No. I’m fine, Cassie.”

“Wow, then you’re a lot more forgiving than me, that’s for sure. I know I’d be devastated to hear something like this. I just have to say thank you again for raising such a man who is mature beyond his years. He’s not like the other guys his age. I never have to worry about him getting so blind drunk that he loses all judgment. Because believe me, I’ve been with plenty like that and—”

I held up my hand. “Just stop. I’m not forgiving—I’m trusting. Whatever is going on in that house, I know that Chase and Stephen are not involved. I don’t care how drunk they are.”

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