Page 84 of The Masks We Wear

Gripping her ass, I sit, letting her legs wrap around me like a vice, and drag out to the head. I lean forward and push back in. She throws her hands above her head, stifling a scream. Working up a rhythm, I lose myself and whatever control I had, moving in tune with each moan spilling from her lips.

My eyes flash to the window where the rain and lightning still attack the earth, drowning every other sound in its winds. I reach up, hooking a finger under her chin and tilting it so she can look at me. Her chest is flushed, pebbled nipples peek from behind a lacy bra, and rain droplets shimmer on her skin as she rocks her hips. Everything about her is breathtaking.

“You’re so fucking beautiful. Don’t hold back. I want to hear you.”

Her eyes widen, and she nods. I reach up, tearing the fabric of her bra down, and find the pert little nipple with my tongue. Biting softly, I coax a whimper from her before rolling it around until it’s unbearably hard. My other hand works its way down, finding her sensitive clit waiting. Rubbing in small circles, I start slow but accelerate as her moans get louder, hungrier.

“Come for me, Lily.”

Lily’s legs tighten around my waist, and her muscles tense, her impending climax consuming her. Her pussy flutters before her body finally seizes beneath me, her orgasm ripping through her body. She screams her release into the next strike of lightning and roll of thunder at the moment I can’t fight anymore. My balls tense up, a surge exploding through my body as I come. Colors of black, blues, silvers, and white crash behind my eyelids and I have to find her lips with mine to ground me. To bring me back down to Earth.

When our breaths finally sync, the high rolling through our bodies coming to a close, we slump into each other. Exhaustion takes over, and for the first time, in five years, she sleeps in my arms while the world rages on outside, and I know what I’ve known all along.

I’m in love with Lily Conley.

MONDAY USEDto be just a typical day. Not one I hated and not one I was excited about. But today, knowing I’ll see Lily, puts an extra pep in my step when I pull up to the school.

Yesterday, she spent time with the woman I found out to be her aunt at the police station and later with her family therapist’s emergency meeting. Both pieces of information I acquired over text. Though what actually went down on Saturday is still a mystery, Lily has all the time in the world to tell me.

Something I’ve learned about people, especially those who shoulder a significant burden, is that words are easier to write, or in this case, text, rather than talk about face to face. It’s difficult when the strong have to be vulnerable, and however she wants to tell me these things, I appreciate it. She’s given me so much already…

My mind drifts to Saturday night, when the world was crashing both outside and inside the treehouse. The place we spent years laughing, crying, playing, loving. Seemed kind of poetic in a way it all came back to there.

“Hey you.” Her voice cuts straight to my core.

I spin around, grinning like a dummy from ear to ear, but it soon evaporates. We haven’t talked about how things are going to be. We made out in front of some kids from AP science, but I hadn’t put much thought into how her group of people will react.

Lily’s lips are on mine before I have a chance to finish my thoughts, that now, don’t even fucking matter. My hands wrap around her waist, lifting her and spinning in a full three-sixty before placing her back on the ground.

She giggles into my mouth, kissing me once, twice before backing away.

Her face, as beautiful as ever, glows today. Her rose lips stretching into an endearing smile, lighting up her aura from a thousand miles away. She’s wearing my windbreaker from the other night over a cropped white tee and painted on black jeans.

But it’s not the mouthwatering outfit, flowy hair, or lack of contacts that puts my heart in my throat. Nope. It’s the necklace.

It’s not hidden today, dangling for her neck like she couldn’t be prouder to wear it.

I thread my hand through hers, and she leans against my shoulder as we walk, or maybe float is a better word, toward the entrance.

As soon as we pass the school threshold, I feel it. Every single person within our vicinity is staring at us. Some are stifling laughter, others are whispering comments I can’t quite make out, but the air is thick and putrid, reeking of something I can’t place.

My back tenses, unsure if it’s me, or if she feels it too. But when I look down, her eyes are already on mine, a confused look pinching together her delicate features.

Amora and Remy surprise us, appearing out of fucking thin air.

Remy is worried, her big hazels darting back and forth between Lily and me as if she’s on the verge of tears but also waiting for some big thing to happen. She rocks on her heels, her chest heaving.

Amora, on the other hand, is fucking pissed. Her nose flaring, eyes bulging, and teeth bared. She doesn’t even look at me and instead holds out a balled-up piece of paper for Lily to take.

When I look at Remy, I notice she, too, has a wad of flyers in her clutches.

Lily releases my hand and grabs the flyer, unraveling it as I take one from Remy.

The world stops. Completely and utterly. All sound ceases to exist, while all colors fade to a gray scale.

Holy. Shit.

It’s a picture of Lily, her senior year from fall, I’m guessing. She’s all bright white teeth and perfect hair. Her eyes twinkle somehow, even beneath the contacts. There’s a thick layer of makeup covering her naturally beautiful face. The true mask to the Queen of Emerald Falls.

---