Page 65 of Close to the Edge

She looked disappointed but she didn’t say anything as I rinsed off and grabbed a towel. In the bedroom I gathered my clothes, aware that her gaze grew more guarded with each passing second.

I tightened my gut against the urge to reassure her. It was better this way. I wasn’t about to break open a box of hearts and flowers. Even if I once possessed such a box it had been smashed beneath the reality of repeated promises made and broken with callous indifference. Every single promise made to help my mother had been broken.

Then Kirsten came along and drove the knife in deeper.

I wasn’t about to speak words I didn’t mean or give reassurance that I couldn’t back up. “I’ll see you downstairs in ten?”

She blinked, then jerked out a nod.

I walked out, suspecting that the wordbastardwas lit up in Lily’s mind right now. I slammed the door in my room, then stood frozen in place. Could I have handled it better?

No. Maybe. Minutes ticked by, then I heard her walk past my door.

Fuck it. I threw on fresh clothes with an urgency I didn’t understand, and rushed downstairs to find Lily hovering by the front door wearing a tight black T-shirt that ended where a pair of leather shorts started. Those shorts ended at the top of her thighs, leaving an indecent amount of leg showing. She wore minimal makeup, but her eyes were darkly outlined, and her lips gleamed a faint pink. The wrist cuffs were back in place, as was a new, broader choker.

God, if she was trying to torture me, it was working. She looked phenomenal.

I swallowed my tongue, spotted the keys in her hand and realized she was dressed foroutside.

“Where are you going?”

Her chin lifted. “For breakfast. Where else?”

“Lily—”

“Oh, and I’m driving this time.” She twirled the keys. “You can come with me or you can follow me.”

My jeans and T-shirt were okay to go out but I would’ve followed regardless. She stepped outside and hurried to the garage.

“Lily, let’s talk about this—”

“Let’s not,” she snapped. “And if you eventhinkabout physically restraining me, I’ll rip your balls off.”

I believed her. But I still shook my head as I followed her to the garage. “No can do, baby. I catch the smallest sign of danger and I’m gettingveryphysical. Count on it.”

I let her glare at me for a full five seconds before opening the Mini’s door for her. She slid behind the wheel. Going around I said a prayer and contorted myself into the passenger seat.

She drove fast without breaking limits and considerately without being a pushover. Me, she completely ignored. We passed several respectable cafés before she stopped at an upmarket bistro. She surprised me by bypassing the parking lot and heading for the drive-through lane. It wasn’t your average drive-through. Shiny food trucks displayed glorious baked goods, bacon, cheeses and everything in between.

Two guys and a woman manned the trucks. The woman smiled when she spotted Lily. “Hey, girl.” She handed over two big paper bags with the bistro’s logo on it.

“Thanks,” Lily replied.

I deposited the bags on the backseat and reached for my wallet, but she was already driving away.

In between ensuring I wasn’t blocking the blood flow to my legs and trying not to drool over her legs, I decided to maintain silence. Ten minutes later she pulled up to an abandoned lot with a tall wall erected on the south edge. She drove to the center, stopped next to a bench and turned off the engine.

I stepped out with our food and looked around. “What’s this place?” I asked.

“It used to be a drive-in theater.” She reached into the bag and started setting out the food. Bacon. Bagels. Cream cheese. Coffee.

I had zero appetite but I accepted the coffee. She laced hers with cream and sugar, took a sip and set it back down.

“Who owns this place?”

“For now, the original owner. Next month, maybe me.”

I nodded at the food. “Why the drive-through? Why here?”

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