Page 56 of Lilies in Autumn

“Thanks, but I’m not wearing this to the party tonight.”

“Oh, I know.” CeCe smirks and holds up her phone. “Smile,” she says, before a flash goes off.

“C, what are you doing?”

“Damn, you look hot in this. Only you could look like a Victoria’s Secret model in a candid, bitch,” she mumbles under her breath. Looking up, she eyes me with a mischievous grin. “I’m making sure Greyson knows how hot his woman is. Check your social media. I’m tagging you and you better repost it. Let’s get one more in the mirror before we leave.”

“You’re ridiculous,” I laugh, grateful for CeCe’s guileless compliment, especially after my freakout earlier. “Come on, we need to get to the restaurant before my parents freak out that we’re late.”

—

Grey:

“Jesus fucking Christ,” I mutter to myself, clutching my phone so hard that I’m surprised it doesn’t shatter in my hand. If this shit broke, it would be Ava’s fault, considering the picture she just reposted on her social media has my blood pressure skyrocketing.

The little fucking tease. When she left my house this morning, rumbled and annoyed that I wouldn’t give into her sweet demands for round two, she looked like a woman well-rested and well-fucked by her man. Now? She looks like a damn goddess.

Pressing on the picture, I see that she reposted it from Celeste’s account; the pit bull has Dante’s balls in her purse and seems to be helping Ava with mine. There’s no denying that Ava already has my balls firmly in her grasp, but I’m not a pathetic sap like Dante.

So what if I spend hours texting her, talking to her on the phone, and thinking about her? I’m committed and invested, not pathetic. I run a hand through my hair, thinking about the hours I spent cooking and cleaning yesterday to prepare for her coming over.

Fucking shit, I’m pathetic.

“Fucking hell, woman,” I hear Dante shouting from upstairs, where Dante and Linc’s bedrooms are. Pounding footsteps echo through the house like a stampede of goddamn elephants right before my door swings open. “Did you see this shit?” He throws his phone at me.

I look down and see his phone is opened to the Campus Hotties channel on Snapchat and tap on the “Hotties of the Day” icon. Immediately, a picture of Celeste and Ava fills my screen with a caption that forces a deadly silence to come over me. Positioned below the frame, my future murder victim wrote: “Two freshman sluts looking to spread their legs. Follow their handles for exclusive content.” Their phone numbers and social media handles are imposed on top of their bodies, letting everyone know exactly who they are and how to contact them.

“What the fuck is this?” I throw the phone back at him and get up from my desk chair, ready to kill whoever stole that photo from their profiles and posted that shit.

“I’m going to fucking kill someone. I already reported the picture, but it’s still fucking there, and fuck knows how many ass wipes saw it.” Dante’s seething, his anger tangible. Though his is louder and more evident, my fury is no less intense and no less murderous. Dante’s phone goes off with a notification. “Oh fuck, it just got deleted. How long do you think it was up there?”

I check back on Ava’s story; the original picture was posted ten minutes ago. “It could have only been up for a few minutes. But, fuck.” I run a hand through my hair, pulling at the ends. “Someone’s watching their shit. This wasn’t random.” Every account they have was listed, even their goddamn Reddits.

“Jesus, Grey. Does this shit have to do with the fucker bothering Ava?”

My hands clench, because it probably does. “I don’t know, but if it is, they just escalated. Did you take a screenshot of the post?”

“Yeah, I have it.”

“Send it to me.” Ava’s not going to be happy with me, but if this is related to our peeping Tom, they just declared war. I told Ava I would never let anyone hurt her, but what I should have said is that I’ll never let anyone hurt her and get away with it. I won’t ruin her dinner; I’ll give her a few more hours until she has to face the fact that the fucker is back. But tonight? Everyone will know that I’m hers. And that she’s mine.

My little vixen isn’t going to be happy.

Ava

“Not to be rude, but Ava, you could have put a bit more effort into your appearance. Like, white? God, we all know you’re a virgin, but way to call attention to it,” my sister’s friend Hyacinth whines. Normally I’d block her out, but right now I’m contemplating stabbing her with a butter knife before turning it on myself.

“Cin, stop being catty just because you’re jealous Aves has boobs and you don’t,” my sister responds. “She could ban you from her room tonight and you’d have to Uber home, so don’t be rude.” Under her breath, Sera mumbles, “Please kick her out. I’m going to lose it.”

Throughout dinner, Hyacinth complained about the service, the food, the weather; nothing was good enough for her. It took everything in me to hold back my comments, but I can’t say the same for Celeste and Bianca. For every complaint Hyacinth had, B and CeCe would volley back a retort, striking her down as soon as she started to rise.

And now, here we are, sitting in an Uber as Hyacinth makes false assumptions about my hymen. Overall, the last forty-eight hours have been interesting.

“Hyacinth, go eat a bag of dildos, you jealous plebeian,” CeCe’s voice rings out.

“What did you just call me, bitch?”

“A peasant. Now, shut up. Your screeching is giving me a migraine.” CeCe turns to look at Sera. “You need better friends. I can call my cousins to pick up the stray if you want.”

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