Page 56 of Worth the Trouble

“Don’t compare me to those punks.”

Both girls frown, but it’s the truth. Their men are whipped for them and it's pathetic. I might like Lili because I’m not allowed to have her, but that’s it.

“Let me get this right then.” Eloise leans forward on the counter, holding her hand up to count on her fingers. “You’re hanging out regularly,” she points at one. “She slept in your bed last night,” she points to another. “And now she’s walking around in your clothes. But you’re not having sex and it means nothing?”

“Exactly.” Wow, that burned on the way out.

What the fuck?

“Sure thing, Rome.” Merry hip-checks me as she passes by, and I follow them back into the living room.

Adrian is sitting in a recliner, and Noah is setting up his tattoo gear beside him. Apparently, now my house is not only party central but also a tattoo parlor.

Lili watches it all intently, asking Noah question after question about tattoos, equipment, and anything else that seems to pop into her head. Both Noah and Adrian are smiling, and I can’t explain what it does to see her fitting in with my band like she is.

We’re rock stars for fuck’s sake.

She’s a prissy dance princess.

We don’t belong in the same room, much less the same world. So why do I want to paint my ribs with her smile so I don’t ever forget it? Why do I feel instantly protective of her?

Like this morning, when she pushed away her breakfast when she was only a quarter of the way through. I couldn’t help that my vision turned red toward all the people in her life who made her feel like she had to restrict to feel perfect.

I’d rather watch her indulge. With me—for me.

I want to open her up and fill her with all the things I get the impression she denies herself. I want to make her see the good and bad because I believe she’s strong enough to survive it. And it’s fucking selfish.

Merry and Eloise sink onto the couch with Sebastian and Cassie. Cassie whispers something to Merry, and they both look from Lili to me.

At least Cassie didn’t also follow me into the kitchen. Because the full force of the three of them is too much. And for the first time ever, I’m thankful for Sebastian’s death grip on her leg.

Cassie laughs, and Sebastian pulls her closer, kissing the top of her head.

In the past, I’ve only ever looked at the two of them wondering why they thought it was a good idea to be in an exclusive relationship. But right now, watching him hold her, something tightens in my stomach.

I don’t see Sebastian being a pussy-whipped bitch all of a sudden. He seems at peace. He seems genuinely happy. And I want that for him, don’t I?

I know firsthand what a mess Sebastian was before he met Cassie. Even if I thought it was total bullshit for him to fall so hard and fast for her. And even if I thought he was changing everything about himself just to be with her. I see it now. It wasn’t that she changed him, it’s that she saw the version of him even his friends didn’t, and she helped him drag that side out.

Too bad I’m not Sebastian. My shit goes too deep for some chick to save me.

As if my body revolts at the thought, my gaze moves to Lili, and I realize she’s watching me. Those eyes of hers are magnets drawing out the lead that weighs me down inside.

I sink down onto the empty couch opposite Sebastian and Cassie as Merry makes her way over to Noah’s side. Noah is fully focused on the warped demon he’s drawing on Adrian’s forearm, but he pauses long enough to look up to Merry for a kiss.

I’m surrounded. It’s pathetic.

So why do I stare at Lili hard enough to telepathically draw her pretty little self over to me?

Fucking magnetic.

She leaves Noah’s side as I stretch my arms out across the back of the couch, and she practically glides toward me. I’d think she’s an angel by the grace of her movements if I wasn’t smart enough to know she’s actually the phantom of all things out of my reach. The whisper of all things too good for me.

Lili is swimming in my T-shirt and sweats as she sinks down on the couch next to me, and I feel a few eyes in the room on us. But I can’t take mine off the dark orbs drawing me in.

Every universe has a starting point. And while I thought I had already left mine far behind, one look in Lili’s eyes makes me wonder if I haven’t even seen the beginning of my own world yet.

“Your band’s friendly.” Lili smiles, sinking against the back of the couch with barely any space between us. Her hair brushes my arm, and I have to grip the cushions to not reach for her and finish what we started in my bedroom.

---