Page 45 of Bad Decisions

Eli still hadn't paid me yet, and it felt weird asking him for money, even though I was technically hired by him.

"Shoes and makeup is spending it wisely, right?" Lily asked, grabbing the money in his hand. He gripped it tighter, still staring at me.

"Take the money, kid," he said softly. He knew I hated this. Hated taking money from him—from anyone. I hadn't earned it. I didn't reach for it, and he sighed again before handing it to Lily. "Make sure she buys herself something."

"Will do," Lily said, giving him a mock salute. He rolled his eyes as he tapped his fingers on the door, his eyes flicking between us. "Can you please leave now? We have important business to discuss." His brows rose.

"Like?"

"Like, none of your business," she said, glaring at him. Even though we'd been friends forever and I knew that Theo wouldn't ever get mad at Lily for talking to him like that, her tone still made me itchy.

If I spoke to my mother like that—I shuddered at the images that assaulted my mind. I didn't want to even think about what would happen.

"Atty will probably be here when you get home," Theo said, pulling me from my memories.

"Oh, goody," Lily deadpanned.

"I still don't know the problem you have with him." Theo folded his arms over his chest as he stared down at her.

"He's an ass," she shrugged.

"He's like your uncle," he countered.

"So, that means he can't be an ass?" she shot back, and he laughed. "Okay, we really need to go now. Try not to get too drunk."

"I never get drunk," he said, sounding offended. "Be home by nine!" His words were barely heard as I rolled the window up.

"Yeah, fuck that," she muttered as she slid her seatbelt on. "I'll get home whenever I feel like it." I glanced at her from the corner of my eye, my hands tight around the steering wheel.

"You okay?" I asked, and she shot me a look that told me to shut up.

Her long, tanned legs were on full display in her pink mini skirt, and she showed off her glittery belly button piercing in her cream-colored crop top. Her blonde hair was loose around her shoulders, and—

"Oh my God, Lily!" I cried, slamming on my breaks. "You're covered in glitter!"

"What?" She glanced down at herself and snorted a laugh. "Oh yeah. I put on body glitter and forgot."

"You forgot?" I took her in again. She was covered in so much glitter it looked like a fucking bomb went off. "I'm never going to get that out of my car. God." I rested my head against the headrest as she cackled. "It's not funny. I can't take glitter into Eli's house."

"Why not?" she asked, still giggling to herself. "It's not like he's not used to it. He has a daughter." I thought about it for a moment. I didn't think I'd ever seen Emma play with glitter. Had I?

Uni had glitter on her horn, but that didn't count. Paint, she played with. Crayons and markers, sure. But not glitter. Not even glitter glue.

Was it a her thing, or him? He didn't seem to care that we might've colored on his door the other day, so he didn't seem like the type to care about some spilled glitter. But maybe he was. Maybe he was putting on a show and cared a lot.

About the glitter.

"Speaking of Eli," Lily said, drawing out his name. "Have you fucked yet?"

"Jesus save me," I muttered. "No, and we're not going to."

"Sure." She laughed again, and I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to ignore the memory of his hands on me. His hand between my legs. I forced my eyes open, letting the bright sun blind and ground me. "Why not?"

I ignored her as I began driving again. I felt her staring at me, waiting for an answer, and she was stubborn enough to do it all fucking day. But I didn't know what to say. That we almost did, but then I fucked it up with my weird admission? Or that he'd turned me down?

"Can you please stop staring at me?" I growled. She patted my bare thigh in a way that told me she definitely wasn't going to stop.

"You might as well just tell me now," she said. "I have other stuff to talk to you about today. But if you need me to drag it out of you, I can." I groaned. I knew she would, too. I knew she'd bug me about it until I finally snapped and told her everything.

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