Page 100 of A Vicious Rumor

Her mouth opened just a little as I pushed myself deep into her. I started to move and her eyes rolled back before her lids finally closed. "Don't," I said harshly, stopping my movements. "Look at me, or I stop."

She opened her eyes up and held my gaze. I pushed into her over and over and over again, keeping eye contact with her the entire time. I told her I loved her countless times, her breasts pressed into my chest, her breath mixing with my own. I wanted to hold on for so much longer, savor this moment with her, but I couldn't. She was too beautiful, too pure, and felt too good for me to have any hope of lasting.

I came deep inside of her, confessing my love for her once more before collapsing next to her and pulling her into me. I pressed my lips to hers and trailed my fingers along her body. As I looked down at her beautiful form, I could see that all of the paint that I'd put on myself had smeared onto her. We both looked at each other and smiled. Neither of us really had cracks anymore. We just were covered in a lovely sheen of gold.

"What's your plan for the rest of the year?" I asked Lily as we finally started eating the lunch I'd laid out for us.

She shoved a few french fries into her mouth and took a sip of her cotton candy "milk" shake. "I don't know, to be honest," she said. "Paper is letting me stay at his place for right now, but I can't go back to Scissors'."

She'd come clean about everything that had happened. About why she'd gone to him in the first place, about their arrangement, and even about what she'd found in her mom's office, even though she made me swore up and down that I wouldn't say a word. It really shocked me that, after everything he did to her, she would still want to protect him. Then again, that was the sort of amazing person Lily was.

"You should stay with me," I blurted out.

She looked at me in shock. "What?"

"Yeah," I said again. "You should stay with me."

"Is your dad going to be cool with that?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "I dunno. I suppose we can ask him."

"I thought you and your dad didn't really talk much these days."

I nodded my head before taking a bite. "Yeah, but I think things might turn around a bit," I said through my bite, thinking back to the earlier conversation I had with him.

"What are you going to do after school?" Lily asked me.

I knew what she was getting at. At the beginning of the summer I hadn't had a clue what I wanted to do with my life. It was amazing how fast things could change in a matter of months.

"Think I'll apply to college. Maybe business school," I said, knowing that if things went according to plan, I'd have a lot of say in the family business.

She reached over and grabbed my hand. "Tyson!" she exclaimed. "That's amazing! I'm so proud of you!"

She looked at me with such a genuine smile that I couldn't help but return it. "Thanks," I said. "Means a lot." I gave her a hopeful look. "So, you'll really consider moving in to my place?"

"I think it's worth asking your dad if he's okay with it," she said, and my heart wanted to do somersaults. My phone buzzed, ruining the moment. I looked at the screen and then at her. "It's Paper," I said.

"Better answer," she replied. "I did ask him to drop me off in the woods, after all."

I nodded and answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Excuse me for the interruption," he said, always being so formal, "but I would request that you and Lily return to my place."

"What for?" I asked, always skeptical of everything these days.

"Scissors is here and he'd like to speak with both of you." I cringed. I hadn't spoken a word to him since the incident. In fact, he'd pretty much ghosted from everything, including school, since then. I looked at Lily, who seemed so happy and content right now. I wasn't sure if I wanted to ruin it.

"It's important that you both show," he said.

I sighed, feeling the inevitable. "Okay," I replied. "We're on our way." I hung up the phone and gave Lily an apologetic look.

"What's that all about?" she asked.

"Scissors is with Paper. He wants to talk to both of us."

Her response surprised me, though. "Good!" she said. "I'm glad he turned up. I think there's a lot all of us need to say to one another."

She didn't say it in an angry or resentful way. It was just very matter of fact.

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