“Don’t worry,” Alec forced himself to say. “I’m not going to take advantage of that.”
He wanted to say more. He wanted to tell Lily that they were both helping each other, that they were in this weird bubble of feeling together. The sex wasn’t part of the plan. It wasn’t supposed to happen. But he sure as hell wasn’t going to apologize for it now that it had. Hell, he would be open to the possibility that he would be able to do it again.
He liked Noah, and maybe that was a stupid thing to feel, but after everything that had happened last night, at least he could admit it.
“Alec,” Lily murmured, taking a step towards him. “What is it?”
“What?”
“You have this look on your face,” she said, tilting her head to the side so her hair spilled over her shoulder and her eyes swept over him. “Like you’re sad.”
“Me? Sad?” He scoffed, but it felt forced. “That’s impossible.”
“Hmm.”
Alec didn’t like the way his sister looked at him, like she knew something about him that he didn’t know. It made him feel stupid, and he hated, more than anything, to feel stupid.
“Well, sis, thanks for the lovely midnight chat, but I’m,” he jutted his thumb over his shoulder “going to leave now. Going to go back to bed. I have a game tomorrow, after all. I wouldn’t want to not sleep and play shitty.”
“Will you be going to sleep?” Lily asked.
“What I do behind closed doors is none of your business,” he said. He turned and headed for his room. Just as he curled his fingers around the knob, Lily’s voice stopped him.
“Alec,” she called, though not loud enough to wake anyone else up.
“What?” He turned around, giving her a look.
“I’m being serious,” she said, slowly following him down the hall. “If you know what she’s going through, be sensitive about that. Don’t take advantage of her.”
“I’m not,” Alec said defensively. “Jesus Christ, what is it going to take for me to show you that I’m in love with her?”
Lily’s eyes widened. Alec’s eyes widened. Before either of them could say a word, Alec opened the door and all but closed it. He refused to think about what had just come out of his mouth. It was too early, too late, whatever technicality it was. He needed sleep. Lots of it.
16
Noah
The last thing Noah wanted was to be back at the ice rink, where Pat Zummo spotted her before, but she knew she had to do this for Alec. He had done more than he needed to when Aaron showed up. He protected her. He made her feel safe. The lease she could do was pretend to be his girlfriend, attend their game, and cheer for him in the stands. That was what good girlfriends did, and that was what she would do for Alec.
As she waited for Lily, she began to fiddle with the edge of her shirt. She wasn’t sure if she was dressed appropriately for the game. Most of her didn’t care, but there was part of her that hoped she looked nice. Noah didn’t want to take advantage of Alec. She knew part of the thrill for the player was showing off his status, and that included the women he saw.
“You okay?”
Noah looked up, only to find Lily emerge from her room. With dark skinny jeans, a white Mayhem shirt, and her hair pulled into a ponytail, she looked like the girl next door, sweet with a hint of sexy. Lily always knew exactly who she was. Noah envied her for it. Even now, there was a confidence in herself that Noah so badly wanted to have but couldn’t possess. Well, she didn’t think she could. Maybe, once this whole Aaron thing was finally behind her, it would be. She had an appointment with a detective tomorrow to file a report. Noah didn’t know if there was anything that could be done, but she wanted to try. At least there would be documentation of the incident that occurred.
“Yeah.” She nodded once. “Just nervous.”
Lily nodded in return. “I get that,” she said. “Come on. I’ll drive.”
Once the two were in Lily’s car, Lily turned on the radio but made sure the volume wasn’t too distracting. She backed out of her spot and headed for the light.
“I ran into Alec last night,” she said. “This morning, technically. He told me what’s going on between the two of you.”
Noah swallowed, but her throat was still dry. She placed her hands on her denim-clad thighs, hoping the denim would help keep her palms from getting too sweaty. Her heart jumped. She wasn’t sure what to expect from Lily, but she hated feeling like this, hated feeling twisted up and nervous, waiting for the other shoe to drop – not just from Aaron, but everyone. She wanted stability. She wanted to trust people and their emotions and that even if she made a mistake, they weren’t going to be angry with her.
You can’t control how others react to things, her mother always told her. But you can control yourself.
Noah always thought that was bullshit. Weren’t emotions random bursts of feeling that came up without a warning? How was she supposed to control that?
“I get it,” Lily continued when Noah didn’t say anything. “Actually, that’s a lie. I don’t get it. My brother is an ass and doesn’t deserve you.” She paused and glanced quickly over at Noah before keeping her eyes
