Love Arranged (Lakefront Billionaires, #3)(96)

CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE


Lily


Willow suggested we both check on Lorenzo, but I decided it’s best if I go in alone, so I say goodbye to my mom and sister before heading to the classroom I visited before.

I have no idea what to say to Lorenzo when I find him. His back is turned to the door and his head is hung forward, as if the weight of tonight’s debate is crushing him.

It physically pains me to see him so dejected. I got a glimpse of it onstage, although he is always quick to shield his emotions, but now he has no audience to impress.

The full force of his disappointment hits me like a punch to the stomach.

My heels click against the floor, the fast beat matching the pace of my heart, as I walk up to the desk he is leaning against. I go to pull him into a hug, but he turns away from me.

Deep in my gut, I feel that the night is going to go from bad to worse.

“I want to be alone,” he says gruffly.

“Doesn’t mean you should be.”

His reply is nothing but a drawn-out sigh.

“It’ll be okay.” I try to keep my tone upbeat despite the sense of dread growing inside me. I’m always the positive one. The looks for a silver lining in everything type of person, even when the sky is falling.

I can’t be anxious about tonight. No. That won’t do either of us any good, so I refuse to give my fears power over my actions.

“We will regroup and figure out the best strategy moving forward,” I say.

“There is no other strategy,” he lashes out, the corded muscle in his neck straining. “We’re fucked.”

“It was a bad night, yes. But we still have two months to—”

He laughs, but in a haunted kind of way. “Lavender Lane was the only card I had up my sleeve, and he called my bluff. He fucking called it, and I have no other hand to play.”

I take a deep breath, in through my nose, out through my mouth, hoping the few seconds buy me patience. “I mean, the idea to let the town vote on the restoration was a surprise—”

“A surprise?” He slides his hands through his hair and tugs on the roots. “It was the best fucking idea that asshole has ever had, and trust me when I say it kills me to admit that.”

Even if he said nothing, I would’ve seen the truth in his eyes, and it hurts to witness such a vulnerable moment from him.

“He had a few good comments, but so did you.”

“Not nearly as many, and not nearly as good.”

“You weren’t listening to what the audience was saying. Not everyone is Team Trevor, despite what you think, and Willow can vouch for that as well.”

He exhales loudly.

“Tomorrow we’ll regroup and figure it out together.” I reach for his hand.

He pulls it back. “Please go.”

“No.”

“I don’t want you here.” He refuses to look at me. “So leave. Now.”

“I’m not going, so quit wasting your time.” I stand tall. “I don’t run away when things get tough.”

That clearly was the wrong thing to say, and I instantly regret it when his entire face goes blank. It’s unsettling, how quickly he can go from broadcasting his emotions to shutting down—a skill I’m sure he picked up during his childhood.

“I didn’t mean it that way.” The words leave me in a rush.

“It’s okay if you did. It’s not like it isn’t true.” His voice is clipped. Straight to the point, like we’re acquaintances rather than lovers.

“Lorenzo,” I groan.

He spins around, giving me his back. “Can’t you take a hint? You’re the last person I want to be around right now.”

I stumble back. My chest feels like he punched a hole straight through it, but I hold steady, ignoring the ache.

He needs you, I say, fighting the urge to run as I roll my shoulders back.

“We’ll get through this together.”

“No, we won’t,” he says quietly.

This frustrating man. “I get that you’re anxious—”

“Anxious?” He laughs again, this one more bitter than the last. “I’m fucking furious because he’s going to win, which means we both lose everything.” His voice shakes, and if I hadn’t already realized I loved him for a while, him caring about what matters most to me would’ve done the trick.

“I don’t want to think about what-if scenarios when there’s still a chance you can win, but if the worst-case situation happens, then we’ll figure it out. I can restart in another part of town—”

He shakes his head. “There’s no we.”

I jerk back. “What?”

He looks at me like I’m a stranger, and I can’t help questioning if that’s what he wants me to be.

“I’m not staying, Lily. If he wins…I can’t.” His voice cracks at the end.

I recoil like he struck me with his hand rather than his words. The ache is so overwhelming, I have to add some physical space between us, as if that would lessen the hurt.

It doesn’t. Not even by a fraction.

“I thought…” That what? If he loved me, he would be able to put his pride aside?

He shakes his head. “I’ll never live in a town where that mu—man is mayor.”