But then he adds, “Time is but a fool as we are to the mercy of its hands.”
I frown. I don’t know this one at all. I glare, not taking this loss as well as he did.
“A Connor Cobalt original,” he tells me.
I throw a pillow up at his face, and he catches it before uncaging me from this spot. I’d be more than okay imprisoned on this mattress all day long by him, and only him.
But he climbs off the bed, his feet setting on the hardwood with his phone in hand. “I’m going to call Frederick back and then we can watch a city die together.” He jabs his thumb towards the television where the Black Death has begun to ravage Europe.
“Are you going to talk about me?” I wonder.
“Yes,” he says. “I’m going to gloat, so I think maybe I should go outside.” He motions to the patio.
“Tell him I said hi,” I say with a tight smile. I’ve met Frederick once, and he was pleasant but short, probably worried he might let something slip. He knows more about me than he lets on, that’s for sure.
Connor disappears out the sliding glass doors, and I find my own phone on the nightstand. I’m about to dial Poppy’s number when I remember it’s six in the morning in Philly. I invited her to the Alps, but she said she’d rather stay home with her daughter. Poppy is only four years older than me, but I feel like we’ve already grown decades apart.
She has her own family and has begun to distance herself from Lily, Daisy, and me in favor of Sam and Maria. Is that happens when you have children? You gain new family members but have to sacrifice the connection of others?
It scares me. The fact that the relationships I have with my sisters now could dissolve when we all get married and start “new” lives. Will this be the closest we ever are?
I hope not.
A fist raps against my door before it swings open to a crack. “Shhh,” Lily hisses. “She could be sleeping.”
I fold my hands on my lap and cross my ankles like a lady, waiting for them to enter, my smile peeking through. If we part ways in a few years, I might as well enjoy this now.
“No…I see her. She’s awake,” Daisy says, craning her neck above Lily’s to look into my room.
Lily opens the door wider, and Daisy slips in front, holding two mugs with marshmallows floating on top.
Lily cups her own red mug in her hands. “We made you hot chocolate.”
“We thought it might help your migraine,” Daisy adds.
She hands me a dark blue mug while they plop on the mattress by my legs.
A migraine? That was Connor’s lie? He could have done better, but I suppose he didn’t want to worry anyone with a fib.
Lily nods to the television where dead bodies are being thrown into big ditches. She looks mildly horrified. “What are you watching?”
I smile into my cup. “The Black Death.” I take a long sip and then feel Daisy’s hand drift to my neck, examining the diamond pendant.
“Is this new?”
I nod. “A gift from Connor.”
“Pretty,” she says with sincerity, delicately placing it back against my chest, but I see a lingering sadness behind her eyes. She tries to conceal anything out of the ordinary by twisting her hair into a giant knot with one hand.
“What’d I miss?” I ask Daisy.
“Besides Scott being a douchenozzle, nothing,” she says easily.
My eyes narrow. “What’d he do?”
“He’s not the douchenozzle,” Lily says, giving Daisy a strange reprimanding look that she rarely produces.
My mouth falls. “Are you defending Scott, Lily?” Did Connor fuck me to another dimension?
She reddens. “No,” she says quickly. “I mean, Scott is still an asshole. He keeps whispering slut when he passes me in the hallway. But…” She shrugs. “…I’m learning to ignore him like everyone else.” She sets her sisterly glare back on Daisy.
I stiffen. “What is it then?” I connect the dots faster than Daisy forms words. “It’s Julian, isn’t it?”
Daisy shakes her head, but Lily nods and points a finger at her. “He put his hand down your pants, in front of Ryke. That’s not nothing!”
“And I took his hand out of my pants,” Daisy says in a hushed whisper. “No harm done.”
Lily clues me in on the rest. “Ryke almost punched him.”
“I bet,” I say before sipping my hot chocolate.
Lily’s eyes form tiny slits as she scrutinizes me. “You’re calm about this.”
“Julian has been marking his territory since we arrived in the Alps. I’m not surprised he chose to do it by grabbing her ass.”
“Underneath her jeans,” Lily clarifies.
“I’m right here.” Daisy waves her hand.
“You are,” I say. “Where’s the pepper spray I bought you? If you don’t scald his eyes, I’d be happy to do it.”
“He’s my boyfriend. I don’t want to hurt him.”
“Is he really your boyfriend, Daisy?” I ask, a little too icy. But I can’t help that.
“Yes.”
“Then describe what it’s like to kiss him.”
She cringes.
Lily points another finger at her. “Aha! You don’t like him.”
Daisy’s shoulders fall. “I’m working on it.”
“Promise me you won’t always be working on it,” I say. “He’s older, and he shouldn’t be trapping you in a relationship.”
“He’s not. I promise. I can get out at any time. I’m just waiting for the right moment to strike.” She pats my leg, dodging quickly. “So how are you feeling, anyway?”
I’ll take her distraction this time, only because that conversation was going nowhere, not until she can reject Julian. And if she can’t, I have absolutely no problem stepping in and burying his face in the fucking snow.
I clear my throat and straighten my neck. “So…I have news…” A few months ago, I made a promise to Lily that I’d tell her when I lost my virginity, only if she agreed not to make it a big deal in return. I try not to smile as I say it. “I had sex.”
“Ahhhhhhhh!” Lily’s excited squeal sounds more like a frightened scream.
The bedroom door flies open in response, unsurprisingly. Both Loren and Ryke rush in while the patio door slides for Connor’s quick entrance, his phone still in his hand.
“What the fuck happened?” Ryke asks first, looking between the three of us girls who have gone utterly quiet. Daisy acts like she’s enthralled with a marshmallow in her hot chocolate.
Lo’s cheekbones sharpen the longer he stares at Lily in concern, trying to figure out what’s going on like his brother.
The silence must eat at Lily because she grabs the throw blanket, pulls it over head, and hides.
I’m about to explain, but Brett tries to maneuver his camera through the door frame to capture a view of the bedroom—an area off-limits from filming. His intrusion annoys Ryke enough to slam the door on his face.
I hear the oomph! and the cameraman stumble in the hallway. I’d be more upset if it was Savannah or Ben. Otherwise, I don’t care so much by Ryke’s bout of aggression.