Chapter 5 - Midnight ConfessionsBy 2:00 AM, the apartment was dead silent.
I couldn't sleep. The ghost of Lily’s touch on my leg during dinner was still burning through my nervous system like wildfire. I threw off the duvet, padded quietly into the kitchen, and poured myself a glass of cold water.
"Couldn't sleep either?"
I jumped, nearly dropping the glass. Lily was standing in the doorway of the kitchen, leaning against the frame, illuminated only by the pale blue glow of the streetlights outside. She wasn't wearing the band t-shirt anymore; she had changed into a silky, oversized white button-down that reached mid-thigh.
"You're going to give me a heart attack," I whispered hoarsely, setting the glass down. "Why aren't you in bed?"
"Because the bed is empty on the left side," she said softly, walking into the kitchen. The air between us thickened, heavy with unspoken history and eight years of suppressed tension. "And because we need to talk about what happened at dinner."
"Nothing happened at dinner, Lily."
"You lied to my brother," she countered, closing the distance between us until she was standing right in front of me. I could smell the faint scent of vanilla and lavender on her skin. "You said you didn't have a forbidden crush. But your pulse is racing right now. I can hear it from here."
"You're playing with fire," I warned, my voice dropping an octave as my hands clenched into fists at my sides to keep from reaching out and pulling her against me. "Noah is my best friend. If he finds out—"
"Noah isn't here right now," she interrupted, her voice fierce and unyielding. She reached out, taking my right hand and deliberately placing it flat against her chest, right over her pounding heart. "Feel that, Ethan? That’s what you do to me. It has been for eight years. Since that graduation party when you looked at me in that yellow dress and ran away like a coward."
I froze. The warmth of her skin beneath my palm sent a shockwave straight to my core. "I didn't run away," I whispered, the lie tasting bitter on my tongue. "I protected us."
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"No," Lily whispered, stepping closer until her lips were inches from mine. "You protected yourself. But you're out of time, Ethan. The futon is broken. The wall of pillows is gone. And I am tired of waiting."
Without giving me another second to think, she rose on her tiptoes, closed the remaining distance, and pressed her lips softly against mine.
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