I may be calmer after Connor’s short talk and reassuring presence, but no one else looks as mild-mannered. Ryke has his arms crossed over his chest, staring between Lily and Loren who uncommonly start fighting.
She asked him if he drank booze. And the one question pummeled him backwards. Her words, her feelings towards him, mean more than whatever Ryke, Connor, and I can say or do.
“I just…I don’t understand why you wouldn’t get your pills to prove it,” she says in a small voice.
“So you’re going to take their side over mine?” he chokes.
“I’m not taking sides.” Her face contorts as she thinks about everything. “I just want the truth, Lo.”
“I didn’t drink.” He shakes his head repeatedly, but his eyes redden the longer he does so, telling us a different story. “But I can’t prove it. I stopped taking Antabuse months ago.”
“You did what?!” Ryke shouts.
Lo touches his chest in defense. “They were driving me nuts! I’m paranoid about everything I eat—if it’s accidentally cooked in alcohol. I picture myself puking from a shitty fucking meal. I can’t do that for the rest of my goddamn life!”
Before his brother can respond, Lo turns his attention back to Lily. “You have to believe me,” he says, desperation lacing his voice.
“I do,” she says, no hesitation.
Relief floods his face. He walks to the bed and reaches for a hug.
But then something strange happens. Lily pushes Loren in the chest and then she points her finger at him. “But it’s not okay. It’s not.” Her chin quivers and she tries to gather this shadowy strength that likes to flit away from her. “You can’t stop taking them just because it drives you nuts. And it’s not okay that you kept this from me…from us…”
They’re both crying now, and it feels intrusive watching them fight like this.
“My chest is on fire,” I tell Connor. I really want to leave. But we still have to talk to Lily about the videotape.
He rubs my back and kisses my temple.
It feels good. To have him. In these moments, I can’t imagine reverting back to being alone. I would feel outnumbered and unspun.
Loren holds my sister in his arms. Or maybe she’s holding him. It’s hard to tell.
“We’re in a fight, just so you know,” she whispers. “I’ll sleep in Daisy’s bedroom.”
His face twists in hurt now. “You haven’t had sex in three days. I was going to…” He drifts off as Lily shakes her head.
“I don’t care about sex. I care about you being healthy and not drinking.”
I’m grinning. I can’t stop it. It’s fucking happening. My chest lifts. Doused with water. Those words I don’t care about sex have never left that girl’s mouth.
Loren looks just as surprised, just as in awe as me.
“We have another issue,” Ryke interjects.
I glare hatefully. “We don’t have to bring that up now,” I say. My sister just denounced sex, the compulsive, harmful kind. We should throw her a party not question her about the alleged bathroom blow job.
Ryke looks at me like I lost brain cells and then grabs the camera. “Watch this,” he tells Lily and Loren.
They stand behind the camera as the footage replays, and Lily’s cheeks redden the further along. When we all hear her say “Can I give you a blow job?” her eyes bug, and her hand shoots to the air like she’s ready to answer a question in class.
“I was having a bad day,” she defends.
“Shhh,” Loren hisses, his eyes narrowed at the camera. The moaning and groaning begin and Lily suddenly shares his confusion. “What is this?” Lo asks. “Is this some kind of fucked up joke?”
“You tell us,” Ryke refutes. “You’re fucking in a public bathroom in the middle of the afternoon.”
“Nooo,” Loren says the word slowly. “We didn’t fuck in the bathroom. We don’t fuck anywhere but our bedroom. Someone must have tampered with the video.”
“So you didn’t ask to give Loren a blow job?” I question my sister.
Her rash-like flush spreads to her neck and arms. “I did do that…” she mutters.
“And then I told her no,” Loren adds. I don’t know what to believe. I want to put faith in them, but the evidence is convincing. How does a person even edit a video on the actual camera? It’s not as if we’re watching the footage from a computer.
“What were you actually doing for thirty minutes in the bathroom?” Connor asks casually. His questions always seem less like an interrogation and more like a conversation.
Ryke and I fail on that front.
“I was giving Lily a pep talk,” Lo explains.
“I needed one,” she agrees. Her eyes flicker to his in gratitude, but then she must remember her earlier declaration because she takes a step to the side to put distance between them. “We’re still in a fight.”
Loren’s throat bobs at her words. “I’m going to start taking Antabuse again, Lil,” he whispers.
“Good,” she says with a nod. Then she looks to Ryke. “Fast-forward to the end. When we come out of the bathroom, I know I’ll look disappointed.”
Ryke presses a button and the footage speeds up, when he hits play, we all wait in anticipation, as if this is the only piece of evidence we have left.
On screen, Lily and Lo exit the bathroom, and before anyone says a thing, Lily goes, “Ah-ha!” She points to the footage. “I look so upset.”
I frown and bend closer to the screen. She needs her eyesight checked. I put my hands on my hips as I lean further. Really, what is she looking at? All I see is Lily’s flushed face and her hand in Lo’s. Their demeanor is natural, almost content.
“That’s you disappointed?” Ryke says in disbelief. “You’re sweating and your face is red.”
“It was hot in the bathroom,” Lily defends.
“It was,” Loren agrees but his voice has changed. Where Lily is frantic, Lo looks resolute as if he’s accepted the fact that this looks bad for them.
“Are they going to air this?” Lily wonders.
“Probably,” Connor says, “but it helps promote your wedding. The bad edit would be you slipping into the bathroom with another guy.”
“We’re just concerned about your health,” I say.
“I didn’t have sex, Rose,” Lily tells me with pleading eyes. “I’m doing better. I mean, I shouldn’t have asked Lo that...that question. But besides that, I’m doing better.”
I have to trust her. I know this.
But if Lily didn’t blow her boyfriend in a public restroom and if Loren didn’t drink, then there’s only one other guilty party.
Production.
Scott Van Wright.
I’m going to kill him.
CHAPTER 37
CONNOR COBALT
I convinced everyone to keep their production-tampering suspicions to themselves. If we give production a reaction, they win. They all agreed after a few hours, but Rose, Ryke, and Loren have short fuses. It’s only a matter of time until one of them detonates.