I couldn’t argue with that. Penny had been upset when she found out he’d been cheating on her, but not exactly surprised. At least not blown away as I’d been when Gideon revealed how he truly felt about me.
Penny patted me on the head and then straightened up with a sigh. “At least promise me you’ll consider Cole’s invitation.”
“I promise,” I said. Otherwise, she wouldn’t let me be.
But after she left, I could admit it to myself. I’d already considered his invitation to the party at the inn that would launch their “Weeks of Weekends” campaign. Each weekend had a different theme, and apparently, rooms at the inn were already filling up.
So yeah, I’d considered the invite, and the answer was no.
Then Cole started calling. In the morning. In the afternoons. Late at night. I could’ve easily set my phone to not even show me his calls, but somehow, I couldn’t do that. Every time I saw his name on my screen, I longed for him and for Brady.
Sometimes I fantasized about going to them. About picking up where we left off. About touching them. Stroking them. Holding them. But it wouldn’t work. Gideon was their best friend, and he hated me. For Brady and Cole, choosing me would mean rejecting him. And as much as I hated Gidon, I couldn’t do that to them. They needed him.
And then on a Friday night, I was lounging on my couch, half asleep, when Cole called again. Without thinking about it, without even checking the screen, I answered the call.
“Lila?” He sounded stunned.
So was I. I’d been drowsy and hadn’t meant to answer his call. Nightmares, the worst ones yet, kept me up at night these days. So I spent most of my day in zombie-mode.
“Lila, are you okay?”
“No. I mean hi.”
“I can’t believe you answered,” he said. “I’ve been calling for weeks.”
I couldn’t believe I’d slipped up and answered, either. “What’s up?”
“It’s Brady. He’s really sick, and he wants to see you.”
Yeah, that sounded plausible. Brady was very ill the night before their big party. “How long has he been sick?”
“Just a few days, but he really feels bad and wants to see you.”
“Yet you’ve been calling me for weeks.”
Cole’s gulp was audible. “Before, I was just calling to say hi.”
I rolled my eyes. “I guess you’ll have to cancel your big party since he’s so sick.”
“What?” Why?”
God, how had this guy ever taken part of the initial ruse about the Pleasure Institute? He sucked at lying.
“Please, Lila, I can drive out and get you myself. But please come. He’d really like to see you. We both would.”
I hesitated. Now that I could hear Cole’s deep voice, it was harder to ignore my feelings for him.”
“Please?” he said again. “Gideon won’t be there.”
“Good to know. Is there anything else you’d like to lie to me about tonight?”
Silence descended. Then Cole eventually said, “We installed bathtubs in each room.”
I nearly laughed. Those tiny bathrooms barely had room for the toilet, let alone tubs.
“Please, Lila?”
I shook my head. I repeated wordnoinside my mind. I opened my mouth—and I said, “All right. I’ll take the train out tomorrow night.”