Everything I want: Will Alfie and Lily's love survive?... (16 page)

He didn’t let me answer before he went on. “Sometimes people date and get married; sometimes they date for a long time then split; sometimes they have a date they absolutely never want to repeat…I know plenty about that
one.”

He chuckled, and his thumb grazed up and down my bare upper arm. “Lily, honey, you have to take risks with love. It doesn’t come around very often…not the kind you and Alfie have. Rosie and I, we have a kind of love where she affects me in here.” He tapped the center of his chest with his middle finger. “We’re good together, but I don’t really know if we’re great you know?” I didn’t, but I nodded an
yway.

“The question for me isn’t what might happen in the future with us, Lily, it’s do I feel enough to want to spend the rest of my life with her? I’m really not sure about that
part.”

One of the things I loved about Jack was that he has always been able to see the trees and not just the wood. Tell me what you feel, Lily. Is that what you’re scared of?” I no
dded.

I smiled in the dark, because he had just simplified my question for me. It wasn’t that I couldn’t envision spending the rest of my life with Alfie, I c
ould.

The question was whether I could be with him and play music. There was more to it as well. I have a dilemma about taking Alfie up on his idea of us supporting his band. What happens if we were to split? If… it didn’t work out. I couldn’t ask the guys to change the arrangement, because I wasn’t in a relationship any
more.

Jack pulled away from me. “Okay, you need a plan B in that case.” I sat wondering what could possibly be a backup if things went wrong. “Hmm, you’re too clever for me, Jack, but I have an idea. I don’t know if I have the guts to make the call, but it might just give me a little security in all of this if I
can.”

Chapter 16
– Striking a deal

“W
hat if…I ask Rick if he can share our band with Alfie’s?” Jack chuckled and bent his leg, digging his heel into the mattress and rolling his body on its side, pulling himself further up the headboard, so that he was completely upright facing me
now.

“Who’s
Rick?”

I smiled at Jack. He was slow on the uptake because of all the alcohol he’d consumed tonight. “Rick Fars,” I said fl
atly.

Jack snorted. “You’re just gonna call Rick Fars? Cobham Street, Rick fucking
Fars?”

Chuckling at Jack, I said, “Sure, I have Rick’s number, and he has mine. He’s going to check in with me periodically to see how I’m doing. He said I could call him for anyt
hing.”

I knew that this conversation between us would be relayed to David, our friend in London and an avid Cobham Street fan. He would go ape shit that I had Rick Fars’ phone nu
mber.

Jack shook his head. “Don’t call him, Lily. Alfie’s one thing; Rick Fars would eat you for break
fast.”

I wasn’t that impressed with Jack’s assessment of Rick. He had no idea how nice of a person he was, but I didn’t feel like protesting his innocence. Maybe at some point, Jack might meet him and come to that conclusion on his
own.

At 6am, Jack snuck back into his own bed. I half worried that Rosie was going to wake in the night and find that Jack had come to my room an
yway.

That would have been awkward, and I’m not all that confident we’d be able to convince her. Jack and I were just talking about my love life. After Jack left, I fell into a fitful sleep and didn’t wake again until
2pm.

When I woke, I lay staring at the ceiling thinking about what Jack had said. I plucked up the courage and decided to put in a call to Rick. I was nervous to talk to him, but he had said “anytime”, so I felt that this was ‘any
time’.

I explained everything to Rick. He was surprised to hear I was thinking of getting back with Alfie. He did disclose he found the sexual tension radiating off of us hot in it
self.

Rick thought I was being smart about not wanting to make the band exclusive to Crakt Soundzz. I doubted whether the guys would go for that an
yway.

He surprised me by offering us a deal, which was where his support acts shared half the tour with Alfie’s support act. Namely, XrAid for the next
tour.

This way I’d get to spend some time with Alfie, but the band would have exposure from working with two household names. I was humbled that this big time rock star would do this fo
r me.

Not only were we going to support Alfie’s band, but I was stunned Rick had that much confidence in XrAid to invite us to support his band during their international
tour.

I only had two things to achieve now. One was to get the guys to agree to the arrangement. That would be hard as soon as Alfie’s name was menti
oned.

The fact that I had pulled off us supporting two of the biggest bands on the planet would maybe help them see past
that.

As for Alfie? I knew he was going to throw a hissy fit that we wouldn’t be together all the time. This was my condition. If he wanted me to take a chance on him, he would be able to con
cede.

When I brought it up, he was a little indignant about the whole thing and didn’t want me to work with Rick. When he realized it was this or nothing, he was more than happy to agree with the arrange
ment.

I called Lennon and asked him to get the guys together at his place, because I had something I needed to discuss with the group. “Am I going to be pissed about this, Lily?” I bit my lip and chewed the inside of my mouth, as I decided how I was going to answer
this.

“Well maybe, but not if you take a deep breath and consider what I’m bringing to the table.” He growled down the phone a
t me.

“Does this have anything to do with that shifty shit A
lfie?”

I giggled. “Hmm, that’s not very kind Le
nnon.”

Lennon mumbled almost to himself, “Maybe, but it’s definitely fucking apt.” I finished the call, telling him I would be there by 4pm. It was 3:10pm now, so I had to get mo
ving.

After showering, I dressed in a pair of cut-off denim jean shorts and a little cropped t-shirt. It hung off one shoulder. I brushed my hair and wound it up into a messy bun, securing it with a
clip.

I ran around with a small trundle case, throwing in my outfit to wear tonight, shoes, and some ma
keup.

When I went into the sitting room, Jack and Rosie were cuddled up watching TV. Jack was eating my new pack of
ham.

“Great I’m starving are we going out to eat? There’s only rabbit food in the fridge.” I knew he meant healthy stuff, like peppers, lettuce, celery, and other salad i
tems.

“I’ll drop you at the diner Jack. I have a meeting with the band right now.” He glanced at me, looking annoyed that he’d hung around for me to
eat.

“You should both spend the rest of day doing last minute things before our parents ar
rive.”

I had made reservations for dinner and booked our parents’ tickets for the theatre this evening. “I’ll pick you up at seven for dinner, and we’ll leave my car at the place; Elle’s booked a VIP section for tonight. All you have to decide is if you’re coming back here tonight or going to our parents’ p
lace.”

Jack gave me a look that told me that he was coming with me, without saying anything, and I no
dded.

Rosie turned to Jack. “What do you want to do,
baby.”

He glanced at her. “It’s all sorted.” He kissed the top of her head, and I could see Rosie’s brows bunch, because she had no idea how I knew what he had dec
ided.

I kissed Rosie and Jack goodbye, and Jack pulled me in for a hug. He started sniffing my hair. “I missed that smell.” I giggled and smirked at R
osie.

“He’s a pervert isn’t he?” I teased, and we giggled together as I opened the front door. Jack winked at me, and I pulled it closed it behin
d me.

By the time I drove to Lennon’s place, Cody and Digs’ rides were sitting out front. I wasn’t sure if Shawn had come with one of the guys or if we’d have to wait for him to get
here.

I pulled the screen door open and called out to them in the back. “Hey, guys it’s onl
y me.”

I heard the toilet flush and Shawn came out of the guest bathroom. “Ah everyone’s here already.” Shawn smi
rked.

Lennon’s voice cut through the quiet. “Okay, what’
s up?”

I smiled and wrung my hands. “Well I have something I need to run past you
guys.”

Cody smirked and looked at Lennon. “Does this have anything to do with Alfie?” I blushed that I was so transpa
rent.

“Now there’s a sight I haven’t seen in a while.” Cody pointed at my face, which I knew had gone
red.

“Promise to hear me out?” I looked at them, concerned this wasn’t going to be as easy as it sounded when I spoke to Rick ear
lier.

I explained about Alfie coming to see me, and my feelings for him. I told them that even though a lot of people would view it simply, I was aware that my predecessor had left the band because of a
guy.

I wanted to reassure them this wasn’t what I wanted. I was considering the band before I made any final decisions about getting involved with him a
gain.

Cody’s eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. “You have us touring with both bands? How the fuck did you pull that
off?”

I explained about Alfie’s suggestion for us to be together, but my reluctance to have XrAid stuck touring with one act. So I called Rick.” I smirked at Cody when I remembered telling him about us exchanging num
bers.

“I just wanted to run it by you all, and to tell you guys I know you’re scared about me getting with Alfie again. I love him. I’ve been denying it, but I owe it to us to try. I’ve been running away from him almost since I met him. I need to know if we’re supposed to be together. I think he’s the love of my life, and he says he knows I’m
his.”

The guys all sat staring me until Digs slapped his hands on his legs and pushed up onto his feet. “You do what you have to do, honey, but he gets one chance. He fucks with your head again I’ll make sure he never gets near
you.”

I smiled. Digs was very protective of me but was always the first person to see the good in pe
ople.

“Well, we have to do our tour first, before we do anything else.” Lennon was now talking in practical terms. We had eighteen dates in twenty-one
days.

So, for the first three weeks after New Year’s Day we would be touring eighteen states. Alfie would be on the backburner no matter what. The difference this time was that it was me who was going
away.

My cell rang and when I saw the SEXPERT ID, my heart skipped a beat. Even before I heard his voice he had my heart ra
cing.

I swiped my phone, and his voice cut into my ear like a warm, velvet caress. “Hey.” That one word from his lips always gave me goose-bumps, but this time it also held
hope.

I couldn’t let him know that just yet. I had to make sure he had taken care of Zoe, and that she was able to leave Alfie behind before we could go for
ward.

“Zoe?” Alfie exhaled loudly. “She’s gone, Lily. Des took her to the airport. She’s flying back to D.C. as we speak. She has an apartment there, and she wants to go to college. I’ve already arranged that for her. She was lucky; she got enrolled for the January intake studying at the college of Arts and Science. She had great scores from high school but her parents didn’t have a college fund, so she ended up working in a hardware s
tore.”

I wondered what Alfie was doing in a hardware store to meet her. I’d revisit that with him l
ater.

“Where are you?” I asked, hearing tra
ffic.

“I’m sitting in my car outside your apartment. Can I come up?” I thought about Holly, and her likely reaction if I went back there. I explained that I wasn’t at
home.

“Shit, where are you; I’ll come pick you up.” If we were going to do this, then I needed to be firm and independent from the o
nset.

“No, Alfie, go home. I’ll see you tonight. It’s only a couple of hours
away.”

Alfie exhaled heavily. “Lily, it’s been way over a year. I can’t wait another minute.” I smiled, and my heart sped up. Hearing him say that and knowing I was finally giving in to my feelings made me extremely nervous. I was determined to play it
cool.

“Tonight.” I chuckled. “I promise it will be worth the
wait.”

Alfie groaned into his cell. “You are determined to kill me aren’t you?” I giggled at his g
roan.

“I think you’ll live, see you later.” I swiped my finger on the red phone icon and closed my cell, throwing it in my
bag.

I had contemplated asking him to dinner with Jack, me, our parents, and Rosie, but I needed time to persuade my dad to give Alfie another ch
ance.

When I looked up, Lennon was shaking his head. “Here we go again,” he grunted, crushed the beer can he was holding, and threw it at the trash
can.

It missed. “Well, I hope Alfie’s better at scoring tonight than you are.” I smirked, and Digs high five
d me.

“There’s that smart-ass mouth again. Something tells me this time with Alfie is going to be different,” Digs qui
pped.

I smiled at Digs, who seemed to have the most confidence in me. “Bet your ass it is, h
oney.”

I showered and dressed at Lennon’s place after messing around in the pool with Digs and S
hawn.

They were playing their own version of water polo, but without the net. Somehow I kept being hit with the ball, but they both smirked and insisted it was all part of the
game.

I collected Jack and Rosie, and we went to have dinner with my parents. I hadn’t told them about Alfie
yet.

Jack did his best to make me squirm a few times but stopped short of dropping the bomb that Alfie was back on the s
cene.

Jack’s mother secretly harbored some notion he and I would end up together. She dropped less than subtle hints in front of Rosie a few t
imes.

Jack was funny when he burst her bubble about us. “Lily and I are incompatible,” he st
ated.

His mom, Jacqueline, furrowed her brow. “Nonsense Jack, whatever could make you think that?” Jack smirked, and I cringed as I waited to see what was going to come out of his m
outh.