Thrive (6 page)

I gasp, my hands flying to my chest. Ohmygod.

I am naked! Nearly naked. Half-naked. Topless.

Shit.

I try to hold the costume together with just my fingers.
“Lo!”
 

“Hey, it’s okay, Lil.” He spins me towards his chest and
hides my body from view. Why is this happening? What Leprechaun did I piss off?

“Fuck…” Ryke says again, his hands on his head. “I’m sorry…”

“Can you go find Daisy?” Lo asks.

Ryke frowns and rocks back with shock. “Seriously?”

“Yeah. I’m going to help Lily, so…” He can’t go look for my
sister himself. Neither can I now that I may have, sort of, flashed a crowd of
superheroes.

“I’ll catch up with you once I’ve found her,” Ryke says
before he disappears.

And then a couple Disney Princesses ask, “Hey…are you Lily
Calloway?”
Noooo.

I shake my head at Ariel, envious of her shell-bra that I
could definitely use right about now.

“You called him Lo,” one girl says with a giddy smile,
gesturing to my boyfriend / best friend / fiancé.

This is not happening.

I turn to look at Rose for more confidence. She points
somewhere and mouths,
Bathroom. Now.

“Lo…”

“I saw,” he says, already leading me to the bathroom. My
knuckles whiten as I try to force this stupid corset together with just the
strength of my fingers. The trek to the bathroom is surprisingly fast—maybe
because I was thinking about side-boob the entire time.

The door breezes open, and Rose clears out the stalls with
one shout: “Can you believe it?! Michael Fassbender is outside!”

I’ve never heard toilets flush that quickly in my life.

When the last girl exits, Connor and Lo enter.

I am praying upon every star in the universe and galactic,
habitable planets that my genius sister has a plan.

{ 8 }

0 years : 02 months

October

LOREN HALE

“Stop moving, Lil,” I order, trying to tie the
strings together on her corset. Most of the hooks are torn apart, but I find
one intact.

It barely closes her top.

“Let me see,” Lily says to Poppy, who’s checking the
internet for photos of us while Sam guards the door. Captain America’s greatest
duty is standing outside a girl’s restroom. It’d be hilarious if Lily’s eyes
weren’t about to pop out of her head.

“It’s just a couple photos,” Poppy proclaims, about to show
Lily her cell.

Rose snatches the phone out of her hand, censoring my
girlfriend from the news. “It’s fine, Lily. Don’t freak out.”

“How can I
not
freak
out?” she asks. “People know we’re here. They could be swarming the area, ready
to attack.”

I raise my brows at her. “This isn’t Mortal Kombat. No one
is going to attack you when we step through the doors.” I whisper, “You’re
safe, Lil. I promise.”

“Technically,” Connor says to Lily—I straighten up with a
glare—“they only know about you
and
Lo. No one thinks we’re here.”

“Even better,” I chime in with a bitter smile.

 
“I have a plan,” Rose
proclaims, hands on her hips.

Connor stares Rose down, his blue eyes popping among his
black Batman attire. “Care to consult me first, hun? Our two brains are better
than yours alone.”

“No,” Rose snaps with finality. “
My
brain can solve this crisis just fine.”

Connor leans his back against the sink counters and crosses
his arms. “And if you add my brain to yours, we’d have a much higher IQ—”

“Our combined IQs wouldn’t even be humanly possible,” she
cuts him off.

“Exactly. We defy the impossible,” he says with a smartass
grin.

We’ll be here all day if they don’t shut up. “Okay, we get
it,” I interject. “You’re both equally intelligent.”

“We’re not completely equal,” Connor says.

Rose huffs. “So what? You have a higher IQ than me. I don’t
even want to be that smart. You know why?”

“Here we go,” I mutter under my breath. When I look down at
Lily, she no longer concentrates on her wardrobe malfunction. She stops
shifting and leans her weight into my body. I rest my arms on her shoulders,
wanting her even closer, but this’ll have to be enough right now.

Rose and Connor’s fights definitely push away her
worries—for a moment anyway.

I’ll take it.

“Why?” Connor asks casually.

“Because you see the world in a way that no one can
understand.”

I don’t know what she means. At all.

“Why is that so bad?” he asks.

“Because you can’t explain yourself without confusing
people,” she says. “You have to keep all of your thoughts to yourself because
there’s
no one
smart enough to
understand you. I wouldn’t want that burden. I wouldn’t want to be so put off
by societies’ constructs only to realize that, in the end, you
have
to follow them. I wouldn’t want to
live as something lesser than I am.”

The silence deafens the bathroom. I wear a heavy frown like
Lily. I can’t imagine what Connor thinks about on a day-to-day basis. So
contemplating his beliefs—it’s out of my reach.

“You say there’s no one smart enough to understand me,”
Connor breathes. “Maybe you should listen to your own words, Rose. You sound
pretty understanding.” He pauses. “What’s the plan you had in mind for Lily? We
don’t have much time.”

Rose takes a deep breath, her collarbones sharpening. She
closes that argument and focuses on Lily. “You’re going to the director’s
panel.”

“Rose,” I snap. I don’t want to give Lily false hope. She
can’t go to a panel and have people bombard her the entire time. She’ll crawl
into herself.

Rose holds her hand at my face like
shut up.

I could smack it away, but I’m not letting go of my
girlfriend.

Her eyes fall to Lily’s. “We’re switching outfits.”

“What?” Lily and I say in unison.

Connor doesn’t look surprised, and Poppy is nodding like
it’s the best idea she’s ever heard.

“No one has pictures of me,” Rose reminds us.

“Your boobs are bigger than mine,” Lily notes. “And so is
your ass.”

“I don’t care.” Rose already plucks Lily’s blonde wig off
her head. “You can leave the bathroom as Catwoman and go watch the panel.”

I stare hard at Rose. She’s gone insane. “They have photos
of
me.
”

“I never said you could go with Lily. I’d tell you and
Connor to switch outfits, but he’s too tall for your tights.”

“Spandex pants,” I correct her, though Lily looks down at my
crotch. Her cheeks flush. The pants are form-fitting enough to show way more
than what most guys are comfortable revealing.

“
Tights
,” Rose
retorts, just to aggravate me. “I think I know fashion better than you.”

“Whatever.”

Rose unzips her leather jacket and hands it to Lily. “So
you’ll go with Connor, and I’ll stay with Loren.”

“What?” I shake my head. “No. I’m not acting like
you’re
Lily. This is beyond insane, even
for you.”

“I think it’s a good idea,” Poppy chimes in.

“Maybe that red wig is bleeding into your brain,” I snap.
She’s out of her bohemian shirts and into a Black Widow costume.

“Come on, it’s just pretend,” she tells me.

“Just when I thought I liked you, Poppy.”

She laughs. Poppy may be the hardest person to offend. Right
up there with Connor Cobalt. And then she adds, “You’re good at pretend, Loren.
You did it for three years with Lily.”

My face contorts. She doesn’t even realize what we did to
each other in those three years. I used to tease the hell out of Lily. I used
to touch her—and there is no way in hell I’m groping Rose. I’d rather set my
hands on fire.

“It’s not like you have to kiss Rose,” Poppy says, reading
my features well.

I cringe again. “Don’t even talk about that.” I glance at
Connor, who should reassure me about this stupid plot where we switch
girlfriends.

But he stays quiet.

“So now you don’t have anything to say?” I ask him.

“Rose and Lily aren’t twins, so it’s not like this’ll work
out perfectly,” he tells me. “But it’ll buy Lily the time she needs to go see
the panel, and that’s why we’re here.”

“I don’t have to go—” Lily starts.

“No.” Rose tosses her leather jacket to her younger sister.
“You’re going.”

“Rose, seriously, you won’t fit in my outfit,” Lily says,
though she inspects the leather jacket with longing. Maybe this isn’t the worst
idea.

“Don’t worry about that.” Rose fishes out her sewing kit
from her clutch purse. “Connor, Loren, turn around or leave while we change.”

I knew that was coming.

I kiss Lily on the lips, and she grips my belt, not letting
me go. “What is it?” I ask.

“I’m scared,” she whispers. “But I don’t want to disappoint
anyone by giving up.”

Without the wig, her hair’s in a messy bun. I tuck a flyaway
strand behind her ear. “If anyone stares, it’s because you’re Catwoman, not
because you’re Lily Calloway.”
Or a sex
addict.
I kiss her forehead. “You can do this, Lil.”

Her hand slides along my waist, and I snatch it before she
clings to me. She can’t drown her anxiety with her vice.

I know this better than anyone.

“Okay?” I ask.

“Yeah,” she nods more resolutely.

I leave her side to go stand next to Connor by the sinks,
our backs facing the girls while they change. I imagine Rose pretending to be
my girlfriend the moment we exit the bathroom, and I just shake my head at the
mayhem. “Rose and I are going to kill each other five feet out the door.”

“On the bright side,” Connor says, “Emma Frost doesn’t have
a weapon.” He unfurls the whip and snaps it in the air. “That could’ve been
your ass.”

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” I banter.

He grins widely, looking less like Batman and way more like
Connor Cobalt. “So much it hurts,” he replies. “Just make sure you walk next to
Rose and not ahead of her when you leave. She hates that.”

Are you shitting me?
“Anything
else? I’m trying to avoid my heart being ripped out and fed to baby demons.”

“I heard that,” Rose retorts.

I almost spin around.

But she shrieks, “Don’t you dare look, Loren! I’ll literally
stab your eyeball with my needle!”

“She’s topless,” Lily clarifies with a grunt, like she’s
struggling to put on her boots or pants.

I glare at the ceiling. “I’m definitely going to die today.”

“You won’t,” Connor says. “You’ve lasted this long.”

“True.” I let out a sigh and then nod to him. “I’m surprised
you’re not going to try and catch a peek.” As far as I know, he’s never even
seen Rose naked. They get off by talking more than they do by fooling
around—it’s kind of nuts.

“I know better,” he tells me, taking his mask off, his wavy
brown hair still contained, not even close to being unkempt and out of control.
I pull my red visor to the top of my head and think back to how Rose described
him. He has more power in his eyes without the mask, I realize.

“We’re finished,” Rose declares.

We both turn towards the girls who stand beside the stalls.
My gaze immediately falls on Lily, standing with way more confidence in her
black leather jacket and pants, less revealing.

I smile at how cute she looks in cat ears and a simple black
eye-mask.

“Is anyone going to say something?” Poppy wonders.

Lily and I break our gazes at the same time, and the moment
I see Rose, my jaw just fucking drops. I laugh. “Damn, Rose.” She sewed the
strings back on the corset, but it’s much smaller on her chest, pushing up her
breasts, and the silver spandex shorts might as well be underwear, riding up
her ass. “You’d make a perfect Cowboy’s cheerleader.”

“Shut up, Loren.”

“You’re a terrible blonde though.”

She actually flips me off.

I probably deserved that one.

Connor hasn’t said a word, but I read the expression on his
face really well this time. His eyes graze every inch of her, full of lust,
like he’s saving the image for later. Might as well. Who knows when Rose will
be comfortable enough to have sex?

“Do you have something to say?” Rose asks, raising her chin
like she’s ready to combat him.

“You look beautiful.” The sincerity is clear in his voice.

Her shoulders drop, caught off guard.

Lily approaches me and holds my hand about the same time
that Rose walks up to her boyfriend.

“You know what?” Lily says, her lips curving upward.

“What?” I ask, her smile making me smile.

“Catwoman is awesome.”

I’m not sure if she means Rose or the costume. Most likely
both.

Right now, I kind of have to agree. Rose is strong. But so
is Lily. She possesses this rare courage. It’s quiet and unassuming, but it
still exists. It’s still just as worthy.

I rub her back and realize that Rose has her arms wrapped
around Connor’s neck. One of his hands dips to her ass, and she lets it sit
there. One minute they’re fighting. The next minute, they’re like this. I can’t
keep up.

I strain my ears to catch their murmured words. “I want to
move in with you,” Connor whispers under his breath.

My first thought:
If
he lives at the Princeton house, he’s going to discover that I’m fucking Lily a
lot more.
Not:
Thank God I won’t be
the only guy under that roof.

The addicted side of me trumps every moral part.

I’m a fucking terrible friend.

“You can’t,” Rose replies. “Your commute to Penn is too
far…and Lily and Lo…”

“The commute is manageable, and Lo and Lily love me.” He
pauses. “Do you?”

“Don’t manipulate me,” she whispers.

“I’m not trying to. I just want to be with you more than I
am now. I’ll wait a few months if that’s what it takes.”

She nods. “Okay.”

Poppy clears her throat. “I hate to interrupt, but Sam just
texted me and said the crowds are starting to gather around the bathroom.” Her
eyes meet mine. “They’re waiting for you and Lily.”

Great.

Rose disentangles from her boyfriend and goes back into
commander mode. “Lily, go with Connor,” she orders like she’s preparing for
war.

I just hope there’s no friendly fire.

* * *

“For Christ’s sake, give her space,” I say, trying
not to touch Rose. She’s having a hard time shielding her face from cellphone
cameras. She uses the blonde wig to hide, which helps some.

We just need to reach the elevator. Connor already texted me
and said they’re waiting in line for the panel with Poppy and Sam.

No one noticed Lily dressed as Catwoman.

“Are you in love with Loren or Ryke?” people keep asking.
Through my visor, everyone and everything is tinted red.

Rose surprisingly keeps quiet. She must be literally biting
her tongue to stop from lashing out.

“Are you in a fight?” someone asks. “Why aren’t you holding
Lily?”

“Yeah. You always hold Lily!”

Shit.

Rose glares at me out of the corner of her eye. This is a
girl who I’ve never even
hugged
before.
Fuck, besides Connor, I’ve only ever
seen her hug someone maybe three times in my entire life.

“She’s sick,” I say sharply, my voice like fucking knives
right now. “So you should all back up in case you catch it.”

The crowds start rocketing backwards like I said she had the
bubonic plague. Jesus Christ.

“Does she have herpes?” someone asks.

Anger twists my face, my jaw clenching. “
No
,” I sneer, trying to find the source
of that voice. My heart beats rapidly.