Contractual Obligations

“You don’t have to do this.” Jessie said. It was the day of the move. All of my stuff was packed for the plane, and our old house was on the market to be sold.

We were standing in the living room while Sebastian was in his own room, packing up last-minute things.

I hadn’t been thinking too hard about it. Jessie had been distant the last few days, but I hoped it was because she was busy and not because she was avoiding me. Thankfully, she did come to see me before I left.

I sighed. “But I do. It’s only for a year, though.”

She shook her head, looking frustrated. “Why are you still doing this?”

“What?”

“This marriage. Why are you still going through with it? You could live with me, or even one of my friends. You could get out if you wanted to, but you stick around and have no control over your life, for what—money?”

I stared, unsure of what to say.

“Is the money that important to you?” she asked insistently.

“Yes . . . I mean, no. Of course not,” I said. “But even if I did stay with you, I’d have to have an income somehow. You know how expensive LA is, and I need the inheritance in order to stay here. I don’t want to start over somewhere else.”

“Like you are now.”

I looked at my feet. “You know I don’t want to do this.”

“Then don’t. Who are doing this for? You dad? Sebastian?”

It took me a very long time to answer her. “I’m . . . doing it for me.”

“You just said you didn’t want to do this. You should do something for yourself for once and leave.”

I was doing something for myself. I was trying to write my last novel. I had created a whole world with my pen name and was trying to make enough to be able to live comfortably.

But I couldn’t tell her that. Not here, not now.

“I’m doing the best I can. I signed a contract,” I said, shaking my head. I floundered to come up with an excuse that didn’t mention my books. “I can’t just walk away—”

“Are you staying because you think you can somehow win Sebastian over?”

“N-no. I don’t think that.”

At least I shouldn’t think that way.

Would it have been nice to find some sort of kindred spirit in Sebastian? Of course. I would have loved for him to confide in me that he felt as trapped as I did. It would have been great to hear him tell me he wanted to know the real me and not the version of myself I faked. Anything other than this cold, dreaded silence would have been preferred.

But those ideas were dreams, not reality.

Jessie shook her head. “We’ve been friends most of our lives, but I can’t do this anymore.”

Her resigned words forced me out of my own thoughts. “What?”

“I can’t watch you get steamrolled by your family anymore. I’ve given you outs. I’ve offered help. But you’re not changing or growing or doing anything other than what they’re telling you to do. You’re their lapdog.”

I stared. She was done with me?

My jaw fell open as the weight of her words hit me. Now was not the time to have this conversation—not when I was moving away. I knew from her point of view, she was right. But in the background, I had been rebelling in my own way.

Maybe I should tell her about The Fair Originals. She was my best friend. She should know.

But Sebastian was nearby, and if he found out, then Martin would too. I couldn’t destroy my only chance to have a life for myself in one year’s time. I needed to keep it a secret.

“We need to go,” a third, much deeper voice said. We both turned to see Sebastian had entered the room, looking like the perfect businessman in his dress shirt and ironed pants.

His jaw was clenched, and I wondered how much he’d heard.

Jessie sighed and shook her head again. “Good luck out there. If you ever decide you’re done with all of this, then you know where to find me.”

She breezed past Sebastian, out the door, and got into her car. She was so eager to leave that her tires squealed as she backed out of the driveway.

“What was that about?” Sebastian asked.

I looked at him, not expecting him to ask.

“Nothing,” I muttered. “Let’s just get on this plane.”

My voice was the opposite of what it should have been, dark and deep instead of the burst of sunshine everyone had come to expect from me.

“Lily, wait. Why do you sound upset?”

“I’m not,” I lied.

“What did Jessie say to you? That didn’t seem like a goodbye. It sounded like she’s trying to convince you out of this move.”

“It’s nothing,” I repeated.

“Do you not want to do this?” he asked.

If I said yes, there was nothing we could do about it. I couldn’t tell him how I really felt, because if I let my cracks show, others would hear about it.

“This is a great opportunity,” I managed to choke out. I tried to shove my pain into its usual box, but it was beginning to overflow.

Sebastian stared at me, and I wondered if he expected me to tell him truth. But how could I? No one wanted my truth.

I wished I could sound happy. I needed my light and airy personality.

But it was gone.

“We have a flight to catch,” I reminded, and I walked out of the house. We took my car to the airport, and I was grateful to have some distraction from what just happened. I didn’t know what I would have done if I’d spent the drive looking out the window.

I assumed Sebastian already sold his car. His had been missing for days. Mine would be next, and I hated that this would be the last time I drove it. My Volvo was a gift from Sebastian for our first anniversary. Even though it was only for me to show off on Instagram, I genuinely liked it.

Sebastian had told me not to worry about my car. It would be taken care of. How it would be taken care of, I had no idea.

I guessed it would be sold. Sebastian’s father and Martin Industries as a whole treated objects and people like they were disposable. There was no room for attachment in their quick moving world.

So, me being attached to my car meant nothing. It would be sold, and I’d get another one in Nashville. That was the easy thing to do, after all.

When we pulled in, I was blinking back tears.

I felt sick as I left the skyline I knew, but I pushed it down in favor of making a bullshit social media post about new beginnings.

I was so emotionally drained when we arrived that I could have slept for a week. Luckily, the airport was less busy, but there were still tourists stopped in the middle of the walkways, checking their phones rather than getting out of the way.

The house dad bought us was on the northeast side of the city. We rented a car, and the ride was spent in silence as I stared out at the highways and foliage we passed, feeling numb.

After living in LA my whole life, I became attached to the familiarity of the road names, the trees, and the restaurants. Now I knew nothing, and I couldn’t wait for this year to be over.

The house was the one bright beacon in all of this. I felt a little bit of peace looking at the one thing I had a say in.

The house was empty when we entered, and I looked around, imagining all the ways I could fill it.

“Take the master bedroom,” Sebastian said.

“I don’t need it. I want the room upstairs with the nook.”

He turned. “What? You had the master bedroom in the last house.”

“Not this time,” I said, walking up the stairs without another word. I put my carry-on in my room, looking at the wallpapered pink walls and original hardwood floors.

This was home—and for once, I wasn’t mad about it.

But I was mad about everything else.

Tears pricked my eyes. Jessie was done with me, and I didn’t know how to deal with that. Moving already had me on my last string of sanity. Jessie leaving snapped it.

I had an image to keep up, and I knew it, but I didn’t think I could do it for Sebastian anymore.

I knew he could tell Martin, but at this point, if Martin found out about anything I did, I could tell him exactly what Sebastian was doing with Heather.

Neither of us were perfect anyway.

I put my carry-on, which held my laptop with all my writing on it, in the closet. I’d need to get some work done soon, but for now, I had to hope no one would find it.

“Are you sure you don’t want the larger room?”

I jumped, throwing my body in front of the closet door. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m making sure you don’t lose out on the room you want because you’re being petty.”

I glared. “This one is fine.”

“Is it?”

“Yes,” I said. “I like the nook, and I can get some books up here.”

“Books?”

“Social media books,” I corrected. “I have to stay up on the trends.”

It was a bad excuse. Did they even make books on trends? And if so, wouldn’t they be out of style by the time they were publicized?

Luckily, Sebastian didn’t call me out on it. He looked away. “Right. Definitely. You should put what you love there.”

I gritted my teeth to keep from arguing that I did not, in fact, love social media.

“I’ll figure it out,” I said.

“Great. We can do that now.”

“What? Don’t you have work to do?”

“The office isn’t open yet.”

“Okay, then I can locate a table so you can work on your laptop.”

“The house doesn’t have internet yet.”

“Then what do you want me to do?” I asked, frustrated.

He sighed. “Let’s go furniture shopping.”

“Together?”

“Why would we do it separately? We only have the rental car.”

“Because you haven’t wanted to do anything with me other than occasionally sleeping together.”

Sebastian stared at me, and I realized I had said that thought out loud rather than keeping it to myself.

That wasn’t supposed to happen.

I cleared my throat. “I mean, you prioritize work.”

He shrugged, eyes trained on the floor. “There’s nothing I can do right now. It’s the weekend.”

I was sure he could find something to do, but I also wasn’t about to go exploring through a city by myself. Being alone and a somewhat recognizable woman in a new city meant I’d either get stopped for photos or mugged.

“Fine,” I said. “Let’s just go to IKEA and pick out a bunch of furniture.”

“Nashville doesn’t have an IKEA.”

“What?” I almost hissed, my body growing tense. “How do you know that?”

“I looked into Nashville before we moved. Apparently it was a huge deal around here. They wanted to open one, but they backed out.”

“What?” I said, my voice a little higher than it should have been. “How could it not have—all major cities have one!”

He let out a long, pained breath. “Obviously not all of them, considering Nashville is a major city.”

Irritation crossed his face at my tone, and honestly, I didn’t blame him. The least of our problems was not having an IKEA, but dammit, I felt joy when exploring their purposefully confusing store.

“You want IKEA furniture?” he asked. “Seems a little below your taste.”

“We’re here for a year. It’s not a massive deal.”

And besides, I’d started looking at prices for furniture once I knew I would be able to escape. The sticker shock of it all made me question if I could even do this. IKEA wasn’t expensive like other places. I could stand looking at those prices.

“Remind me again why we didn’t bring the furniture from the LA house?” I asked.

“Half of it wouldn’t fit through the door,” he said, and that was true. This house was worlds apart from our old one.

“Okay,” I said. “Maybe we can go to some other furniture store.”

“Sure, but it will be a few weeks. Most of that stuff comes from the warehouse.”

“So, I won’t have a bed for a few weeks?” I asked. “No, there has to be a better option.”

“We could get it today by going to a vintage store. I bet it will all be in the local Nashville chic style. We could be more authentic.” His mouth quirked. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he was teasing me.

I wanted to kill him for mentioning being authentic in that moment. I’d said that to bullshit my way into getting this house. I hated when it was being repeated back to me.

I didn’t like Nashville chic. It was rustic and not what I saw myself surrounded with, but I was stuck in this damn city, and I didn’t want to have to wait weeks for basic furniture.

“Fine,” I said. “Let’s go there then.”

Sebastian looked shocked for a moment, but then he asked, “Are you sure about this? I don’t think you’re going to find anything.”

“I don’t think you will either, but maybe we’ll surprise each other.”

We wound up at a refinished furniture store right next to an antique shop.

This was the kind of place Jessie and I would frequent in LA whenever she moved and needed new furniture.

But thinking of Jessie made me close my eyes for a moment. God, it hurt that she was done with me. I couldn’t even blame her, because I was a little done with myself too.

“Want to go to a different store?” Sebastian asked, an edge of pride in his voice.

I wasn’t frozen in place because of the store. I was frozen in place because I missed my best friend.

“I’m fine,” I said.

He looked over at me, lips downturned, and I couldn’t help but notice that he looked out of place in here. Hell, maybe I did too.

But the other guests were all varying degrees of dressed. There were a couple of people who looked as dressed up as I was, a few were wearing whatever seemed to be comfortable, and some were older individuals talking to a worker about the antiques.

“No cowboy hats,” I muttered to myself.

“I think it’s more of a tourist thing.”

“That’s a relief,” I said, and began walking through the store, examining the pieces with a critical eye.

Sebastian was right about one thing: this was all in the Nashville style. There weren’t a lot of modern pieces. Most of it was either wood toned or painted wood toned.

“It goes without saying,” I told him as we looked through the stuff, “I don’t want a vintage mattress, and I’m not so sure about a couch.”

“If we get one, we would have to order it, unless you want one of the cheap ones they keep in stock.”

“Definitely not.” That was one thing I never budged on. The last thing I needed was lower back pain on top of everything else going on.

“Most places don’t have the mattresses you like in stock.”

I shrugged. “Target has air mattresses. I can handle it for a little while if it means we get better mattresses.”

He looked at me again with that almost confused expression. I glanced away, realizing I was slipping from surface-level Lily to writer Lily. He’d probably heard twenty new words from me today alone.

I focused my attention back on the furniture. I could panic over my slip-ups later.

While these items were restored, there were lots that held their original charms. All of them were solid and had been well loved throughout their lives. Seeing them made me wish I had something with love and history the same way.

It was a feeling I hadn’t had before.

“I like this set,” I muttered as we walked into the back corner of the room. The four-post bedframe was made of intricately carved dark-stained wood and was too old to hold a modern mattress. I would need to order a platform bed to make sure it was stable.

The drawers for the matching dresser had been oiled recently, making them glide effortlessly. The beautiful designs were too perfect to pass up. There was also a bookshelf that looked like it could hold over a hundred books. It would look amazing in my room with the nook.

“You like this?” he asked.

“It matches the house,” I replied. I wondered if I should pivot, and maybe reiterate how blending in with Nashville would make it seem like we were laying roots or some other bullshit, but I didn’t want to make it about images. I simply wanted this.

“It’s definitely interesting,” Sebastian replied, looking at it.

“I’m going to get it for my room.”

Sebastian stared. “And you’re sure this is what you want?”

“Yeah, it is,” I said.

He stared at me, eyebrows knitted, and I wondered if he would tell me this stuff wasn’t worth it. But I wanted it anyway. I would pay for it myself if I had to.

Instead, he walked over to a metal bed frame, and pointed to it. “Then I’m getting this one.”

It looked both industrial and rustic. It would be perfect for a home in Nashville, but not what I would have figured was perfect for him.

But I didn’t exactly know him all that well, did I? He lived a whole life without me.

“I’ll go see if we can get it delivered,” he said. “Worst case, I have to get a moving truck.”

“I can help lift it.”

He raised an eyebrow at me.

“You know I lift weights, right?” I told him. “This picture-ready body doesn’t just happen on its own.”

I cringed as I said it. Trying to sound shallow after the day I’d had was difficult. All I wanted to do was go into my writer’s shell and ignore the world. Apparently I wanted it so badly it was slipping past my usual death grip.

“There’s a huge difference between Pilates and putting furniture into a moving truck.”

“Pilates is more strength training than you think,” I muttered.

“When have you ever had to move a thing in your life?”

“I helped Jessie move into her apartment last month,” I said, rolling my eyes.

“You never told me about that.”

“You were busy at the office,” I said, shrugging. “But it doesn’t matter. The point is, I can help move this stuff. We only need the truck.”

Of course the small shop didn’t offer delivery, so Sebastian had to rent a U-Haul truck for us. I stood to the side, trying and failing to put my façade back on. Every time I reached inward and tried to pull out my perfect model smile, my shallow upbeat voice, it wasn’t there.

“Do you need help?” the shop owner asked as Sebastian backed into the loading area. I eyed the man, who looked like a gust of wind could knock him over.

“No, it’s okay,” I told him. “I’m stronger than I look.”

“These pieces are real wood. They’re not the plastic crap you get in other places.”

“Okay,” Sebastian said as he got out the truck. “This will fit everything.”

“Your wife here says you don’t need help.”

Sebastian looked at me doubtfully.

I sighed and went to the end of the bed frame to lift. “You get that side, I’ll get this one.”

“Lily—”

“How about you let me show you, okay?” I snapped.

“This thing is easily a hundred pounds.”

I rolled my eyes and lifted the weight of half the bedframe.

Sebastian and the shop owner stared.

“Do I need to lift this myself?” I asked impatiently.

“No,” Sebastian said, moving to grab his side. “Let’s do it.”

I lifted when he did, and together we got it on the truck. The bookshelf and dresser were a little harder, but eventually, they got put in too. I didn’t complain once because I knew this was going to be enough of a workout to let me skip the gym.

“Wow, miss,” the old shop owner said as I moved the bookshelf into the truck. “I didn’t think you had it in you, but you’re stronger than most men. Tiny too.”

I could credit that on all the trainers my mother pushed on me.

Ugh. I needed to find a gym if I wanted to stay in shape, and until this contract was over, I had to.

“Thanks,” I said, flashing him a smile. “We both have to pull our weight moving, right?”

“Most of the time it’s the guy and his friends doing it all. You’re one strong woman. Be sure to keep her, man,” he said to Sebastian.

I tried to keep the grimace off of my face as I waved. The shop owner went back inside, and I turned.

“Oh yes, keep me because I can lift furniture and not because of my personality,” I muttered, rolling my eyes again.

Sebastian was staring at me as if he had never met me in his life. I gritted my teeth, knowing he’d probably heard what I had meant to be said to only myself.

It would have been lovely if I could have found the energy to not be myself.

“Anyway,” I said. “We need to order mattresses and get more stuff from Target.”

“We also need to get this stuff home,” he reminded me. “Let’s do that first, and then we’ll see about an air mattress.”

After dropping all our new furniture into the living room of our house and stopping by a mattress store, we went to a nearby Target for essentials.

“We’re just here for a few things,” Sebastian reminded me, as if I were a child who wanted to go crazy the moment I stepped into a store.

“Yep,” I replied as we walked in.

Target was the same no matter where you went. It had been over a year since Jessie and I went shopping together, but I sometimes went by myself when I was bored. There was a ton of fall decor out, but I knew Sebastian wouldn’t be interested in shopping around. He must have thought I was going to stop, because he kept looking over at me with a confused expression on his face.

When we got to the camping section, I groaned. There was only one air mattress left. It was a queen, but Sebastian and I never shared a bed these days.

“You can just stay in a hotel, Lily,” Sebastian said as I put it in the cart.

“I’m not staying in a hotel when we have a house,” I replied. “That’s a waste of money.”

“I’ll pay for it.”

“What—is it that bad to sleep next to me?” I said.

“It’s an air mattress and you like to be comfortable.”

That was the final straw.

“I am uncomfortable plenty of the time, Sebastian,” I said it lowly, almost like a growl. “I’m married to a man who barely acknowledges me. I moved across the country because I was forced to. I can sleep on an air mattress for one night. If it’s too much for you, then go get a hotel for yourself.”

“What is going on with you?” he hissed.

I froze. I had to stop letting my facade slip. I needed to be perfect again.

And yet I couldn’t be.

“I’m fine,” I said, dropping my anger. “I-I’m sorry. I’ll get it together. I’m just stressed from this move.”

I walked away. I couldn’t afford to snap anymore.

“Lily,” he said, grabbing my arm. “What did Jessie say to you? You’ve been off ever since then.”

“I’m off because I’m in a new town with no one, Sebastian. Just give me a day.”

“Give you a day to what? Completely change your personality?”

“Yes,” I said. “That way, you won’t ever have to see this side of me again.”

“What can I do to make this easier?”

I was shocked by his words. When he raised his eyebrows expectantly, I shook my head. “Nothing.”

“Do you want to go through the fall decor section?”

“Why?” I asked, voice hard. “Because I’m basic and want to make the house pretty for photos?”

He clenched his teeth, looking close to snapping. But then he took a deep breath and continued. “Because you always decorate this time of year. I thought you liked it.”

“For photos, right?”

“You don’t have to take photos of anything. I’m offering to do something you like because it’s obvious you’re struggling. Is that so bad, Lily?”

Oh.

Oh.

I stared at him, feeling as shocked as he probably did earlier when I’d lifted the furniture. I was sure he would hate every second of this, but I could also admit that forgetting about my problems and looking at home decor was tempting.

“Okay,” I said, “let’s go look for a bit.”

He gestured for me to lead the way.

My cheeks were on fire. “Thank you,” I said quietly. I darted away before he could take it back or make me blush worse by continuing to be unusually nice.

He followed me dutifully.

The thing about decorating for fall in LA was that there was no actual fall. People there decorated to match the aesthetic of the season, though the weather never cooled enough to evoke images of wind-swept scarves on a blustery day of October. Shopping for orange leaf wreathes and spiced apple candles in the heat of summer wasn’t unusual; in fact, it was more reminiscent of home than I expected.

At least in Nashville, I knew fall would eventually come, followed by a mild winter.

The seasonal section was packed with others looking to snatch up the newest, cutest fake foliage to deck their halls, and I couldn’t help but have a few items catch my eye, including decorations in rich brown tones.

I wandered through the section before getting to the nearby blanket section.

I didn’t know what kind of couch we were going to get, but I wanted something to match the kitchen. I stared at the blankets, wondering which would be similar enough to the brightly colored walls.

“Those would go good with the house,” Sebastian said softly.

I looked at him, a little alarmed. I didn’t expect him to participate. “I don’t have to have anything. We have other things to do.”

“But this is what you like. It’s okay to take a moment to do something for yourself.”

“Since when do you believe in self-care?” I asked.

“I may not have time for it, but you do.”

I looked away. I didn’t really. I needed to be writing my last book, not shopping at Target.

But the last thing I wanted to do was write after the day I’d had.

“I don’t know what kind of couch we’re getting, but I’m thinking it could be nice to get something grey, and then these blankets will go with it.” I pointed out the soft, fuzzy orange blanket in front of us.

“That could work,” Sebastian said. “But . . . maybe the white ones would look better with grey? The house is colorful enough. Maybe neutrals would be nice.”

I blinked and looked where he was pointing.

“Maybe,” I walked over to them. “It may be better to steer toward achromatic decorations.”

“Achromatic?”

Shit. I’d done it again.

“It means without color.”

“Where did you learn a word like that?”

“A dictionary. Does it matter?”

“I suppose not.” He looked at me doubtfully. “You’re acting so different.”

“Maybe only talking about Instagram shots and what I’m wearing grows tiring.” I pinched the bridge of my noise. “I’ll get it in check.”

“Why should you get it in check?”

“Because this isn’t what I was contracted to do.”

Sebastian shook his head, but I held my hand up.

“Please. Not today,” I said, because I did not want to break down in front of him. There was something about the man I’d attached every negative emotion to being kind to me that made me want to sob.

He sighed and looked away. Eventually, he said, “I . . . like dark grey. Achromatic is a good theme.”

Well, at least he wasn’t making fun of me. I threw the blanket in the cart and wound up getting a wreath from the fall section too. It would look nice against the red door.

At checkout, I figured one of two things would happen: when it came time to pay, Sebastian would pay and grumble about it, or tell me to use my allowance to pay for it myself.

I had my hand in my bag, ready to take the hit on my savings if I had to, but Sebastian didn’t so much as look at me as he paid for everything.

“Do you,” I paused to swallow the ball of cotton that was lodged in my throat, “do you need me to pay you back for the decorations?”

“Why would I ask you to do that?”

“Because you said we were only here for the air mattress.”

He sighed. “I offered, Lily. It would be a dick move for me to offer and then make you foot the bill.”

He wasn’t wrong, but I didn’t expect him to follow through with it.

“Okay,” I said, “thank you, then.”

I knew logically that material possessions didn’t actually create happiness, but perhaps a husband doing something nice for his wife did.

I was quiet on the way home, trying to reconcile Sebastian’s kindness to the man I thought I knew.

I didn’t get very far.

When we got home, he blew up the air mattress in the living room. I rush ordered two mattresses from a nearby store to be delivered the next day. After, I sat on the floor, still trying to process, but also remembering that I needed to write and hadn’t yet.

My agent was going to skin me alive.

But I was too distracted to write. This was the longest Sebastian and I had ever spent together, and it wasn’t that bad. I think this was the longest he had gone without working in the entire time I knew him.

“There,” Sebastian said, “it’s blown up.”

The absence of the air pump’s whirring brought me back into the moment. I got out the blankets we were going to use and laid down. Sebastian stayed on the floor, leaning against the wall. I laid on my side, waiting for him to do the same.

When he didn’t, I turned to him.

“You can lay down, you know,” I said. “I’m not going to kick you or anything.”

He was silent for a long moment, and I wondered if he was ignoring me. Instead, he said, “I didn’t want to come here.”

“To the house?” I asked. “You can still change your mind about the hotel. Unless you hate the house, then . . . I don’t know what to tell you.”

“The house is fine,” he said, sighing. “I’m talking about the whole move. Nashville. The new office. I didn’t want this.”

“I thought you’d be happy. You get to run a whole office.”

“Maybe I should be,” he said quietly. He then looked at me. “We went all of today, and you didn’t take one single photo. Are you that upset we were forced to move out here?”

Honestly, I’d forgotten to take photos. I didn’t live my life needing a picture of everything I did.

But I was supposed to.

“Of course I’m angry about moving here,” I said. “It’s the last thing I wanted to do.”

“I’m sorry, then.” His voice was soft and resigned. “I’d have fought it if I knew you didn’t want it.”

“It’s a huge promotion for you,” I said. “I knew that, which is why I agreed.”

“You can go back to visit LA if you want to. I know Jessie is there.”

“No,” I said, pain gripping my chest into a vice at the mention of her. “There isn’t much left for me there.”

“Then what can I do?” he asked.

I was silent for a moment as I thought about it.

“Don’t worry about it,” I said. “It’s dumb.”

“But it’s something. What is it?”

“Just lay down,” I said. “Lay down next to me and . . . hold my hand, maybe.”

My cheeks lit on fire at my request. I expected him to sigh, like I’d asked him to do the last thing he wanted, and barely touch me.

But then Sebastian laid down without a complaint, pulling my hand to his, and interlacing his fingers with mine.

“I’m sorry I’m upset over your promotion,” I said.

“Don’t be,” he replied. “I am too.”

“Why are you upset? Isn’t this what you wanted?”

“Maybe I should want it, but this feels more like a punishment than a promotion. Forcing us to move wasn’t what I had in mind.”

I closed my eyes, biting down the words I wanted to say. I hated Martin, I hated my dad for pushing me into this, and I hated that we both didn’t want to be here.

“Go to sleep, Lily,” he said softly. “You need it.”

I nodded at his words, cheeks still hot from when my hand met his. I didn’t know why this felt so good, but his warm body next to mine steadied me. I felt real and not like a ghost in my own body.

I hated how much I liked this, but as I drifted off into sleep, I couldn’t find it in me to regret asking him to hold my hand.

Photo: a sunset through a plane window.

LilyRMiller: Here’s to new beginnings! We start our life in the beautiful city of Nashville today! Are any of my followers from there? What are the best couple spots to pose? My hubby and I will need them!!!

SebandLily4ever: Where are your faces?!?! We need MORE!

TwoLives: Think she’s hiding a pregnancy?

FinePrintLover: Am I the only one who thinks there’s something off with these two?