Sweet Thursday (3 page)

“You went to prom alone?” Killian asked. “Why did I think you went with us?”

Lily laughed. “You both had dates but you let me tag along, remember? Talk about a fifth wheel.”

Killian thought back to the dance, struggling to recall who his date had been. All he could remember was laughing his ass off at the bad dancing with Justin and Lily and waiting for one of the cheerleaders to lose her strapless, barely-holding-on dress most of the night. “Who was my date?”

He looked at Justin, who shrugged. “I don’t have clue. Who was mine?”

Lily shook her head, laughing uncontrollably. “Oh my God, you guys are pathetic. I can’t believe you can’t remember something like that.”

“So put us out of our misery. Who did we take?” Justin leaned closer as he prodded, his chest lightly brushing against her arm. Killian watched her take a deep breath and bite her lower lip.

“To be perfectly honest,” she confessed, “I don’t remember either, but you both bragged about getting lucky on Monday morning, so you should be ashamed of yourselves.”

Killian tried to look chagrined for about three seconds before laughing. She’d always attempted to be their conscience in school. It had never worked, but he’d appreciated her efforts toward redeeming him. “Well, as long as we got lucky.”

19

Mari Carr

Lily hit him lightly on the arm but he could see she was enjoying their banter.

“Sounds like you three were really good friends,” Lane said.

Tristan nodded. “Yep. Lily, K and Justin broke all the clique rules back in school.”

Everyone except Lane laughed. “Oh yeah? Which clique rules did you break?” she asked.

Tris leaned back and placed his arm around his wife’s chair. “You know how high school is. Everyone’s put in little labeled boxes.”

“And God help the person who tries to jump from one box to another,” Lily added.

Lane grinned at her husband. “So what box were you in?”

Tris grimaced. “Killian and I resided in the ‘dumb jock’ box.”

“Except,” Lily said, smiling at Killian, “neither one of you was stupid.”

Killian shrugged. “Well, it’s probably safe to say we didn’t set the world on fire with our grades. Besides, I don’t think it was the classes we took that mattered in high-school society. We played three sports, so we were destined to be called jocks, regardless of what else we did in school.”

“That’s right,” Lily said. “You and Justin had lead roles in
Guys and Dolls
our senior year. I almost forgot about that.”

Justin nodded. “So technically we could have been thrown in the ‘drama geeks’

box.”

Lily giggled. “I would have loved to see that.”

Lane leaned toward the table. “This is fascinating. I never considered myself a member of any clique in school and I don’t remember them being such a central part of how things worked.”

“Maybe it was just more pronounced at our high school, but cliques definitely ruled the hallways.” Justin reached out to tug Lily’s hair playfully. “Tell Lane what box you were in, Lily—”

20

Sweet Thursday

Lily narrowed her eyes and picked up her butter knife, waving at Justin when it appeared he might say more. “You say that nickname aloud, Justin Porter, and I’ll emasculate you. Right here, right now. With this dull knife.”

His eyes twinkled playfully. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“What nickname?” Lane asked.

Lily sighed. “Much as it pains me to say this, Lane, you see before you a member of the nerd clique. My nickname in school was Lilywhite.”

“I haven’t heard that name in ten years.” Killian shook his head as he remembered the girl who’d worn the nickname. While it had seemed to fit ten years ago, he was hard-pressed to see that goody-goody girl now. She’d certainly grown up, matured, loosened up. Although…

Lily shrugged, her blouse gaping a bit, and he was treated to a glimpse of her lilywhite breasts peeking out the top of her lilywhite bra. He grinned. Maybe the name
did
still apply.

“Lilywhite?” Lane repeated. “Oh dear. That doesn’t sound nice.”

“I hated that nickname, regardless of the fact it probably did apply.”

“
Did
apply?” Justin raised a suggestive eyebrow at Lily, but she simply rolled her eyes and ignored him.

Killian shook his head good-naturedly. “Price you pay for being valedictorian of the class. Surely you knew that four-point-oh would come with some baggage.”

Lily laughed. “Yeah, well. I don’t think it helped that my parents were super-strict, which meant no weekend parties for me.”

“Social suicide,” Killian agreed.

“Plus, your conservative clothing and pixie haircut didn’t help either,” Justin said.

Lily feigned being affronted until he added, “Hey, just pointing out the obvious.”

“Oh, is that right, skater boy?” Lily asked with a wicked grin.

Lane giggled. “You were a skater, Justin?”

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Mari Carr

Killian nodded. “Yep, complete with the long hair and indifferent attitude.”

“Oh my God,” Lane said. “I would have loved to see that. You’re so clean-cut now.”

Justin leaned toward Killian, putting himself even closer to Lily. His arm lightly rasped her breast and Killian suspected the
accidental
touch was intentional. “You hear that, K? Lane thinks I’m clean-cut.”

“Ha ha,” Tristan’s wife said. “You know what I mean. So the nerd, the jock and the skater overcame social adversity to become friends. I think I see what you mean, Tris.”

They laughed at Lane’s summary until the deejay began playing music. Lane perked up when a fast dance number sent a pulsing beat through the room. “I haven’t heard this song in years! Come on, Tris, let’s go get jiggy with it.” She reached down to pull Tris up, who stood up slowly.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me. Will Smith?” Tris asked.

Lane put on what Killian jokingly referred to as her
power look
and he knew his twin was about three seconds from hitting the dance floor. “Did I forget to mention? The Fresh Prince totally makes me horny.”

Tris appeared to file that piece of information away and they laughed when, sure enough, he went willingly.

Killian knew his twin lived to make his wife happy and he was glad his brother had found a true and lasting love. A pang of regret whipped through him as he considered how different his path and Tristan’s had been. While his brother had been happy to remain at home, working in the family pub, Killian had felt the call to leave.

The poem his mother, Sunday, used to recite to them when they were kids drifted back through his mind. Thursday’s child has far to go. Talk about a prophecy. He’d traveled extensively during his eight years in the military and it wasn’t until he’d spent time away that he’d truly appreciated the importance of home and family and laying down roots. Now he was home and he still felt as if he was facing miles and miles of uncharted highway.

22

Sweet Thursday

“How about a drink?” Justin glanced behind him toward the bar. “Looks like the line has died down.”

“I’d love a beer,” Lily confessed.

Killian laughed as he stood and offered Lily a hand to rise. “Gal after my own heart.

Come on, one for all and all for one. No one crosses this pit of vipers alone.” Justin stood as well and they made their way to the bar, enduring several five-minute catch-up conversations with long-forgotten acquaintances.

On their way back to the table, Killian saw Lane and Tris had been waylaid by Judith and her husband and, for a second, he considered saving his brother. Then he grinned and decided it would be more fun to watch his brother suffer. Tristan threw him a dirty look and Killian chuckled silently.

“So what
did
happen to the long hair and attitude?” Lily asked Justin when the three of them sat down with their drinks.

Justin shrugged. “Eight years in the Army is what happened.”

“But you’ve been out for a while, right?”

“Almost two years,” Killian answered.

“Long enough to grow your hair back,” Lily teased.

Justin grinned and ran his hand over his short brown hair. “I can’t stand for my hair to get shaggy now. Drives me nuts. Not sure how I ever wore it that way.”

“I think you’d have done anything back then to get on your dad’s nerves. He hated the long hair, therefore you loved it.” Killian reached for his beer and grinned. “I think most of our teenaged decisions were based on what would bug the adults the most.”

“Not me,” Lily said. “I toed the line.”

Justin laughed. “You’re right about that. Tried like hell to get you to do just one naughty thing when we were in school, but you never would.”

Lily sighed. “I know. My parents were so strict and I—” She shrugged. “For better or worse, I’ve always been one of those people who do exactly as they’re told.”

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Mari Carr

“Still?” Justin asked, leaning closer to her.

Killian watched her lick her lips nervously and he knew she wasn’t immune to Justin’s charms—regardless of how overtly obvious they were. Her gaze traveled back to Killian and he caught the vibes she was throwing in his direction as well. She was definitely trying—in her own sweet way—to flirt with both of them.

That thought rocked him right down to his core. She was playing with some serious fire.

Lily’s eyes narrowed. “No. I’ve shed the shyness, the insecurities. Lived a little.”

“And now you’re the world’s sexiest marine biologist,” Killian said and Lily turned to face him.

“I’m not so sure about
that
title.” She smiled at him, clearly pleased by his compliment. He studied her face, wondering what was going on that incredible mind of hers. Lily was the most driven person he’d ever met and he could see that same determination pulsing through her tonight.

“You’re the only person I’ve ever known who knew exactly what they were going to do after graduation on the first day of ninth grade. Announced it to all of us in Mrs.

Day’s freshmen English class.”

Lily laughed. “I can’t believe you remembered that,” she said, surprise evident in her voice that he’d retained the small kernel of knowledge. When Killian thought on it, he realized there was a whole encyclopedia of Lily Watterson tidbits residing in his brain.

He tried to shrug off the comment, tried to act nonchalant. “You were always obsessed with the ocean and sea creatures and science shit. You used to talk about that stuff all the time in anatomy class. Never saw anybody get more excited about cutting apart dead guinea pigs.”

She laughed and crossed her legs, the motion dragging her skirt an inch higher on her tanned thigh. The enticing action wasn’t lost on him or Justin.

24

Sweet Thursday

“So now you’re a doctor.” Justin leaned back in his chair and grinned. “Doctor Lily.

I like the sound of that. How’d you like USC?”

“I loved it. It’s an awesome school.”

“And now you’re back on the East Coast. To stay?” Killian asked.

She nodded. “Yep. I came home last month. I’m renting an apartment in the city and working at the aquarium.”

“You should have called the first day you got into town,” Justin said.

“I told you. I wanted to surprise you. Besides, I’ve been inundated with unpacking and getting used to my new job. Haven’t had two seconds to myself.”

Killian couldn’t explain the sudden wave of euphoria that passed through him. She lived in the same city as him again. He caught Justin’s eye and he could see his friend was processing that information as well.

He frowned, struggling to understand if this whole night was a race to the finish line
against
his best friend to see who got to take her home, or if Lily was leading them down a path of her own making. Both scenarios troubled him.

Justin leaned toward Lily and, in typical fashion, quickly moved the conversation away from the safe zone. “You know, from your letters, Lilywhite, I got the impression you never really broke bad in college either.”

She shrugged. “I don’t know about that. I had some fun. But I guess at heart, you’re right, I’m the eternal good girl.”

Justin leaned forward and pressed the issue. “No drunken one-night stands? No crazy all-night frat parties? No skipping class?”

Lily frowned. “No—to all three questions. And believe me, I regret it. More than I can say. I swore when I stepped through those reunion doors, everyone would see a different Lily. My inner good girl has ruled me since the cradle and I’ve had enough. I was actually hoping to convince you guys to teach me a few of your naughty tricks tonight.”

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Mari Carr

“What makes you think we have any tricks?” Killian asked with a light chuckle, trying to conceal how strongly her words were resonating in his head. Shit. They were pounding like a bass drum. Lily wanted to be a bad girl…with
both
of them?

“Don’t you?” Her question was an outright dare. “There was a list of your sexual escapades as long as my left arm when we graduated from high school. I think that’s the reason I liked hanging out with you guys so much. I lived vicariously through you.”

“But not anymore?” Killian asked.

She shook her head, looking up at them both through the veil of her thick eyelashes.

She was wearing smoky-colored eye makeup that accentuated her blue eyes and the desire burning behind them. “Not anymore. I’m nearly thirty and horny as hell. Tonight I’d sort of like to be bad
with
you.”

Killian glanced at Justin and saw the intense interest on his friend’s face. It was like watching two trains collide and being helpless to stop it.

Justin moved his chair closer to hers, his voice quiet when he spoke. “Are you asking for what I think you are?”

“Do you want me to say the word?” she whispered.

Killian swallowed heavily as she looked at them, but Justin was the one to respond.

“I’d love to hear you say the word.”

Lily leaned back, the action thrusting her breasts forward the slightest bit.

“Ménage.”

Killian reared back, feeling for a moment as if he’d been sucker-punched. Lily wanted to engage in a ménage with them? What the hell could she be thinking? Before he could formulate a response—hell, before he could even process the thought—Justin took the decision out of his hands.