The Sweetest Thing (Book 1) ✓

22 - Heating up

Dax 

The last 24 hours were rough. First, I came to an empty home when I was supposed to go out with Lily. Then, I found out that my sister and the woman that I'm helplessly falling for are in the only place in this city that I don't want them to be. The neighborhood where I specifically told them not to go – does anybody listen to me – fuck no. I was furious at both of them and was ready to explode...until Lily quietly said, "... She was going to end up just like me. Without anything of her own, left to your mercy to provide a roof over our heads." And I knew that I couldn't be mad at her. She was reliving her own misfortune. One that I was responsible for. And right then I knew that I had to do something more for Lily. Not just let her live in my house, but to try to help her with her dream. With the new plan in my mind, I drove us home, where I needed to have a talk with my sister. One that I knew she wouldn't like, but nevertheless had to happen.

"Lily, could you, please, leave me and Caitie for a little?" I saw her go upstairs with Ace right behind her, and that made me smile for a second – knowing that he'll always have her back and keep her safe even when I didn't tell him to do it. Ace just knew that she was someone special and needed protection.

"Dax, look, I'm sor..."

"Save it, Caitie. I know that these are just some words for you, and you don't put anything behind them when you say them, so just...don't. I don't know why you didn't tell me sooner about your place, about your work, about your stuff. And, honestly, it hurts. Because I'm doing my best to keep you safe, to make you live your life happily and in full force, and you just keep on going behind my back and doing stupid shit."

"I... I just didn't want to disappoint you again. It looks like that's the only thing that I'm good at."

"Look. I'm honestly tired. I know that I told you that I'd never let you go, will always look out for you, but when someone doesn't want to be helped – there's just so much you can do before you see that your efforts are fruitless. So, Caitie, this is truly the last chance I'm giving you. No more fuck ups, no more drugs, no more friends from that neighborhood, no more lies, no more secrets. You're going to live here for now. I'm going to find you a job, and you are going to be there, do everything that's wanted from you, and you will not complain, won't search for your old friends. If they find you, you'll inform me immediately." She had rivers of tears on her face, and I wanted nothing more than to hug my little sister and make her pain go away, but I knew that'd send us nowhere. She needed to grow up and take responsibility for her actions.

"O...okey, Dax, I'll do it."

"Good. Because it's not just my life you are endangering now, but Lily's too. And she doesn't deserve it."

"You like her, don't you?" Like was an understatement. The other L-word was a lot more suitable, but my little sister didn't need to know that right now.

"Yeah, I do. And I want to keep her safe. I promised I'd keep her safe. And your secrets are interfering with my promises. And I can't risk her life. Not anymore than I already did."

When I went to my bed, I found Lily sleeping on her side with Ace right beside her. He woke up and, without me telling him anything, he went to his own bed, leaving the space behind Lily for me. I wrap myself around her, feeling at peace for the first time in a while with her in my arms.

The next day, when we went to the bank, and the man behind the desk was asking question after question, some of them not even relevant to the loan, I knew that they were not going to let the money to Lily. And a few minutes later, my suspicions were confirmed.

"Well, I'm afraid that we can't help you right now, Miss Wilson. Your income is way too low and the fact that you don't have a job you have worked for more than a year is not very good. For the bank, you don't look like a trusty investment. I'm sorry, but..."

"What about me? Am I trusty?" I could feel the shocked eyes of Lily on me, but I knew that she didn't have any other chance of opening the bakery. And I just wanted to make her dream come true. I knew she could make it an amazing place. All the stuff that she was baking in the last two weeks at my house was so good that I knew that her bakery would be full all the time. She just needed a little push and a little help. And that's exactly what I was going to do.

After all the documents were signed, we went to my car. The whole time, Lily was walking without saying a word, and I was getting nervous. Did I overstep some kind of boundary that I didn't know of? And minutes later, when we got to my car, I found out her reason for the silence.