[UPDATED WEEKLY]
"You may be his world, but you're the only thing that ever felt like home to me."
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Some people never get second chances. Lilah never thought she'd get one with her brother's best f...
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The last thing I expected to be doing tonight at the last party before sophomore year started was be watching Lilah fucking Spark. I wasn't even supposed to be here—I had planned on drinking just enough to forget shit for a while, maybe find a willing girl to take home or even upstairs, and move on with my life before classes started Monday. That was how these nights always went.
Simple. Easy. No distractions.
Drink, fuck, and forget.
When Kayce said he was bringing people, I assumed he meant a couple of girls looking for a hookup—maybe some sorority girls who would drink too much and spend the night throwing themselves at us. That was normal and to be expected.
But the moment he walked through the door, and I saw who was trailing behind him, my drink nearly slipped from my fingers.
I recognized her instantly—even after four years of distance, silence, and doing everything I could to erase her from my head. Four years since I'd let her slip out of my life without a second thought. Four years of not thinking about her, not wondering what she was doing, not letting her exist in my world.
And yet, here she was. At the same party, at the same school, standing in the middle of a sea of drunken bodies, looking so fucking different from the girl I remembered.
Lilah.
My stomach tightened at the sight of her—my best friend's little sister, someone I hadn't seen in years. The last time I saw her, she was only fourteen. She was a kid—awkward, soft-spoken, innocent and too damn nice for her own good. She had always been pretty, but she always had this delicate look, like if you breathed too hard, she'd break. She was beautiful but delicate, like a flower. But now?
Now she looked nothing like that girl I remembered.
She stood in the dim lighting, and for a second, I caught a flicker of hesitation in her expression. She didn't belong here. Not in a place filled with drunk guys who wouldn't hesitate to take advantage of a girl like her.
Her friend, the one Kayce mentioned a handful for times to me, Natalie, looked right at home—practically buzzing with excitement. But Lilah? She looked uncertain, like she was forcing herself to have fun.
I swallowed hard, dragging my gaze over her. I shouldn't have, but I did.
She was beautiful in a way that made my jaw lock—long dark brown hair, once always in braids or tied up messily, was now falling in loose curls over her shoulders, glossy under the dim lighting. Her body had changed too—toned legs peeking through the tight jeans that hugged her ass like a second skin. My throat dried when my eyes flicked over her waist, her chest, the dip of her collarbone as she turned her head in my direction. And then there were those lips. Full, dark red, soft-looking, parted slightly as if she were holding back a nervous breath while taking in the chaos of the party.
