Free Everything I want: Will Alfie and Lily's love survive?... by K. L. Shandwick

Drew.”
    Elle gave me a concerned look. “I don’t want to leave you.”
    I was insistent and pushed her away softly. “I’m okay, really I am , go.”
    Elle left the restroom, and Holly and I headed back to Luca and Brett. I really didn’t want to be there anymore. We arrived back just in time to see Elle arrive and draw the drapes toge ther.
    Luca watched me approach him. “I thought maybe I’d scared you off, Lily.” He smiled and gestured for me to sit next to him. “No more than I’d scare myself off, Luca.” I smiled as I dropped down beside him, resting my head on his shou lder.
    The rest of the time in the club was difficult. I tried hard to look as if I was enjoying myself, but I couldn’t ignore what I knew was happening on the other side of the cur tain.
    Luca tried really hard to get to know me better, and to be fair, I did try hard to push away my feelings. The memories of my time with Alfie were swamping me and preventing me from getting involved with someone new.
    He was the nearest I’d ever come to moving on with my life beyond Alfie, and it was only fair I gave him a chance. We danced for about an hour after my talk with Elle before we headed home.
    Luca casually draped his arm over my shoulder and pulled me close to him, when we were making our way downstairs to the exit. Alfie was standing right by the glass partition at the bottom of the stairs. I almost fell over when I saw him standing t here.
    His girl was standing flush against him with her hands in his back pockets. He has one hand on her hip and was holding his cell phone, scrolling down the lighted screen with his t humb.
    Turning my head in Luca’s direction to hide it from Alfie and looked up at him. He smiled down at me and bent his head to plant a soft, chaste kiss on my lips.
    I smiled at him and when I began to focus on where I was walking, Alfie’s eyes met mine and widened. He stood rigid, staring at me, and his jaw muscle ticked. Call me crazy, but I felt like I was cheating on him. Another man’s arms were around me. Alfie’s face was scowling so badly, and his jaw ticked. He was mad.
    Eye to eye, our gaze connected. I could see how hurt he was about our situation. Then he surprised me by giving me a soft, slow smile. It broke my h eart.
    No words passed between us. We just stood, suspended in time. Our eyes locked on one another, having an unspoken moment. I looked away not able to hold his gaze any longer. When I looked back, he had turned his back to me. Walking past him felt wrong somehow, and although I had asked for this, his snub in public again almost crucifie d me.
    I struggled not to cry as we left the building, and I could swear I could feel his eyes boring into my back as I left.
    Luca didn’t talk to me in the car, which was fine. I was going over what I saw in my head again, feeling first a numbness, and when my feelings caught up with me I was heartbroken all over again. He was still the man who had my heart, and now we were acting like stran gers.
    I didn’t ask Luca upstairs, agreeing to see him the next day. We arranged to meet at Eject, where I was playing. He hadn’t been able to catch XrAid the night at the club. We had almost been finished with the last song by the time he arr ived.
    Not surprisingly, I never slept at all. Alfie was on my mind all night long. Feeling like the living dead, I dragged myself over to Lennon’s for a band meeting the following morning. He had sent me a text last night, asking for us to be at his place by el even.
    I was the last to arrive, and the guys were sitting by the pool chilling out. “Finally!” Lennon exclaimed. “Get yourself something to drink out of the cooler and come over here.”
    Pulling a peach-flavored ice tea out of the cooler, I wiped it down with a napkin and climbed onto the hammock beside him. We both bounced around a little until we got our balance, then I laid back and waited for him to s peak.
    “Okay guys, we have a decision to make t