Free Till There Was You by Lilliana Anderson, Wade Anderson

“Of course I’m fine. I was just tired.” She walked to the bathroom and finished adjusting the heat of the water. “Did you want something? My hot water will run out if you don’t get to the point.”
    “I just wanted to know where you were. I asked you to come in.”
    “Give me an hour, okay?”
    “An hour? Have you got someone with you?”
    “Matthew!” she practically yelled, offended at his insinuations. She was not the type of girl to jump into bed with some guy on the first date—not that there had been any date.
    “So, that’s a yes or a no?”
    “It’s a none of your business, but no. I’m here alone.”
    “Good. I’ll see you soon then.”
    “Sure, Matt. See you soon.”
    With a roll of her eyes, she ended the call and couldn’t resist sticking out her tongue while her brother’s photo was still on screen.
    Feeling defiant, she took longer than normal in the shower, allowing the cascading water to heat her body through to her cold toes. She always did things in such a hurry; it was nice to spend a little longer in the warmth. She stayed in until the hot water had almost run out and the tips of her fingers had started to wrinkle.
    With a smile on her face, Lily turned the taps, shutting off the flowing water, and stepped out, only to realize something was missing. Her towel. She’d left it in her room when she went to answer Matt’s call.
    “Damn it,” she muttered to herself. With no other choice, Lily was forced to do the nudie run to her room, wet footprints leaving a trail up the hall as the chill air stole some of her hard earned warmth.
    She dressed super quick in some nice warm clothes before returning to the bathroom to dry her hair and apply the basic cosmetics to her liking. Lily left the bathroom with a backwards glance, happy with the simple yet put together visage looking back at her. This morning, she looked good and felt good, and had quit paying attention to the time.
    After a leisurely breakfast of bacon and eggs while reading the local paper, Lily felt she’d made her pushy brother wait long enough and headed for the station.
    “What time do you call this?” Matt asked, glancing at his watch with a look of disapproval on his face. “It’s almost lunch time.”
    Lily grinned, getting a perverse kick out of riling her brother up to the point his lips had turned into a tight line. “Then let’s do this over at the diner.”
    As they sat in a booth and looked over the menu they knew by heart because it never changed, Matt eyed his sister. “So, what had you sleeping so late this morning?”
    Laying her menu flat on the table, Lily met his eyes. “Very sexy dreams. Want me to tell you all about them?” she asked, her eyebrow raised as she teased him, knowing he was squeamish about those things.
    “Err, no thanks. I think I’ll pass on that.”
    Lily let out a giggle as she watched her brother’s cheeks flush red. She felt the small embarrassment was the least he deserved after insinuating she wasn’t alone earlier.
    When the waitress came over to take their order, Matt selected a chicken salad sandwich and she asked for the fruit salad with yogurt on the side.
    “Not hungry?” he asked.
    “Big breakfast.” Lily shrugged as she folded her arms in front of her and leaned forward on the table. “So, why am I here? What’s the deal with those assholes from New Year’s Eve?” she prompted, knowing there was something playing on his mind from the way he kept fidgeting with the edge of the laminated menu.
    He met her eyes. “Well, some good news and some not so good news.”
    “Start with the good news then.”
    “Good news is, after I showed the guy the footage, he wisely decided not to take any legal action and should be gone from town by this afternoon at the latest.”
    Happy to hear this, Lily just sat there nodding in slow motion, waiting for the not so good news to pop the bubble of her so far happy day.
    “Don’t worry, it’s not as bad as what you