Free Thrive by Krista Ritchie, Becca Ritchie Page A

she means Rose or the costume. Most likely
both.
    Right now, I kind of have to agree. Rose is strong. But so
is Lily. She possesses this rare courage. It’s quiet and unassuming, but it
still exists. It’s still just as worthy.
    I rub her back and realize that Rose has her arms wrapped
around Connor’s neck. One of his hands dips to her ass, and she lets it sit
there. One minute they’re fighting. The next minute, they’re like this. I can’t
keep up.
    I strain my ears to catch their murmured words. “I want to
move in with you,” Connor whispers under his breath.
    My first thought: If
he lives at the Princeton house, he’s going to discover that I’m fucking Lily a
lot more. Not: Thank God I won’t be
the only guy under that roof.
    The addicted side of me trumps every moral part.
    I’m a fucking terrible friend.
    “You can’t,” Rose replies. “Your commute to Penn is too
far…and Lily and Lo…”
    “The commute is manageable, and Lo and Lily love me.” He
pauses. “Do you?”
    “Don’t manipulate me,” she whispers.
    “I’m not trying to. I just want to be with you more than I
am now. I’ll wait a few months if that’s what it takes.”
    She nods. “Okay.”
    Poppy clears her throat. “I hate to interrupt, but Sam just
texted me and said the crowds are starting to gather around the bathroom.” Her
eyes meet mine. “They’re waiting for you and Lily.”
    Great.
    Rose disentangles from her boyfriend and goes back into
commander mode. “Lily, go with Connor,” she orders like she’s preparing for
war.
    I just hope there’s no friendly fire.
     
    * * *
     
    “For Christ’s sake, give her space,” I say, trying
not to touch Rose. She’s having a hard time shielding her face from cellphone
cameras. She uses the blonde wig to hide, which helps some.
    We just need to reach the elevator. Connor already texted me
and said they’re waiting in line for the panel with Poppy and Sam.
    No one noticed Lily dressed as Catwoman.
    “Are you in love with Loren or Ryke?” people keep asking.
Through my visor, everyone and everything is tinted red.
    Rose surprisingly keeps quiet. She must be literally biting
her tongue to stop from lashing out.
    “Are you in a fight?” someone asks. “Why aren’t you holding
Lily?”
    “Yeah. You always hold Lily!”
    Shit.
    Rose glares at me out of the corner of her eye. This is a
girl who I’ve never even hugged before.Fuck, besides Connor, I’ve only ever
seen her hug someone maybe three times in my entire life.
    “She’s sick,” I say sharply, my voice like fucking knives
right now. “So you should all back up in case you catch it.”
    The crowds start rocketing backwards like I said she had the
bubonic plague. Jesus Christ.
    “Does she have herpes?” someone asks.
    Anger twists my face, my jaw clenching. “ No ,” I sneer, trying to find the source
of that voice. My heart beats rapidly.
    “You sound awfully defensive.”
    I stop dead in my tracks, the cameras clicking, and now the
real press shows up, pushing through glass double doors, padding along the ugly
hotel carpet. About to bombard us.
    “Come on, Loren,” Rose says under her breath. She grips my
forearm tightly and literally pulls me into the elevator. Before the doors
shut, two people sprint towards us, a girl cradled in a guy’s arms. I
repeatedly push the button to close the metal doors. But I stop the moment they
slip inside, when I recognize the girl with the bright orange wig and the guy
with the green leather jacket.
    “Finally we fucking found you,” Ryke says, his arm
underneath Daisy’s legs and against her back. At first I think they’re playing
around, but Daisy wears a faint, pained expression.
    I frown. “What happened?”
    Ryke very carefully places her feet on the ground, and she
leans her weight against him. “She popped her knee out of the socket doing a
fucking backflip,” he explains.
    “I was in character,” she adds, bending down to massage