Nico
Some months later
“EXCUSE ME, Lily Rodin’s boyfriend coming through,” I shout over the heads of all the people crowded together in the bookstore.
The room brims with excitement.
The walls are wrapped in dark wallpaper, and the signs are all in a bright neon.
Lily doesn’t know it yet, but the small box in my desk drawer will change my title to fiancé soon enough. I’m counting down the moments until it feels right.
I tussle through the sea of limbs, but when I see her, the noise ceases. My Lily.
She sits on a small podium, her red lips pulled into a smile wider than mine. The dark strands of her hair flow off her shoulders in long waves.
No matter how many times I’ve seen her, woken up in the same bed with her, or made her fall apart in my hands, Lily still yanks the air right out of my lungs.
Today is no different.
I’m so fucking proud of my girl.
“Finally, you’re here.” My brother spots me and comes to my side, dusting specks of glitter off his suit jacket.
“What happened to you?” I give him a pat on the shoulder.
“Some fans mistook me for the cover model. Avery had to pry them off me when they attempted to get pictures.”
“Well, you do have an uncanny resemblance to me.” I eye him up and down. “Except for your choice in fashion.”
Before my brother can clap back, someone grabs my wrist and yanks hard. “Nico, come here.” Avery drags me toward the podium.
“Ave, aren’t you supposed to be on bed rest?” I follow her waddling and uncompromising stride.
“Merely a suggestion. I still have another week until I’m due. It’s fine.” I turn back to my brother, who shrugs. Alright, no use arguing here. “She’s exhausted today.” My sister-in-law turns to me, beaming. “There
are a lot more people here than last time.”
Lily’s new book, Secrets, S*x, and Sunflowers, was released a month ago. It’s already a tremendous success and hasn’t budged from the first spot on the New York Times Bestsellers list. We’ve been attending these signing events every weekend, and the crowds keep multiplying.
The three of us finally weave around Lily’s signing table just as she finishes her tear-inducing conversation with a fan. When she catches us, her cheeks dimple.
“Hey, my pretty, beautiful, famous girl.” I place a quick kiss on her forehead.
“Oh, shut up.” She rolls her eyes, but when her fingers lace themselves into mine, I know she’s just trying to play it cool for all her fans.
“You hanging in there?”
She nods. “My voice is almost gone, but I’m stuck with all the adrenaline.” Lily pushes out of her chair, scraping the thick soles of her new combat boots on the podium. The same boots she bought when her lawsuit against TI Miller settled.
The asshat forfeited all profits and moved out of town. Villa Printers rectified the manuscript, pressed their own charges against him, and became one of the first book publishers to subscribe to Lilium.
I turn toward the crowd, fingers still laced with Lily’s as she chatters on with Avery.
“Sorry, all,” I boom into the room. “Lily Rodin is at her cap for signings today. Make sure to come back next month when she’ll be reading an excerpt from her upcoming release.”
Disappointment bubbles up from the spectators.
“I’ll go find the rest of the group.” Avery’s voice sings through the tumble of displeasure.
Lily and I follow her off the podium and through the throng of excited readers before breaking off into a secluded backroom.
“Is this book about you too?” a fan in the crowd yells when we’re halfway through the door.
Lily shoots me a knowing glare. “Don’t even think about responding.” “Well, it better not be about anyone else,” I joke.
The door closes behind us, shutting out the noise.
“Always such a jealous boy, aren’t you?” Lily chides, leaning against a wall and pulling me closer to her.
“Always.”
We kiss the same kiss we’ve shared since I moved back to New York, and it still sends a clatter of nerves through my chest.
“I forgot to ask,” Lily says when we pull away. “How’d the meeting with Ever Printing go?”
After moving to New York, my new team and I finalized the testing on Lilium. Publishing houses, printers, and indie authors have flocked to the platform, and my team has become the top-grossing division of Viggle in the span of a couple of months.
I never thought I’d manage a twenty-person team, but here we are, thanks to Lily.
“They signed,” I reply.
Today’s meeting with Ever Printing, Lily’s first printing press, was an astronomical success. We agreed on a five-year contract bringing in three million dollars of billings.
“Of course they did. Who could resist you?” She hooks her hands around my neck, and I lift her. We settle on a table piled high with copies of all her books.
Zoe Mona and Lily Rodin.
It’s been a long journey of coalescing both of her creative counterparts, but from what she’s told me, her therapy sessions and the safe foundation of our relationship have made it easier to own both identities.
“Opening my laptop this morning and seeing your lace thong tangled in my keyboard was even more exhilarating than closing the deal.” I graze my teeth on her throat as my hands trail up the inside of her jeans.
“Good luck token.” Lily lands a kiss on the right side of my jaw. “Besides, you were so nervous this morning that I figured you could use a little pick-me-up.”
I lean in, pressing her body into the table. “I could fuck you here on a pile of your books. I think that’ll be the best pick-me-up of our day.”
“We’ll have to wait until we get home for that.”
The best part of living together has been exactly that.
A brief knock sounds on the door and the hinges creak loudly.
“Guys, really? It’s been two seconds.” Luca walks into the back room with Avery, Molly, and two of their ORO coworkers, Ollie and Matthew.
“Maybe we should give them some privacy.” Avery swings her swollen belly around and marches toward the door.
“No, stay,” I tell Avery. “We were going through the schedule.” “Did you hide the schedule in your pants?” Luca says plainly.
Lily laughs, grabs a book from the nearest stack, and hands it to me. Her eyes refuse to unglue from the erection clearly showing in my slacks.
Great.
I throw the Zoe Mona novella in front of my crotch. Nothing like some smut to hide a hard-on from my closest friends and family.
“Ugh, I’m so jealous.” Molly pulls a bottle of champagne out of her purse. “I wish Lance would push me up against a table, a wall—really, anything.”
Matthew shifts awkwardly beside her, but I’ve spent enough time with the self-made entrepreneur to know the crease in his brow spells discomfort.
Ollie stares at them and shoots me a knowing expression.
“You tellin’ us he’s a dud in bed the same week you sent out invites to your wedding?” Ollie pins her with the question, and the entire room goes silent.
“Hey, well, I—” A blush creeps across Molly’s face, and she swipes at a copper curl that’s fallen in her eyes. “He has other qualities that I—”
I open my mouth to redirect the conversation, but Matthew beats me to
it.
“Come on, Ol, don’t give Molly a hard time.”
“Thanks.” She tentatively reaches over to brush something off his
shoulder. “You have a little something on your shirt.”
“Oh, um.” Matthew’s eyes widen, but he keeps his blue gaze away from her. “Probably just from my cat.”
I’m not sure what’s going on with that dynamic, but I pluck the bottle of champagne out of Molly’s hand. “Nothing like some pre-game drinks
before we head out to dinner.”
Lily jumps off the table and fumbles in her backpack for some shot glasses.
“Can’t we just sip it?” Luca asks. “Nope, I’ll pour them.” That’s my girl.
She lines up the shot glasses from her merch table—she had them made specifically for me—and fills each with champagne, except for Avery’s, which she fills with water.
The mood in the cramped space returns to one of celebration.
“I can’t wait to pop this baby out,” Avery says, rubbing her giant baby bump. “I don’t know what I miss more, coffee or champagne.”
Luca grabs a shot glass. “Coffee, cariño, it’s definitely coffee.”
My stomach flips, anticipating the day when Lily and I have a little rascal of our own. Who knows if they’ll be wild like me or wild like their beautiful mom. But we’ll probably have a giant house of children all yelling at each other and getting up to no good.
It’s a daydream for now, but I know I’m going to put a few babies in Lily soon enough.
My woman blinks up at me as if reading my mind and glares.
Alright, not soon enough. There’s too much adventuring, writing, and fucking to do until we get there.
I pocket my brief fantasy and take the shot glass out of Lily’s hand.
“How many times do I need to tell you guys that you don’t have to come to every signing?” Lily backs her perfect ass into me, leaning against my chest.
“And miss out on knowing a famous author, or worse, the behind the scenes of your books?” Molly winks. “Never.”
“What are we giving cheers to today?” I whisper in my lady’s ear. Lily holds up her shot of champagne. “To taking risks.”
