Chapter 18

" W ell, if this doesn't feel vaguely reminiscent of something we've done before…" Wren commented dryly as they walked into the party from the same direction they'd come from in the fall. They were both wearing the shirts that Knight had given Lila the day before, and over-the-knee boots.

Lila might have mentioned that said boots were kind of Knight's idea, which is ultimately what got Wren into the footwear in question, though she'd never admit it out loud. His shirt was long enough on Lila that she was wearing it as a dress. Wren's legs were too long to wear the shirt alone, so she'd paired her navy tee with a pair of similarly hued booty shorts. Knight was going to lose his damn mind when he saw her.

Julia was somewhere in the crowd with Nate, but Lila worried about seeking them out directly, given the fact she wanted to avoid King at all costs. She caught glimpses of Vicky and Dani in the crowd and waved as they weaved through throngs of people to get to where the makeshift dance floor was.

"Tonight, we dance our asses off," Wren intoned. "I leave in precisely three weeks, and we are going to live it up until then."

"You don't have to tell me twice," Lila replied with fake solemnity.

Whoever was on music duty was killing it with early aughts classics, and the friends, indeed, danced their asses off. Knight found them, his eyes almost bugging out of his head when he took in Wren in her boots, wearing his number on her back.

"Knight, Wren, get together for a pic," Lila demanded as she snapped a few photos with her phone. Then she had Knight hold the phone to get a selfie of the three of them. Then Wren took a photo of Lila and Knight, and then he snapped one of just her and Wren. Once she got her phone back, she surreptitiously sent Knight the images of him and Wren, and he mouthed a thank you as soon as they pinged on his phone.

"So picture happy tonight, my friend," Wren teased knowingly.

"Just trying to document all the fun times, and leave the bad ones behind." Lila lifted a shoulder.

"Well let's get to it, then."

Soon, Julia and some of her former roommates made their way over, as did Dani and Vicky, and they all made a circle that they took turns dancing inside. Soon, though, Julia drifted over to Nate, and Knight had managed to wrangle a dance with Wren. A dance that became several dances and then a trip to "grab water" that they still hadn't returned from. Lila had done an inner happy dance when she saw Knight place a hand on the small of Wren's back as they made their way inside his house.

Tired from dancing, she drifted to the edge of the designated dance floor, in search of bottled water.

"Alexander!" Jason's boisterous voice rose above the volume of the music. He was standing on his porch with James.

Lila waved and made her way over to them. "Water?" She mimicked taking a drink. James hooked a thumb over his shoulder, pointing inside the house. She shook off the feeling of awkwardness that was radiating in the air, wishing she'd instead gone in the direction of Knight's house. Too late now. Weird that she'd been there just yesterday, but she pushed that thought away as quickly as it came.

Lila scanned the packed room and finally laid her eyes on the water bottles. "Victory," she mumbled to herself as she walked over to grab one. It wasn't until after she'd taken a long drink that she felt eyes on her, boring holes in her back.

Don't look, Lila. Don't. Look.

She looked.

King was sitting on the couch, his arms draped over the tops of the cushions. An unidentified pastel-haired girl was straddling his lap, and… Was she nuzzling him? With her nose? It'd be a weird sight under normal circumstances, but Lila wasn't thinking rationally. No, she was super jealous. So jealous it was infuriating. His eyes read onyx in the dim lighting, his left blackened by Knight's fist, which gave Lila a modicum of satisfaction, even though it was petty. And because the fates hated Lila, apparently, King's intense, glittering eyes were focused entirely on her.

Fuck. That. Shit. She was so done with allowing this guy to mess with her head.

Lila's brow arched as she allowed herself to absorb the entire scene. Hate slithered slowly into her veins, decaying all the love she had felt for him, and somehow it made the whole situation easier. After all, weren't love and hate just two sides of the same toxic coin?

Pastel girl was now making a big show of dry humping one of King's legs, and Lila tipped her bottle to him in silent cheers. His eyes narrowed slightly, his face a mask except for the almost imperceptible tensing of his jaw.

Gratefully, her phone chimed, and she turned away from the ridiculousness she'd just witnessed to check it. She placed her capped water bottle between her legs (because there was no way in hell she'd ever put her drink down at a college party, even one thrown by her friends) as she pulled her phone out.

WREN: I'm officially calling in my one AOC of the year. Are you okay, or is there a McConnell situation?

Lila's eyes widened as she took in the text. "AOC" was the code they reserved for an instance where they could ditch the other for the night, no questions asked, unless the ditchee declared it a McConnell situation, which meant they were in an unsafe situation in which to be left. The handful of times this had been invoked, there had been no problems, and Lila was determined there wouldn't be any on this night, either.

LILA: I'm so proud of you. Hell, I have no doubt AOC would be proud of you. No McConnells in sight, so you are a go.

WREN: Text me when you get home. *heart*

LILA: Obvi. *heart*

LILA: Remember: safe sex is the best sex. There are Magnums in your glove compartment. *eggplant* You're welcome.

WREN: *eyeballs* *flushed face*

She smiled down at her phone before tucking it back into her bag and retrieving her water. As Lila bent down, the slits she'd cut a few inches up the sides of her shirt/dress displayed the long line of her right leg, and she noticed a random guy checking her out. Lila caught his eyes and shook her head emphatically, motioning for him to stay put.

Unfortunately, he didn't get the hint and approached her anyway. Before he could even open his mouth, she said, "Please turn around. I'm not interested. Nor am I in the mood to be ogled. Thanks."

"Bitch," he muttered. Before she could respond, she heard a crash, a high-pitched "Hey!" and then the interloper was wrested away from her and thrown against the side of the couch. In Lila's periphery, she could see pastel girl gingerly rising from a spot on the floor, one of her hands rubbing her ass. Then it hit her. King fucking Spencer.

"Get the fuck out of here," King growled at the ogler. His black shark eyes and grim expression apparently terrified the guy, and he couldn't run out of the house fast enough. Which was probably the smartest thing he'd done in his whole life.

Lila huffed out a sound of frustration. Part of her wanted to believe that his over-the-top actions were because he was jealous, but she knew better and hated that her mind even wanted to go there. She snapped her eyes up to King, prepared for battle. "I had it handled. But thanks for that fine display of toxic masculinity. It'd been at least fifteen minutes since I'd last seen one."

She tried to maneuver around him, but he reached a hand out, and his fingers kissed her abdomen as he tried to stop her. She jumped back as if burned. Physical contact was the last thing she needed right now. "Don't touch me, King."

He tucked his hands into his pockets. "Sorry." He didn't sound sorry. And he sure as shit didn't look sorry. "Maybe next time you should consider wearing something other than a shirt that barely covers your ass and you won't have any problems."

He knew very well that the shirt hit mid-thigh, her ass completely covered, because she'd worn similar shirts of his in the exact same size. Plus, he had eyes and could see it for himself. Regardless, she could and would wear whatever the hell she wanted. Getting harassed was on the harasser, not the harassed.

"Ooh, let's add slut shaming and victim blaming to tick off all of those toxic masculinity boxes, shall we? It's a toxic trifecta. Well done, Solomon. "

As soon as the words left her mouth, she regretted them.

Dammit, Lila.

King reared back, the pain evident on his face. Lila sighed, suddenly so, so tired, and held up her hands in surrender.

"Shit, I'm so sorry, King. So sorry." She sighed and rubbed the skin of her forehead between her brows before looking him in the eye. "I shouldn't have used that name. Ever. I know the pain it causes you, and it doesn't matter what you've said to me or how you've treated me. There's no excuse for what I just said. It won't happen again, I promise."

His face twisted into a remorseful expression, and it was just too much. "La…"

"Just don't, okay? Please just leave me alone. Before either of us says anything else we regret."

His jaw popped as he clenched it tight, and he nodded before turning to leave. Lila didn't watch him walk away.

She shot Vicky and Dani a text so she could hitch a ride home with them. After they got back to the apartment, she bid them goodnight and shot Wren an "I'm home" text before stripping off her boots and shucking off her bralette. She was too drained to manage anything else. Lila sighed tiredly as she crawled into bed, unwillingly subjected to Becky's weird white noise machine playing what was allegedly supposed to be "womb sounds." Unlike other nights, however, she eschewed her earplugs and let the sheer exhaustion of the night's events pull her under.

Later, Lila awoke to the sound of shoes hitting the floor and the sensation of someone sliding next to her in her college-issue twin bed. Womb sounds officially off, she figured it was at least 6:00 in the morning, which was the time Becky always woke up to do her second Saturday morning run. She turned to face her best friend, who was still dressed in her outfit from the night before.

Wren's face was streaked with mascara, the tip of her nose pink, her expression weary.

"Want to talk about it?" Lila whispered.

"Not right now," Wren murmured.

"Okay." Lila put a comforting arm around her friend, and then they both fell asleep.