Before I could pry my mother’s hands from Lila’s, she was off, dragging Lila behind her like a carnival toy I’d won her, prattling on about how happy she was. Lila cast a pitiful look in my direction, but underneath it was a shimmer of pride as she let herself be towed up the stairs.

I followed, smiling up behind them, hoping Mom didn’t ruin this for me. If her brazen campaign scared Lila off, I swore I’d never forgive her. But Lila seemed more amused than anything, willing to go along with it all for the sake of appeasing my mother.

That alone should have had me proposing on the spot.

We aren’t together, she’d said, a statement that was as true as it was false.

I’d promised her I wouldn’t see anyone else and she’d done the same, but it was only an incremental step toward something bigger, something that loomed inevitably, impossibly, over us.

The lesson Ali had taught me was fresh as ever, and it wasn’t one I was keen to repeat. Especially not now. Especially not with Lila. So I’d keep on lying to myself with the unlikely hope that one day, I’d believe it when I promised her I knew where we stood despite the knowledge that the line had blown away with the wind.

LILA

I probably should have made my excuses and gone.

The first time the thought struck me, I’d just walked into the greenhouse to find a gorgeous, expensively dressed woman with her hand on his arm. I’d felt the obligation to leave once more when Mrs. Bennet finagled me into dinner, particularly upon noting the terrified look on Kash’s face. Even now, as I sat at a rowdy table surrounded by Bennets, I felt as if I should leave, as if I didn’t belong. It didn’t help that I stood out like a match in the toothpicks, too formal and stiff for the likes of the Bennets.

Really, I should have gone. But I was enjoying myself too much to go through with it.

That was, assuming that Mrs. Bennet would have let me get away, which I somehow doubted. I wouldn’t put a running tackle past her if she thought it would keep a prospect for one of her children in the room.

“So where are you staying now?” Mrs. Bennet asked before sliding a fork loaded with casserole into her mouth.

It was the umpteenth prying question she’d asked, but I didn’t mind. I didn’t mind so much, it worried me.

“With Ivy,” I answered without hesitation. “I’ve been looking for a place of my own but haven’t found the right one yet.”