Cruel Passion (Book 1 and 2)

Jackass (Chapter 8)

Chapter 8

            Lance laid awake in his room intently looking at the ceiling. How long has it been since he had laughed so hard? Drinks at Kim were fun. He had fun. Between worrying about Lily and work he barely got time to enjoy life. Work was chaotic. It was overwhelming to stay on top at his office. Every day new and fresh pieces were brought to the newspaper and he had to work his butt off to stay on top.

            As he rolled to his side he let out a groan. His fist still throbbed. He looked at his bruised knuckles and sighed. His mind still couldn’t register what caused him to lose control like that. All he could remember was the guys hand around her waist and his pulling back slinging it over to his face full force. Lance smirked rolling his eyes; when has he been in a fight,besides junior high. Again laying down in a fiddle position while Thomas Mcgork used him as a punching bag, wasn’t really a fight so that didn’t count either.

            He tried closing his eyes falling asleep but sleep never came to him. What was this girl doing to him? Whenever he closed his eyes he saw her smile, her cat like eyes and that purr of a laugh. Lance glanced at his table clock reading 5:30 AM out loud to himself. He was losing it. He had to leave for work in two hours and he hadn’t gotten a second of sleep. Throwing the cover over him he stepped out of bed giving up on rest completely. As he made his way to the bathroom he noticed his phone flashing in the dark room.

            “Hello?” he let a smile break out as Lily’s sweet voice poured through the other end. They spoke for a whole hour before she apologized for waking him up.

            “It’s fine Lily, I was already up.” That caught her interest.

            “But you love sleep!” she said all too knowingly. Lance sighed not wanting to repeat what was going on in his head. Saying it out loud made it even more real and even much worse.

            “I just have a tower worth of work to do. How’s the modeling agency treating you?” he said changing the subject.

            “Good.” She paused for a moment and Lance could tell she was hesitating.

            “Something wrong?” Lance asked worried at the lack of excitement in her voice.

            “I miss you. I miss all of you.” She sighed. Lance nodded and began to wonder when they all sat together and talked like normal friends. Megan had been busy with Duncan, Kim with the wedding and himself with work.

            Lance was sure everyone had forgiven Lily but how could they trust her again? He always thought it was going to take time but it just seemed as no one was willing to take her back fully. What she did was unforgivable but she was in love. Lance cringed at the word. He too had been in love but all he got from it was heartbreak. He heard the softness of Lily’s voice and recalled when it used to make him melt. Lily knew she had hurt Kim but being the only one there to hear her side of the story she never understood how much she had hurt him. Oh he had been in so much pain but no one suspected a thing. He was the comic role in the group how could the goof ever be hurt? He breathed out frustration nagging at him.

            “I’ll talk to you later Lily, we’ll all make plans soon.” He spoke carefully.

            “Sure. Bye.” Her tone was clipped but he could tell she was smiling.

            Lance slammed the bathroom door behind him and let the water run over his throbbing head.