The Sun in My Eyes

31 And the Sky Turned Black Like A Perfect Storm

"Not faking it exactly," Bobby said. "Just laying it on a little thick."

"What do you think?" Priya asked.

Lili frowned. "Hope is my friend. I—I feel weird talking behind her back like this."

"I get that." Priya squeezed her hand. "But a true friend would ask these kinds of questions. What if Hope's missing out on opportunities here? Don't you want her to have her best shot at happiness?"

Bobby smiled. "Noah's my friend too, so I get it. But in the real world, I'd be worried if a mate fell for someone so quickly. What if both of them would be happier with someone else and they don't know it yet, because they got too serious too soon?"

Lili blinked at him for a long moment. Her voice was almost inaudibly soft. "I don't—I don't understand your point."

"We need to test them!" Priya said. "I could try to turn Noah's head."

Rahim nodded. "It'll be weird for me, but I get the reasoning."

"It's just an experiment." Priya stared at her fingernails for a moment and cleared her throat. "It's not that I fancy Noah or anything like that."

"Obviously, I think it should be Priya, but I'm not the jealous type," he said, hoping it sounded truer in his voice than it did in his head. "I trust you, so you could try it too, Lil. For science!" He studied her face, gauging her reaction. She was oddly stoic, and a tiny thread of anxiety pulled loose inside of him. Why wasn't she saying anything?

"Come on, it'll be so fun!" Priya whispered. "Want to help us with Operation: Nope?"

Lili straightened and shrugged his arm off her shoulder. "I don't like this."

Priya rolled her eyes. "Why? Because you love them so much?"

Lili's gaze flashed fire. "Because it's playing games with people's feelings."

Alarm bells went off in his head. Lili was so blinded by her friendship with Hope, she couldn't see the bigger picture.

"Feelings?" Priya snorted. "What about Noah's feelings?"

"Ah, leave her alone, Priya." Lili shot him a dark look and frustration bubbled up in him. She was upset for no reason. If Noah's head didn't turn, there was nothing lost. It wouldn't even matter. "We can execute Operation: Nope without anybody's help, I reckon."

"Well if Lili doesn't want to do it, more Noah for me!"

"Wow," Rahim said, looking grave. "You're not even conflicted."

"Um. Not that I'm looking to recouple, of course!" Priya patted Rahim's muscular shoulder.

Lili stood abruptly and Priya, fast as a snake, grabbed her hand. She looked intently at her. "Whatever happens, don't tell anyone else about this. Please." Lili's jaw clenched tight and she didn't respond. "Please," Priya repeated. "Promise me. As a friend."

"Noah deserves a chance to be happy. Please, Lil," he said, stroking her arm.

Nodding stiffly, Lili pulled away from both of them. "Fine." Her warmth was nowhere to be found. As if she had closed the shutters on her beaming light. Something was very wrong. She turned and walked off without a word.

"She'll keep quiet, right?" Priya asked, looking worried.

"I think so," Rahim said. "If she said she wouldn't tell, she won't."

Bobby picked up the uneaten cookie Lili had left behind and stared at it. She thought they were playing games with people's feelings, and maybe she was right. But it was for the greater good, wasn't it? For the good of his friend and the villa. But he felt less and less confident about it. "I don't know if we should do this," he said. "Maybe Lili's righ—"