Page 113 of Liberating Lily

“Don’t change what you like or downplay your needs because you think you have to cater to me.”

“That wasn’t what I was doing. I just don’t want you to be miserable watching something that you don’t enjoy.”

“So you really enjoyed watching the hockey game the other night with me?”

She bit her lip. Yeah, that’s what he thought.

“It’s just so violent,” she said.

“My point is that sometimes there will be things that you like, that I don’t. That doesn’t mean that I don’t want to enjoy them with you.”

“Sometimes we’ll do what you like, and sometimes we’ll do what I like, and hopefully, there are things we like together.”

“Exactly,” he said. “And hopefully, one of the things that we like together is blowjobs.”

She gaped at him, and he couldn’t keep his face clean of emotion anymore. He let out a roar of laughter. “You should see your face right now.”

“I can’t believe you said that to me, Harvey Gallagher.” She slapped her hand down on his chest. “You’re incorrigible.”

“I think you’ve got the wrong word. You mean sexy. Say it with me, sexy.”

“No, I think I had the right word,” she told him. “Well, maybe I mean terrible. But I was trying to use other adjectives since I’ve used that one before.”

“Sassy, aren’t you?” He turned her toward the bed and slapped her ass. “Get semi-naked so I can get you all slick.”

She turned her head to give him a look. “Is this what you always talk like?”

“Hmm, not always.”

He whistled as he walked away.

Relief filled her as he left. Not because he was leaving. She preferred when he was close. No, it was because he was acting more relaxed around her.

Well, maybe he was getting too relaxed around her if he was talking about blow jobs and getting her all slick.

Her mother would have been horrified by the way he’d just spoken to her. But that was her mother, wasn’t it? That wasn’t Lily. And she was learning that she didn’t have to be what her mother wanted her to be.

It was freeing, and at the same time slightly terrifying. But definitely far better than being in her mother’s clutches, slave to her demands and whims.

This was freedom, and she just had to be brave and try new things. She had to figure out what she wanted to do with her life. What were her goals, her desires? What things did she like?

“Baby, everything okay?”

She glanced over to find that he’d already returned, and she hadn’t even moved.

“I know it sounds silly, but I’m just figuring out that I don’t have to do everything Mother told me. And I know that’s a good thing. But at the same time, it’s slightly terrifying not knowing what the future will be. What am I going to do for a job? I have no skills. What am I going to wear? I don’t even know what I like.”

Her breathing started to grow faster, and suddenly she found herself pulled into his arms. They were tight around her, keeping her close.

She leaned into his embrace and felt the tension start to ease, the fear start to drift away. “Maybe I’m not as strong as you think I am.”

“You are definitely as strong as I think you are. You think a few moments of self-doubt make you any less strong? They don’t. No one expects you to know exactly what you want or need right now. You can figure that all out. Maybe you start with what pants you like wearing, or your favorite colors, or your hairstyle.”

“What will I do for money when we leave this place? I’m going to need a job. I guess that should be first on my list, then.”

“No, you don’t need a job,” he told her. “Money is something you don’t need to worry about.”

“Why not?” she asked, leaning back.