Page 90 of Defying Ella
Alys’s eyes widened as everyone focused on her. “What?” she croaked.
“She has a point.” Sophie leaned forward to see Alys around Mel. Mischief danced in her blue eyes. “Haven’t you been with Ryan nearly a year and a half?”
“Yes, but we haven’t talked about it.” Her gaze shiftedaround the back room, searching for an out I’m sure. “We’re all about to go on a massive tour, maybe we should focus on surviving all that time in a tour bus together first.”
Nia snorted. “Perfect segue.”
“Enough of the wedding talk.” Mel shook her head. “Clearly none of us are ready for that step and want to enjoy the moment. Can we move on?”
Jared held his hand up. “Is this a good time for me to steal Ella away?”
Sophie and Nia turned to him, eyes narrowed.
“That depends on the purpose of you whisking her away from girl time.” Sophie arched a brow. “Is it a good reason, Jared?”
He grinned, totally unfazed by her scrutiny. “I’m sure Ella will think so.”
“Well, now I have to know.” Nia leaned forward, resting her forearms on the table.
“I have no issue sharing.” Jared smirked at me with absolute mischief in his eyes. “Pretty sure Ella would blush though.”
My eyes widened at the threat. I scoured the room and my mind, searching for anything to distract them.How had we gone from Mel in the hot seat to me getting caught twice?
At one of the single tables on the opposite side of the room, Lily Tyler dropped her phone and slouched down in her chair directly opposite our table. She stared at the device, her brows furrowed in what I could only assume was confusion.
“What’s up with Lily?” I asked the girls, nodding towards her dejected form.
As distractions went, it worked like a charm. All of their heads swivelled to assess the situation.
Jared leaned in and pressed his lips to my ear. “Cheater.”
The girls were focused on Lily, whispering amongst themselves about her sudden change in demeanour and whetherthey should leave her be or invite her over. None of us were all that sure how to handle the superstar just yet. Something Alys, Mel and Daphne would need to figure out fast what with Rhiannon joining The Brightside’s Pandemonium tour from next month for at least two years of the mammoth event.
“What did you expect me to do?” I hissed at him. “I don’t know what you’re up to, but after that, I’m assuming it’s not something I’d want my sister to know about.”
“You ask her.” Alys shot a pointed look at Nia, the only person amongst us who knew Lily before her band took off when she was just sixteen-years-old.
“Everything alright over there, Lily?” Nia called out.
Lily glanced up, confusion almost dazing her expression. “I’ve been stood up.”
Silence followed her announcement while her confusion turned contagious. Judging from the girls’ slack-jawed expressions, none of us understood how someone like Lily Tyler could suffer the downsides of dating in the modern world.
Gorgeous, blonde, rich and super successful.
How could anyone turn her down?
“Maybe he’s late,” Alys suggested, but her voice was too weak to convince any of us that she believed it.
Lily picked up her phone, glanced at the screen and dropped it. “He’s an hour late. Definitely stood up.”
“How did you meet him?” Alys shuffled out of the booth and approached her table.
“I haven’t.” Lily gave up staring at her phone and sighed. “His mother put down a hefty cheque for a date with me. I honestly didn’t expect this.”
“His mother paid you for a date?” My voice rose almost to a screech.Was that normal for a rock star?
“It was for the nature reserve visitor centre auction,” Nia explained. “They broke ground on the centre last week because Lily helped us raise more money than anticipated.”
