Hothouse Flower (Calloway Sisters #2)

by Krista Ritchie

“…in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney⁠—” “He didn’t fucking do anything!” That’s not Daisy. That’s my brother. He’s defending me. My stomach twists, filled with too much emotion to speak, to move just yet.

I'M TEARING UP OMG. LOREN :')

And then the first officer forces me to the fucking ground, my face hitting the pavement hard. Pain shoots through my body. “Resisting arrest,” the first officer says.

Cuffed. Arrested. Going to jail. I’m going to jail.

Everything will be fine, my friend.

connor :')

“Ryke,” he says my name like it means something to him. “What do you want from me?” He extends his arms, his palms flat like he’s opening himself to me, like he’s trying so fucking hard. “Or am I just swinging at an invisible ball, here? That’s it, right?

aw stop. why do i feel bad for him.

“Are you done?” he asks roughly. He takes my silence as an answer. “Maybe you should remember, Ryke, but I never once asked you to say anything about me to the media. That’s never what this has been about, and if you continue to think that, then it’s your own delusion guiding you to that goddamn place. Not me.” He shifts on his feet, but he doesn’t break my gaze. “I can live with these allegations. What I can’t live with is losing you, losing Loren. I would die protecting the two of you, and if you can’t see that then I don’t know what more I can do to show you.”

aw.

“Why can’t you admit that you fucked up?” “Because I didn’t,” he tells me, burning a hole through my chest. “I made a tough decision back then, and if I was put in the same position, I’d make it again. If I didn’t lie about you, Ryke, then the alternative would be to admit to something that would send me to the place you’re standing in right now.” He motions to the cell. “And then where would Loren be?” My stomach drops as I think of my brother, conceived from statutory rape. My father would have gone to jail and my brother…born from a mom who didn’t want him. Would he have landed in foster care?

jonathan is a bad man, but somehow, i understand his actions.

“Are you ready to put this bullshit behind us, or do you still want to hold onto the fucking past?”

“I’d rather fight with you at every Sunday dinner than never talk to you again.” He shrugs. “That’s the goddamn truth.” “You love me that much?” There are fucking tears in his eyes. “More than you can possibly understand, son.”

ARE YOU KIDDING. :')

“Would you be willing to stop drinking for Lo and for me?” After a heavy silence, a single tear rolls down his cheek. I see now that he’s fighting an internal battle probably just as powerful and just as rebellious as the one Lo has, as the one I have.

“He threw out thousands and thousands of dollars’ worth of booze.” Lo shakes his head. “He had a rare two-hundred-year-old scotch he was planning on giving me as a wedding present, you know that?”

“We ended up watering the plants with the scotch.” He laughs and says, “You know that son of a bitch has three sober coaches to keep him in line?” I hear the happiness in my brother’s voice, and it lifts me to a new place. I’m proud of my father, for finally going to this length for us.

AWW.

He removes his gaze off Lily who nervously bites her nails. She’s been more anxious than usual, and I haven’t really talked to my brother about it.

girl is pregnant IMCRYING. HOW IS LILY HIDING IT FOR SO LONG.

I thought maybe you could help me.” I don’t hide my surprise. “Lily and Connor weren’t available?” I know I’m his third fucking choice. I always am. “I didn’t ask.” He pauses, an insecurity bubbling up suddenly. “But if you don’t have time or don’t want to, I can have Lily read them. It’s not a big deal.” He goes to check his phone again, but I’m pretty sure there’s no new text. “No,” I say quickly. “I want to help.” It’s his turn to look surprised. “You sure?” Something swells in me. I actually feel like his brother—not just a fucking sober coach he pushes away. “Yeah,” I say with nod. “But I can’t promise that you won’t hate my fucking opinions.” “I can definitely promise that.” Lo smiles,

AW :')

The place between my legs clenches. Oh God. Again?

IMDEAD.

You would’ve been looking at porn on your fucking cellphone right then, even after I came inside of you tonight.” My lips rise. “Twice.” “About to be three times, Calloway.”

YOU'RE GONNA BECOME PREGNANT LIKE YOUR SISTERS, DAISY. THEY'RE INSANE.

I look to the couch beside Lo, where Lily used to sit. But she went to the bathroom… I turn my attention to Connor. He’s checking his watch. The same thought must be crossing his mind. “How long has she been gone?” My voice cuts Lo and Rose’s fight, silencing them. Lo rotates and notices the bare cushion to his left. “Shit,” he curses and stands up, his eyes wide with worry. “Twenty minutes. Maybe fifteen,” Connor says, following my movement as I rise to my feet. Lo doesn’t even hesitate. He just runs.

LILY NO.

“LILY!” he screams, his voice full of unadulterated fear. He told me yesterday that he tried to kiss her, and she turned away. For Lily, rejecting a kiss isn’t a small thing. Her reasoning was that she didn’t feel good, and he let her go back to sleep. She’s been doing that a lot too—sleeping.

because she's pregnant!

Lily is fully clothed, sitting in the tub as shower water sprays down on her. She shivers, her arms clinging around her legs, and her knees pressed to her chest. Her black long-sleeve shirt is wet and suctions to her thin body.

Lo jumps in, soaking his pants, and he holds Lily’s colorless cheeks steadily. “Lil, talk to me.” His voice is choked, pained beyond belief. Before the shower cuts off, it douses him, his light brown hair wet, and beads of water rolling down his razor-sharp cheeks. She looks fragile in his clutch, but my brother seems just as broken, just as dark and pained. My heart pounds as I watch her hurt exchange between them. Without the water gushing, her sobs echo in the high-ceilinged bathroom. Heavy sobs that morph into cries. “Lil, shhh,” Lo says. “You’re okay.”

stop it. :')

“I meant to tell you…” Lily says under her breath, her tears still dripping, but they’re silent, accompanied by deep fucking sorrow. “Yesterday, I was going to… I got scared…” Her entire body quakes from being soaked with ice cold water, most likely done to combat her cravings.

SHE'S PREGNANT, but she doesn't want to tell you because you don't want kids. omg.

“I’m eight weeks pregnant.” She barely looks at him.

I look at Rose and Connor, and they carry a content expression. They’ve known. Fuck them.

my parents are too smart.

“I know you don’t want kids, and I didn’t want to stress you out with this…I’m sorry.” She sniffs louder, trying hard not to cry. “Shhh.” Lo holds her tighter. “It’s okay, Lil.”

“You don’t want a baby.” “That doesn’t matter anymore.” He lets out a long breath and touches his chest. “We’re addicts. You and me.” He motions between them like they share the same favorite color. “Maybe we shouldn’t have kids, but we have the means to raise him or her well.”

then they hug at the same time. Both magnetically drawn to each other, arms wrapped in such soul-deep comfort that I can’t fucking watch.

Just because Lily cries harder. Just because Lily screams louder. It doesn’t mean that Daisy’s pain isn’t more.

“Do you want to die?” I question. I’ve asked her this once before, after Acapulco. She never answered me, but I knew it anyway. This light inside of her dims if you watch closely enough, and she’s searching and searching for something to ignite her spirit, a power to keep her alive. She stares into my hard gaze, where I never go easy on her, and tears well in her eyes.

“You’re a hothouse flower,” I tell her. “You can’t grow under natural conditions. You need adventure. And security and love in order to stay alive.”

“Explode,” I tell her, still cupping her face. She frowns at me. “What?” “Let it out,” I say. “Scream.”

“Why are you holding back? No one’s fucking here but you and me!” My hand slides to the small of her back. “Stop pretending to be fine when all you really want to do is fucking scream?!”

For another full minute, she releases everything she’s buried inside, and then she crumbles into my arms. I hold her upright, brushing the hair off her face. And her green eyes meet mine, drained but light. So fucking light. I don’t say anything. I just kiss her, breathing more life into her body.

My hothouse flower that I will always keep alive.

“Yeah? Maybe our kids will be crazy like us.” She gasps playfully. “You want to make babies with me?” I answer by kissing her with a strong force, and she runs her hands through my thick hair.

“She’s better. She just needed to scream,” I say, twirling a fucking salt shaker on the counter. “That’s not surprising.” Connor hands me a cup of coffee. “I have to force Rose to scream every now and then. Must be a product of being raised by Samantha.” Lo shakes his head. “Lily doesn’t have that problem.” We both look at him. He doodles fucking circles and squares on a paper napkin, and his pen stops at our silence.

I CANNOT. lo is so cute.

“And I already feel fucking awful for the thing.” “He may not have addiction problems, Lo,” I say. “No, it’s not that.” Lo looks up from his napkin and points the pen at Connor. “Our kid is going to have to compete with theirs. It’s already fucked and it’s not even born yet.” I can’t help it, I smile. Connor tries hard not to, hiding his grin into the rim of his cup.

LITERALLYYY. AW OMG. SO CUTE.

And then Cleo, with her silky blonde hair and coveted Birkin bag on her arm, did something…she pressed the emergency stop. I smiled at her devious grin, thinking they wanted to pull a prank on maintenance. “What are we doing?” I asked. “Seeing if it fits,” Cleo said, and she shared a furtive glance with Harper. They both giggled again. Cleo wobbled in her heels, and Harper dug her hand in a shopping bag, revealing a pink dildo.

OH MY GOD??!?? bro daisy omg. my poor baby, stop.

“Boys are like pillars,” Rose tells me. “Ryke is something to lean on. But they don’t make you move. You have to do that for yourself.”

Connor sidles behind his wife, and his arms slip around her waist. I notice how his palm rests on her stomach for a brief moment or two. His head lowers, and he whispers in her ear.

THIS MAN. UGH, CONNOR COBALT AS A DAD.

Lo stares down at Lily as she starts drifting off into space. “You okay, love?” he asks.

I take you for granted sometimes, but I never fucking forget that you’re the reason I’m sober.” I actually smile. I think my face says it all.

When I look beside me, for the first time, I don’t see that weight on my brother’s chest. I don’t see anything tugging him backwards. He’s fucking smiling.

And it’s at four miles in—when he leaves my side and takes five lengthy strides ahead—that I know. He’s going to outrun me.

:')

“One…” I whisper, listening to a couple car doors popping open. Lo’s edged voice resounds across the yard. “Christ, we need to get someone out here to plow the driveway again.” “Two,” I count to my sisters. “I can do it later,” Ryke tells him. I smile wide. “Three.” We run out of our hiding places, or really, I run with frozen feet and they walk. Snowballs lie in their gloved hands (mine gloveless).

Lily shrieks, and I glance over, realizing that Lo’s hair is wet and he’s started chasing her around the snowy yard. She abandons her pre-made snowballs and runs away with a silly smile, her hands on her head like her Wampa cap may blow off.

AWWW.

He grabs my ankles out of the snow and inspects my footwear. His face hardens. “You’re fucking insane.” He removes my flip-flops and rubs one of my reddened feet.

No longer just the sister of his brother’s girlfriend. Or the sister of a friend. Not even just a friend. I am his.

But I see the look on my sister’s face, something pure and magical and beautiful. Definitely love.

I know that wherever she goes, I’ll go. Wherever I go, she’ll go.

I almost smile as I remember smashing her back into the window last night, rough and slow sex, but fun sex. Standing up.

absolute freaks.