Years of Summer: Lily's Story Read Online Free

know better it was as if time had stopped.
    Jace was very composed and gave away no clues that the antagonism worked.  I don’t think it did. 
    “No, Chance, I am not afraid of you.  If you would rather it be just me and you, I’m good with that.  Ty would you escort Lily back to her dorm please and the rest of you can go on, we’ll be fine.”
    I looked at Jace like he was crazy.  “What?!!  Jace, no, don’t be stupid, I’m not worth it.” 
    Then Jace looked at me incredulously.  “You are every bit worth it.  I don’t like it when my friends get mistreated.  Ty take her back.”
    Tuck picked up my blanket and followed Ty as he escorted me back to my room.  Time seemed to restart, it was so strange as I begged them to leave me and stop Jace. "No, go stop him, what if he gets hurt.” They kept pushing me, however nicely, back toward my dorm room. “Please, stop him! I don't want him to get hurt.”
    “Lily, Jace can take care of himself, don’t worry.” 
    I turned around to look back at the quad.  The rest of the guys were leaving as I saw Jace and Chance face off.  I couldn’t tell you what happened next.  I was too worried about Jace. I didn’t give a care in the world what happened to Chance.  I secretly wished he would beat him to a pulp and as I stood in my dorm room I wished it faced out to the front instead of over to the side.  At least I could see what was happening, but right then I just paced back and forth.  Ty and Tuck stayed with me.
    They chuckled.  “Lil, would you calm down? Jace will be fine.  Honestly, Chance is no match for him.  What makes Jace angriest right now is the way Chance has treated you.  Girl, why didn’t you tell any of us what he had done to you?  We would have taken care of it.”
    I didn’t answer; I just climbed up in the middle of my bed and sat there, wondering why I was so worried about Jace.  It was weird the way it felt.  I knew he could take care of himself.
    I sat there and waited. Chelsea walked in followed close behind by Jace. I was so relieved. I looked him over. It didn’t look like he had been hurt. Why, all of a sudden, were things he was doing affecting me?  We had always been friends, well, at least since I met him when I started college. I wasn’t sure what I was allowing to happen. I’m not sure I wanted that to happen, so I kept it on a friendly level, when right then all I really wanted to do was run to him and hug him like he had been on some long tour of duty and he had finally come home. 
    I wanted to know what happened, but I didn’t want to know what happened.  It was like Chelsea read my mind.  “So, Jace, who won?”
    Jace laughed.  “The pansy ran off.  I figured he would once everyone left.  He’s all big and bad on the outside, but a coward on the inside. He only acts that way toward Lily, because he likes to see her scared, which makes me really mad.” 
    Ty and Tuck and Jace shared some kind of hidden knowledge as they looked at each other.  Jace was angry.  “I wish I could have pummeled his face.  I would have felt better.  I’m sorry, Lil, but until he leaves I’ll be hanging around you quite a bit more. I’ll feel better about it, anyway.”
    The way he said that and what it implied gave me warm fuzzy feelings. I would be happy to have him for company. I smiled a little shyly, but still wasn’t sure I was ready for what this was screaming at me.  As a matter of fact I knew I wasn’t ready for this.  I kept it going on a friendly level.  “Thanks Jace you’re a really good friend.”
    “Anytime, sweetie. By the way he dropped this when he ran off, do you want it?”  Jace showed me the little blue velvet box that held my engagement ring.
    “You can throw it in the trash for all I care.  It never meant anything to him but ownership anyway”—y eah, definitely not ready for any kind of a relationship right now .  The way I reacted seemed to make Jace happy.
    “Well you could