“I don’t blame you.” She gives a playful grimace, and we both giggle. “Now, when was the last time someone was so crazy about you, they’d do anything just to see you smile?”
“Trevor…”
She rolls her eyes. “Okay, fine, I’ll give you that one. Let me rephrase… When was the last time you were loved?”
“Wills, we don’t have time for this…”
“Humor me.”
“I just told you I don’t talk about?—”
Willa holds up a finger. “Bryan and his weird obsession with you don’t count. That wasn’t love. I’m talking about the last time you were with someone who really knew you. Someone who accepted you as you are, despite”—she waves a hand over me with a teasing smirk—“all of this.”
“Hey!” I push her shoulder, stifling my smile as she laughs. “You know, for a sister, you’re really mean to me.”
“You call itmean; I call ithonesty. Now answer the question.”
I shrug. None of my boyfriends cared enough. “Never, I guess.”
“Until now.” She leans back against the headboard, eyebrows raised like she just proved a point. “You have someone who meets the criteriaright now.”
“Umm, yeah, I guess Trevor’s?—”
“Ash!” She smacks my arm with the back of her hand.
“Ow! What thehell?” I rub the sting away with a sneer.
“You know damn well I’m not talking about that man. What’s with your Hunter-shaped blind spot? You’re so dedicated to avoiding your feelings for him, you didn’t even consider he’s the one?”
The one?
Snorting a laugh, I reach for my bonnet and stand from the bed.How can I have a blind spot for someone I’m actively seeing? I have doubts. That’s it. “I’m not avoiding anything. I literally just said I like?—”
“Love.”
“Stop that!” My hand slams to my hip as I whip around. She keeps bringing up that little fun fact, like it’s some kind of “gotcha.” It’s annoying.
“Why?” She laughs. “You’ve already told me you love him.”
“Exactly”—I angrily stuff my bonnet in my carry-on—“I’ve already admitted it. What’s the point in saying it again?”
“It?”
“The thing…”
The smirk on her face only grows. “Thiiing?”
“Ugh, theLword thing!”
“You can’t say the word, can you?” Her cackle bounces off the walls, and all I can do is glower. She’s right. I can hardly say it to myself, let alone out loud. “Point proven.”
“Stop looking at me like that.”
“No.” If smug had a spokesperson, it would be her close-lipped smile. “Every time I bring up how you feel about Hunter, you change the subject. Are you scared?”
“Of Hunter? No.” Okay,maybe. But it’s confusing, and I don’t want to think about it. Denial is safer. “Why would I be scared of him? He’s my best friend.”
“Your semantics game is getting old, Ash. I know you’re not scaredofhim.” She raises her eyebrows condescendingly. “You know what I think?”
