“I am so, so, so sorry.”
To my surprise, William came to the gym right after class.
“You passed out like an old man, okay. You’re forgiven.” I tried to smile, even though I was concerned about Blaze.
“I’m sorry I stood you up at Tropical, but more than that, I’m sorry I didn’t spend the afternoon with you.”
“It’s fine, Will. I mean, you could’ve texted me.”
We sat on the stairs to have a bit of privacy and take our time talking.
“I know. But my parents stopped me.”
What he’d told me at the party echoed in my head. “Didn’t you tell me they left?” I asked, perplexed.
Will looked down at me. He’d just lied, and I knew it.
“Oh, well, yeah, on the phone.”
I shook my head, looking at the floor. He was too good to be true. Besides being really hot, Will had turned out to be sensitive, interesting, delicate, and attentive toward me. But something wasn’t right.
“What do you say we meet up tonight? We can study?” He gave me a hopeful look. I had a feeling that it was better to drop it and that I should say no. But I couldn’t.
What do you want from me, William Cooper?
Why did I still get the sense that he wasn’t being honest with me and didn’t care about seeing me?
The truth was that I didn’t want to be strung along like I had been over the past few days. Some girls might find that mysterious act charming, but I didn’t. I just wanted a guy who was honest and showed up for dates. That didn’t seem like too much to ask.
“Okay, Will. But this is the last time—”
William cut me off by kissing me. “Is your mom home right now?”
“Yeah.” I got defensive.
“All right.”
“All right what, Will?” I stared at him, bewildered.
“I wanna meet her.”
He’d clearly lost his mind. “Oh, well, so . . .”
“Why not?” he grumbled, shrugging.
“What do I tell her, how should I introduce you?”
“I like you, June. I don’t care what you call this. I wanna keep seeing you.”
It wasn’t nice of me to keep doubting him, but the fear of screwing it up was huge. We had to take it slow.
“Maybe not at my house, okay? Let’s do it when my mom isn’t around. Trust me, you don’t know her.”
Will looked slightly crestfallen.
We got up to leave the gym. A tall figure was leaning against the door with his arms crossed. It was James waiting for Will.
“See you later,” I mumbled.
