My chest tightens.
“And if she doesn’t want him to know?”
Harrison stares at me for a moment before his tired expression cracks and he lets out a string of laughter. “Dude, I don’t know. I don’t know how the hell I’m the one offering any advice right now when my life is currently a mess.”
“Ah fuck. I’m an asshole for even bothering you with this.”
“No, you’re not,” he says, shaking his head. “Whatever you decide, I’ll just make sure I have an eulogy written,” he pauses and smirks, shrugging his shoulders as he pulls open his car door. “You know, just in case.”
“At least make sure it’s funny.”
“Oh, it will be,” he says with a chuckle. “This alone is hilarious.”
My eyebrows cinch closer. “What is?”
“The fact that you’re secretly sleeping with your best friend’s sister, who you have known your entire life and have feelings for,but you’re in denial and think you can keep this casual and it won’t blow up in your face.”
I narrow my eyes on him. “I don’t have feelings for her.”
“Yeah, okay, buddy.” He smiles and rolls his eyes. “You’ll wake up eventually, but until then, we can just pretend.” He lets out a laugh. “I gotta go get Liam. Let me know how you make out.”
Harrison shuts his door without another word and the ones he spoke out loud follow me into my truck. He thinks he’s right, but he’s not. Things between us can stay casual, regardless of how I might feel about her. I care about Willow. I always have, and nothing will ever change that.
I care about her enough to know that I can never give her more than this. And she’s okay with that…isn’t she?
The engine hums to life as I turn the key in the ignition and stare out through the windshield for a long moment before I finally put my truck in drive. The gray sky shows a threat of showers in the near future and I slowly pull my truck out onto the road, heading in the direction of my house.
I thought sleeping with Willow would get her out of my head, but it’s been the opposite. She’s everywhere I look and every thought that passes has a way of drifting back to her. I know what her lips taste like and that’s the only thing I crave now. There has to be a way to reverse this. There has to be a way to keep things casual, to keep them simple.
But as I pull into my driveway and see the empty space in the driveway where the fallen leaves create an outline from where she was parked, I know I’m lying… not just to Harrison, but mostly to myself.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
WILLOW
My phone dings with a text message just as I park along Main Street. I fish in my purse until my fingers find it and a smile tugs on the corners of my lips when I see Jace’s name on the screen. I tap on his name and open the message thread.
Jace
Hey. Do you need any help in the shop today?
Willow
Nope. There’s really not much left to do, honestly.
Jace
Can I still see you anyways?
My stomach flutters and my heart skips a beat as I stare down at my phone with a stupid grin that appears every time he messages me now.
Willow
I’d like that.
I’m about to walk into the bakery to see if Miss Maggie has some time to talk.
Jace
