my hand, pulling me up from the table. “Come on, baby. Let’s go somewhere more comfortable while
we talk.”
He started to lead me to the living room, but I shook my head. Not there. I didn’t want anything
that reminded me of my reality while I tried to sort out this shit. I turned down the narrow hallway to
the bedroom.
“Are you sure?” William asked as I led him into the room.
Was I? Not at fucking all. But this was the only place in my apartment that was truly mine.
I nodded, sucking my lip between my teeth.
William sat on the edge of the bed, swinging his legs onto the mattress. He patted the spot next to
him and I quickly curled into his side. He wrapped his arms around me, resting his chin on the top of
my head as soon as I settled. “Now, tell me what you’ve got yourself so worked up about.”
I pulled away from him long enough to turn off the small lamp next to the bed. Sometimes, talking
was easier in the dark.
“I don’t know if I can do this,” I told him. My voice cracked and the rest of my explanation felt
like it was caught in my throat, choking me.
William tensed, his arms like a vice around me, as if he thought I might run away if he eased up.
And I might have, except we were at my place so there was nowhere for me to run. “Do what,
exactly? If things are moving too fast, we can slow down. I don’t want to scare you off, and I know
I’ve probably done a shit job of that so far. I don’t mean to be so intense—”
I flipped over, pressing my index finger against his lips. In the faint light seeping in through the
blinds, I could see the pain in his eyes. Pain that I’d put there. And I hated myself for it.
“No! I mean, yeah, it’s crazy fast to feel the way I do about you, but you’re not alone,” I rushed to
reassure him. “This, being with you, it’s everything to me. I’m still worried about what Willow will
say when she meets you—”
“There’s no rush.”
“I know, but I think I want the two of you to meet,” I admitted. Until that moment, I’d been
insistent that the two people I loved stay in their boxes in opposite corners of my mind. But now that
the words were out, I didn’t regret them. In time, I did want to see what a life with both of them could
look like. “That’s not the part I’m unsure about.”
William traced a finger down the length of my arm. He was patient, waiting to see if I’d keep
