“But my dad’s dead,” I admit.
“Ooh! Dead dad club!” Nat says, clapping before she slings an arm around my shoulders. I turn to her, a bit confused because I’ve never actually gottenthatreaction to telling anyone my father is dead. “Finally! Someone for me!”
“For…you?” I ask, lifting a suspicious eyebrow. The longer I’m here, the more I wonder ifanyonenormal lives in Holly Ridge.
“Everyone here has dads. Even Hallie and Colt, though their’s kind of abandoned them once Hallie graduated. The Kings have thebestdad, which, honestly, is a stab to the heart, ya know?”
“You all are out of your damn minds,” I grumble.
“Ah, yes, because you’re just thepictureof mental stability,” Hallie says with a laugh. I don’t have time to say anything else because just then the song ends, and Wren and Willa stop dancing and start making their way to our small table. I watch Willa like a hawk, and when she stumbles, my entire body jolts toward her as if controlled by some ghost before she catchesherself, steadying her feet. A moment later, she and Wren start laughing hysterically before hugging one another.
Beside me, Hallie lets out her own loud, entertained laughter, and when I notice she’s looking at me, laughing atmeand my unintentionally protective manner, I realize just how fucked I am. I don’t even realize my shoulders are tight with anticipation until Willa sits down safely beside Wren, and the tension leaves them.
“You know, the house is empty tonight. Emma’s at your parents’ place,” Hallie says, thirty or so minutes later, turning to Jesse and putting a hand to his chest. “Maybe I should try to pace the girls, and you can take me out of here onyourshoulder tonight.”
“Do it,” Jesse says, a mischievous look in his eyes, and Hallie’s face lights up.
“Couch sex?”
He doesn’t answer, but he doesn’t have to. The look on his face says it all.
“I need another drink for this,” Wren groans.
“Me too!” Willa says, standing and wobbling a bit.
“You should drink some water,” I say in a low voice, trying to keep it a gentle suggestion. “You don’t normally drink like this and?—”
Her nose scrunches up, and I realize I said the wrong thing once again.
“You don’t get to tell me what to do.” She takes a half step towards the bar, then looks to me, a mischievous look on her face and a glint in her eye, before she calls over her shoulder. “Hallie! We’re taking another shot!”
“Coming!” she calls, then skips towards the bar. As she moves around the table, Willa stumbles, though Madden thankfully catches her by the shoulder. She and Wren lock eyesand instantly burst into hysterical giggles before they finally reach the bar.
I watch in utter misery, completely out of my depth.
“Let her live her life,” Madden says. “Anything goes wrong, enough of us are here that we can get her out quick and easy before it gives you a headache.” I shake my head and speak without thinking.
“Willa doesn’t give me a headache,” I admit, because she doesn’t. “She never has.” Her manager might, and my boss might, but if I’m being honest, Willa doesn’t. She was right: she doesn’t ever get in trouble. She stays well within the bounds of what everyone expects of her, maintaining that America’s Sweetheart persona that she’s built over the years.
But without the spotlight, without the eyes, I’m learning that she’s brighter. Happier. Lighter.
In fact, right now, I’m the only person dragging her down.
“She just drives me crazy.”
It feels like I spend an eternity at the bar, watching Willa get more and more drunk, though my nerves are appeased when time and time again, it’s proven that everyone was right about this place: it’s safe, not just physically for Willa, but from the media. No one has approached her outside of our small group, and I haven’t seen a single phone lifted to take a sneaky photo or video. Whatever fear Colton puts in his customers, they have respected Willa’s privacy, and for that, I’m grateful.
“I gotta get her out of here before she gets too wild,” Jesse says, watching his fiancée, who has made good on her promise and caught up with Nat, Wren, and Willa. When I turn to him, I don’t see the irritation I might expect. Instead, there’s a pleasedsmile like he loves this about her, as if he knows who she is and accepts it because it’s something he loves.
I turn back to the girls and take them in, all four of them screaming a Spice Girls song at the top of their lungs.
I’ve never seen Willa this free.
“You’re supposed to take Willa home?” I ask. He nods, though for the slightest moment, disappointment flashes on his face. Considering every time Hallie’s been within touching distance, he’s had his hand on her and murmured until she blushes, I can assume why. “I’ll take her.”
“What?” he asks, turning to me.
“I’ll take her home.” Jesse’s face goes unsure, and despite the mild irritation of that, I can’t help but feel that now familiar gratitude move through me. It’s clear this crew has taken Willa in as one of their own, and that means they take care of her.
