“How do you spend your free time?” I whisper, standing so close the only thing that separates us are the two books in Eddie’s hands. “We are always wrapped up in me, and what I do. But what makes you happy, Eddie?”
“Willow, it’s not like that.” He shakes his head no, but he knows I’m right.
“But it is, even if you don’t mind it. You’re as much a person as me. What do you like to do?”
He takes a deep breath, his eyes straying away from mine. He ticks his head and shrugs a shoulder, as if there was an expansive list of things that makes him happy. “Hang out with you.”
I glare, waiting for him to give me a genuine answer. “Eddie.”
“I play video games. I hang out with my Pack, I work,” he says, a sad smile playing on his face. “That’s it.”
“What games do you play?”
“Shooter games, sport games. It’s fun, but”—he shrugs dejectedly—“It’s never enough for people asking.”
“It’s more than enough for me,” I say, already thinking of things we could do together. I could learn to play a game; shooters may even be fun. He already has the game station set up at my house. I just have to figure out which kind it is. “Have you heard of a game called Cooked and Booked?”
One of his eyebrows shoots up as he thinks about the question. “No, you play it?”
“No, but I saw an ad for it, and I thought it could be fun. It’s a cooking game. Let’s get it.”
His smile is soft now, and his eyes are glued to mine. I take his arm and lead him to the checkout line. “You know there’s this cute panda character in the game, and I call dibs on it.”
“You can have whatever you want, Willow.”
To thinkI was sleeping on video games my entire life is a crime all in itself. I figured out that Eddie has multiple game consoles, and the one game I wanted to play was, of course, on a different one. So, once we got home, we picked a game he called “easy,” but this game was honestly hard as a ceramic teapot. As much as I wanted to continue to try to get one win, the pre-ceremony family dinner is coming up, and we have to leave soon if we are going to make it on time.
As much as I want to “forget” the dinner and show up at the ceremony tomorrow all innocently, Eddie’s excited to meet my deranged family. There’s a twinkle in his eye, and maybe he doesn’t realize I left Kaler City because ofbothMilo’s parents and my parents. My parents were even more ruthless than the Barrows. Maybe that was because I sullied the family name by being left by my potential mate; even if it was by death, it was still an embarrassment. I guess it wasn’t really by death, though, was it?
That disappointment is always an undercurrent in every glance and conversation we have together. I’m the disappointment in my family, and now that my sister, Harper, is getting mated, that pressure has intensified.
“Oh shit, it’s already time to go. Are you ready, Willow?” Eddie asks as he turns off his game console. I sigh and lean back dramatically on my couch. I stare up at him as he starts to collect our bags and head towards the door. I should tell him the poop storm he is rushing into, but I also can’t help but hope maybe my family will be on their best behavior. Maybe they’ll even be happy that I’m moving on.
Big. Fat. Chance.
21
WILLOW
A half-hour later,Eddie parks the car in the driveway of my childhood home. The home that wrapped its arms around me and squeezed till I nearly suffocated. My hackles are up; my bear is already pacing inside me, and I hate feeling this way. I have an itch to protect myself. This is my family. These people are supposed to choose me, and I them, over anything, over everything, yet it isn’t, and probably will never be, the case. They choose reputation, and I choose myself.
“Eddie, don’t talk too much,” I say out of pure nervousness. I can hardly breathe as we sit in the car staring at the house. “Just smile and wave, nothing more, nothing less.”
“Willow, I’m not going to spend the whole weekend with my lips sealed,” he says with a laugh. Gosh, how I wish I could have even a sliver of his easygoing nature.Share some of that energy, you selfish, unsuspecting black bear.
“I might,” I mutter, looking away from the house and back at him. “Eddie, it might save your life.” And mine. It would definitely save mine.
“Let’s go. I’ve got to meet the people who raised such a wonderful, beautiful woman and forced her to fight this worldon her own,” Eddie says, popping out of the car and opening my car door. I’m sick with nerves. I think I might throw up. I could cry and puke all at the same time as Eddie and I walk up the perfectly maintained pathway to the front door.
Landing a knock on the door, I take a step back and wait. Eddie is by my side. His tall stature shadows mine, and I’m grateful for it. I stare up at Eddie, who stands tall and strong next to me. He’s smiling, as he always does. This would probably be the best part of tonight. It sure is the easiest. I hope he won’t lose that smile of his tonight. I think this all would hurt worse if he lost that twinkle of joy in his eye.
“Willow, baby, come in.” My mother answers the freshly painted white door. Her honey-slick voice coats Eddie’s first impression, I’m sure. He gives me a quick look with a raised brow.You wait, big guy. Just wait, Eddie Enchanted, you’ll see.A fake smile takes over my face as my mom dives forward for a hug. “I didn’t think you’d show.”
“I called yesterday to remind you I was coming,” I say shortly as the dramatics begin to unravel from her too-tight top bun.
“Yes, but who knew if our little runaway was going to show her darling face again?” Her voice is sweet to the ears but sharp to the heart.
“I was here last month and a couple of months before that,” I remind her as our little group ventures to the dining room table where everyone is already sitting.
