Archer merely blinks. “Message received.”
Allie pats his head. “Good boy.”
She throws herself into the sand between Archer’s legs, leaning back against his chest before whining at Willow to sit down beside her. I take a place next to Zander on Willow’s other side.
“Is she okay?” he asks.
“Yeah,” I say, clasping my hands between my legs. “She’ll be all right, I think. Is Allie okay?”
“Yeah. Her boyfriend is a fucking asshole. I don’t know what he said, but he upset her pretty badly. Her parents tried to convince her to go home with them, but she wanted to stay with Archer.” Zander nods to his twin. “He’ll take care of her, though. He always does.”
I nod, gaze snagging on Willow as she stands, pulling another drink from the cooler, and takes a swig before she stumbles around the fire. My eyes follow her as she approaches her ex, Cam—or whatever the fuck his name is. Some conversation I can’t hear passes between them, and he stands up.
I shuffle my feet uncomfortably, some kind of sticky, nauseating, red-hot sensation rattling my bones.
“Don’t worry about Cam, by the way.” Zander nudges me when he notices I’m staring. “I don’t doubt he cared for Willow, but the only person he’s ever beenin lovewith is her dad. He always hoped Leo would invite him into the training program, but Cam never had the skill. I think he thought dating Willow would secure him a place, and he’s still chasing that hope.” He shrugs. “She never loved him either, though.”
After a moment, they embrace, and a surge of panic shoots through me, that nausea rising up my throat. Willow doesn’t appear afraid, she’s not rigid as she was earlier. When she pulls back, she’s smiling. It’s not the shimmering ray of sunlight I’ve seen on her face when she’s genuinely happy. It’s polite and guarded, the kind of smile she’d offer a customer at work or a stranger on the street.
Cam motions to the ground beside him, I assume offering to let her sit with him and his friends. Willow shakes her head, and he nods, taking a step back. She waves before turning and walking back in my direction, swaying with every step. I expect her to return to Allie, but she doesn’t, she comes to me instead.
My chest expands with something warm—soft and gooey and filling—as she sits beside me, throwing her legs over one of my thighs and tucking her feet beneath my other leg’s knee. She loops her arm through mine, resting her head on my shoulder. “Can I touch you like this?”
“Yeah, Wills. You can touch me.”
Pleasetouch me, in fact. I’ve never wanted another’s touch quite so much. That all-consuming hunger envelops me again. An unrelenting need. A fire that only burns when she’s near.
“Can you touch me too?”
I answer by grabbing her outer knee with my free hand, tugging her closer, and resting my head atop hers. I draw circles over her lower thigh with my thumb. A long exhale leaves her lips, warming my jaw, sending a chill down my spine.
Her breathing grows heavier, mixing with the buzz of soft conversation floating in the air around us. When I lift my eyes, I catch Cam’s across the fire, narrowed and blazing. A sick satisfaction rushes through me, and I can’t fight the smile I send his way.
Time passes, and the crowd around the fire begins to diminish until only a few unfamiliar faces remain when Allie groans, “I want to go to sleep.”
“C’mon. I’ll put you to bed,” Archer says. But when he helps her up and leads her toward one of the tents, she pulls back.
“No. With you.”
“Allie—”
She breaks into tears.
“How drunkisshe?” I mutter to Zander under my breath.
“She’s wasted.” He laughs, rubbing his jaw.
I lift my head, glancing down at Willow, fast asleep on my shoulder. That warmth in my chest blazes brighter at her peaceful face.
Archer turns toward us, eyes wide with a helpless expression.
“Just let her sleep in your tent, Arch. It’s not going to change anything with that asshole at this point, anyway.”
He lets out a long sigh, nodding in agreement before he walks Allie to one of the tents set up on the other side of the fire.
“Wills?” I gently nudge her. “You want to go to bed?”
“Mm-hmm,” she groans, but doesn’t wake.
