“What’s that?” Wes asks sleepily.
“I was accepted to UC Irvine.” The giddiness in my tone apparent. “I’m still waiting to hear from a few other universities, but Lou and Liv own a house in Costa Mesa, and they’ll be spending the second half of the year in Central America with Liv’s family, so they offered to let me stay there while they’re gone. I can’t imagine how I’d choose any other school.”
“Willow that’s—” He begins to turn over, but I grip his shoulder.
“Don’t fuck up my paint!”
He pauses, craning his neck toward me. “I’m trying to look you in the eye when I tell you how incredible I find you, dammit!” he mock-growls, before bursting into a chuckle. “Willow, that is amazing. I’m so happy for you.”
Pride ricochets off the walls of my chest. “Thank you.”
“I plan on heading back to Santa Monica after the summer, so I won’t be horribly far from you.” His body shakes with laughter, nearly causing me to smear the mosaic wave that’s forming over his spine. “I’ll finally be convinced to get my truck tuned up enough to make the drive back and forth.”
“First of all, didn’t you drive here?” I muse. “Second, why would you go back to Santa Monica? You’re not going to keep working with my dad?”
“Dunno,” he says, the sound muffled into the blanket. “The agreement was only for the summer, but I imagine as I compete more, I’ll need to be out on the real breaks. The cove is less ideal for competitive strategy.”
I hum in contemplation, but Wes goes on, “Liv said she has some connections closer to L.A. that she’s going to introduce to me to. And,” he continues, “I did drive here, but there is no promise my truck is going to start up again when we leave, so I may be hitching a ride home.”
“Okay,” I drawl. “But I control the music.”
“Of course, Wills. Whatever you want. It’s your night, baby.”
I want to be yours. Irrevocably.
“You know, nobody has ever done this for me before. Gone to such lengths to... What was the purpose of all this?” I wave my brush around, referencing the candlelit room, homemade meal, and idealistic art-date setup, though Weston can’t see the motion.
“To make you smile.”
Iaudiblyswoon. “Nobody has ever gone to such lengths to make me smile.”
Weston turns over this time, lifting himself and rolling beneath me, bracing on his forearms before his skin can touch the ground—so I don’t disturb the paint. I rock backward with the movement of his hips, nearly tumbling off him before I curl an arm around his neck, drawing us together.
“I’m sorry you’ve never been seen the way you deserve, Willow. I wish I had an explanation for it, but honestly, I’m completely dumbfounded. All I can drum up is that most men are fucking stupid, perhaps myself included...” He cups my jaw, raw fervor in his eyes. “But I won’t be stupid about you. I see you, and I’ll never let you forget that.”
A twinge of guilt pinches my nerves when I remember the secret I’m keeping from him. Weston deserves to know about thedecision I made earlier this summer, and eventually, the further and deeper we fall, I’m going to have to tell him. It’s an effort to remind myself that I have the freedom to navigate this on my own timeline, that Weston promised he’d give me the space to heal, to re-open my wounds and share my past at the pace I need.
I remind myself that I promised him the same, that he’s still keeping things from me too.
That’s why we’re moving slowly. We’re creating a foundation, bearing our souls little-by-little, until nothing is left unsaid and untouched, and we’ll be stronger for it.
“Maybe the boys before were stupid, and there will always be things I wish never happened,” I whisper, hand grazing his jaw, thumb dancing over his bottom lip. “But I’m grateful that it brought me you.”
“It’s like you stole the thought directly from my head.”
His smile spreads beneath my skin, and he lifts his chin, forcing my hand to drop as he surges forward to replace my touch with my lips.
CHAPTER 26
WESTON
“Weston.” Her voice floats through my subconscious like a siren song—ethereal and unearthly in a way that reminds me I’m surely dreaming. “Weston,” she continues, her soft laugh like liquid warmth, curling around me in a gentle embrace. “Wake up, Wes.”
I’m snapped into consciousness when there is a light pressure on my shoulder, and I groan as I slowly force my eyes open.
My blurred vision clears as I blink, and in the near-darkness, I make out Willow’s silhouette above me. Golden hair frames her face like a halo as she peers down at me from where she straddles my waist.
I am absolutely still dreaming.
