Under the Lights

She let that sink in before responding. It gave me a moment to accept the fact my secret was out there. No longer guarded under Lawton lock and key. I’d shared it. I had just made my future vulnerable.

And I couldn’t seem to give a fuck. I was relieved.

“Do you know who your father is?” she asked me. The curiosity in her gaze was almost funny. She liked the idea that I wasn’t a Lawton. But then she’d never liked my dad.

I shook my head. “No. They don’t know I know. I’ve never told anyone until now. Makes sense as to why they love Rhett more. He’s the true heir to this shit, and he isn’t a constant reminder that my mother had an affair and got caught.”

Willa scrunched her nose. “You were the more likable son. I never understood their fascination with Rhett. Still don’t. Even if he is a Lawton. They’ve not done much to make that a name to be proud of.”

I agreed with her. Willa had been brutally honest as a child, too. She said what she was thinking, and you never had to wonder otherwise. Although sometimes you wanted her to keep her thoughts to herself.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I was leaving last night. I got in an argument with Brady about something stupid, and then I didn’t want to go back into that crowd of people alone. I should have waited and told you though.”

With all the truth being shared in this tree house, I’d forgotten about why I’d come looking for her today. She hadn’t though. She knew why I was here.

“What did he do?” I asked, aggravated at the idea he had fought with her. Asshole. Even more reason he shouldn’t have let her run off.

She shrugged. “It’s silly really. We just disagreed about the way he treats Ivy. He told me to mind my own business, and he was right. I should have.”

The way she didn’t meet my eyes told me she wasn’t telling me everything. She could tell me that her best friend had killed herself, but she couldn’t tell me what my best friend had done to send her running. I wouldn’t push though. I’d just figure it out on my own. We’d done a fair share of opening up already.

“It’s okay,” I assured her. I wanted to warn her to stay away from Riley Young, but then she’d have questions about that. I didn’t feel like talking about Riley right now. I needed to be alone for some time and sort through my thoughts.

It Was Better than Good

CHAPTER 22

BRADY

I didn’t make it past the front of my truck before Willa opened the back door to her house. The cottage she lived in was small. Two bedrooms, one bathroom, a tiny kitchen area with a table in it, and a living room. When someone drove up out here, you heard it no matter what part of the house you lived in.

Willa loved her nonna’s though. Or at least she had as a child. I didn’t know her well enough now to know if that was still true. Maybe she had lived in a big house in Arkansas with privacy and missed that life.

“Nonna will be back soon. She won’t like you being here. I’m a bad influence, and you’re a good boy.”

Not far off from the greeting I had expected. I didn’t figure she was going to be happy about seeing me. Not after last night.

“I won’t stay long. If Ms. Ames returns, I’ll take the blame for being here and assure her you haven’t led me astray in any form.”

Willa had to have done something seriously wrong for Ms. Ames to worry about my safety around her beloved granddaughter. That was something to find out another day though. Not now with the kiss looking over our heads. I came here to apologize and hope we could move past it. I’d wanted to test things with Willa. And the test had been amazing. That kiss wasn’t something I was going to forget. She was more than a childhood memory. She was worth knowing now. I wanted that.

She crossed her arms over her chest and scowled. She didn’t want me here either. Talking about the kiss wasn’t on her list of things she was ready to deal with. Too bad. We were dealing with it before we both faced Gunner tomorrow. He’d texted earlier that he wanted to talk to me. I ignored it because I wasn’t sure what she might have told him today.

“You talk to Gunner today?” I asked her, cutting right to the point.

She nodded.

Shit.

“Did you tell him why you ran last night?” I couldn’t bring myself to mention the kiss.

She shook her head. “No.”

Whew. I had time to fix this before we had a fight that was pointless.

“I’m sorry . . . no, actually I’m not. I wanted to kiss you, and you kissed me back. It was good. It was better than good. It was fucking amazing.”

The entire ride over here I had gone over what I was going to say, and this had not once been an option. Where the hell had all my blatant honesty come from? Seeing her face-to-face made me want to force her to admit she felt something too. Because I knew she did. That wasn’t just all me.

Her cheeks turned a bright pink, and I wanted to grin, feeling a little smug that those words made her blush. But I controlled myself and waited on her to say something. Anything would be nice about right now.

With a deep sigh, she closed her eyes briefly, then shook her head. I’d forgotten how dramatic Willa could be. “We shouldn’t be kissing. Maybe we were curious because of our past. I know I was, but you have a girl that you don’t call your girlfriend, but she is something to you. I have a lot to prove and a lot to work through. I can’t go around kissing guys.”

“I wasn’t suggesting you go around kissing guys last night. Just me.” And the honesty just kept pouring out of my mouth like a volcano erupting. Damn it to hell. I had to shut up.