“What the—” Claire looked at me and gave me a fake smile. “Alex, gesh, I thought you were someone else.”
“Who, Claire? Another girl whose boyfriend you’ve either slept with or hit on tonight?”
Her mouth dropped open. “Excuse me?”
I took a few steps closer to her and began poking my index finger in her chest. “Listen to me, and listen good. Will. Is. Mine. You so much as look his way again, and I’ll beat your ass from here to China. Luke is taken, too. So, bitch, just back the fuck off.”
Claire swallowed hard and looked at Luke. I peeked over to him, and he smiled and nodded.
“Um…sorry, Alex. I was just asking Will to dance, that’s all.”
“Why don’t you focus on the guys who don’t have girlfriends?”
She pushed my hand away. “I’m leaving. I don’t need this shit.”
I picked up my hand and waved my fingers good-bye in her face. “See ya.”
She pushed past me and headed out of the barn to leave.
“Damn, little cousin. Where in the hell did that come from?” Luke grabbed me and pulled me in for a hug.
“I guess I got tired of hiding inside my own body.”
Luke looked at me and grinned. “Welcome back, Alex.”
“It feels good to be back. Hey, Luke?”
“Yeah?”
“Did Will tell you that Libby left Zack?”
Luke’s smile vanished. “Um…yeah, he did.”
“Stop hiding inside yourself, Luke. She’s not going to wait forever.”
He looked up and across the barn to Libby. “I know.”
I turned and made my way back over to Grace and Libby. Grace was laughing, and Libby was smiling.
Libby looked over at me and laughed. “What in the world did you say to Claire? She stormed out of here.”
“I told her to stay away from Will and Luke.”
Grace shook her head. “That’s it?”
“I might have hinted at her being a whore in a roundabout way.”
Libby and Grace both started laughing. Grace handed me a bottle of water.
I looked around for Will. “Where did Will go?”
“He said he had to go take care of something,” Libby said with a sly smile.
The moment he walked up behind me, I felt him. I turned to see Will standing there with the most gorgeous smile on his face. My heart skipped a beat.
I never want to live my life without Will in it.
Before the next song, the DJ got everyone’s attention. I pulled my eyes off of Will and looked over to the DJ.
“Hey, y’all. This next song goes out to one very special girl. Lex, this song is dedicated to you from Will.”
I looked back at Will and tilted my head as I raised my eyebrow. The moment I heard those familiar notes play, I started laughing. Will reached for my hand and led me to the dance floor. He pulled me into his arms, and we instantly became one. He moved me across the makeshift dance floor, and I felt like I was floating on air.
“Gramps?” I asked.
Will through his head back and laughed. He looked back at me. “I’m learning from the best.”
“Damn straight you are!” I said with a laugh.
Will and I danced to Nat King Cole’s “Send for Me.”
“You know, this is the song my dad plays for my mother after he has messed up,” I said.
Will pulled me closer. “Oh, I know. My dad plays the same song, and my mother melts. Is it working?”
I giggled. “Am I melting? Or is it working?”
“Both!”
“You don’t have anything to apologize for. I do. I didn’t mean to push you away, Will. I love you, and I just wasn’t ready to talk yet.”
Will spun me around, and everyone started to shout out our names as we continued to dance it up on the dance floor.
The song ended, and One Direction’s “You & I” began playing.
Will smiled. “Something hit me so hard these last few days. It was the same feeling that I had last fall when we were apart.”
“What was it?” I asked.
Will shook his head slightly. “I never, for the rest of my life, Lex, want to be without you.”
The tears began building in my eyes. I bit down on my lower lip in an attempt to hold my emotions back. A small sob escaped my lips as I whispered, “That’s not even an option.”
Gently placing his hands on the sides of my face, Will wiped my tears away with his thumbs. “I love you, Alexandra Eryn Mathews. I love you so much.”
