Page 44 of Crossed Lines

“Do you want to stay? We could watch a movie or something,” I ask.

She smiles but shakes her head. “I should go. I’m pretty tired.”

“Are you sure?” I sound desperate, because maybe I am a little desperate to spend more time with her.

“Yeah, but thank you for dinner. I had fun,” she says.

“Good. I’m glad.” I open my arms for a hug, and to my delight, she walks right in, wrapping her arms around me. I keep her pressed against me longer than I probably should, but it feels so right having her close to me.

She finally pulls away, forcing me to let her go. We stand there, face to face, eye to eye, neither of us knowing what to do. All my brain can think is:

Kiss her.

Kiss her.

Kiss her.

I lean toward her.

“Willow—”

She shakes her head. “Don’t, Beck. We’re friends, remember?”

“Yeah, but⁠—”

“This is what you wanted. Please don’t make this any harder on me,” she says.

She’s right. Of course she is. “I know. I’m sorry.”

“I’m gonna go. I’ll see you in the morning?”

“I’ll be here,” I say like an idiot, because where the hell else would I be?

She nods and turns, grabbing her bag and walking out the door. Not for the first time, I stand by the door and watch her leave, contemplating all my life choices. But tonight a new question pops up: Just how mad would Sawyer truly be? Surely he would want his best friend and his sister to be happy, right? And he knows I would never do anything to hurt Willow.

As I shut my front door, the spark of possibility glimmers in my brain, and I know it’s dangerous. Very, very dangerous.

CHAPTER 17

Willow

“Get your ass back to bed,” Sawyer says louder than he needs to. My stomach has been in knots all night, even after several trips to the toilet to throw up everything I ate yesterday. I hardly slept, so I have a terrible headache this morning.

“I have to watch Jade,” I mumble, reminding him of my job.

“Wills, you have fucking food poisoning. I’m sure Beck and Jade would rather you rest and get better than throwing up all over their house.”

Sawyer and I went out to eat yesterday to try a new restaurant in the next town over, and something did not sit right with me, unfortunately.

“Beck has to work today, though.”

“Beck is a big boy. He can find someone else to watch Jade, or he can take the day off. He’ll be fine. I’ll call him now, but you need to go back to bed.” He grabs the acetaminophen and a glass of water off the counter and hands them to me.

Knowing I’m not going to win this argument when Sawyer is in big brother mode, I take the medicine and go back to my room. I swallow two pills and change back into my sleep shirt before climbing into bed.

I can hear Sawyer talking with someone. I assume it’s Beck. I feel terrible leaving him hanging today, but Sawyer is right. I’m no use to anyone with the way I feel.

I pull my blanket up to my chin and drift back to sleep.