Page 74 of Crossed Lines

“Give me one good reason,” he demands.

“Because I think I’m in love,” I say, louder than I intended. I didn’t mean to say it at all, but he kept pushing and pushing. Now I’m going to have to explain myself, which is exactly what I was trying to avoid.

“What? Why haven’t you mentioned that?” he asks. And it’s a logical question. Why wouldn’t I mention to my best friend that I was falling in love? Except for the fact that he’s going to be pissed when he finds out who it is I’ve fallen in love with.

“I wasn’t ready to tell anyone, I guess.”

He smiles like he understands, but really, he has no idea. “That’s awesome, man. I’m happy for you. Who’s the lucky lady?”

I swallow down the lump sitting in my throat as I try to think of a way out of this. “I’m not ready to say.”

“Oh, come on. I’m your best friend.”

“Yeah, but…”

“I’m not letting you leave this bar until you tell me.” He’s smiling, thinking this is going to be happy information, but I don’t think he’s going to be happy at all once I admit it.

I take a swig of my beer and curse that it’s almost empty. I could use a little more liquid courage for this conversation.

“It’s Willow. I’m in love with Willow,” I blurt.

The music doesn’t stop, but it feels like we’re transported into a tunnel. My ears go silent as I watch his face drop when he realizes what I just said.

“Willow… as in my sister Willow?” he asks finally.

I nod because nothing I can say will fix this. I can already tell by the look on his face that this is not going to end well for me. But my thoughts immediately go to Willow. We haven’t talked about this at all. We don’t know if whatever we are will continue once she’s back. Of course we hadn’t discussed talking to Sawyer because there is technically nothing to discuss right now.

“You what?” he asks. He narrows his eyes at me.

“Sawyer, I—” He doesn’t let me finish.

“Let me get this straight. My best friend is telling me he’s in love with my twenty-two-year-old sister? Is that what you’re saying right now?”

I sigh. “Yes, that’s what I’m saying.”

He stands suddenly and pushes away from the table. “Are you kidding me? I trusted you with her!”

Several people glance in our direction. I stand and calmly suggest, “Maybe we should take this conversation outside.”

“Yeah, let’s fucking take this outside.”

He stomps toward the door, and I follow after him. I feel all the eyes on us, but I try to ignore them. They’re not what matters right now. We’re barely out the front door when he turns on me.

“Explain yourself,” he demands.

Shit. I don’t even know where to start. “I don’t really know what to say, man. We spent a lot of time together this summer.”

“Yeah, you did. I thought it was strange that she spent so much time at your house when you weren’t working, but I also thought you thought of her as your little sister. But I guess I was fucking wrong.”

“I used to. She was like a sister to me. But I haven’t seen her in years, and when she came back this summer, she was different, Sawyer. She’s an adult. And I know it’s weird. Trust me, I had a hard time coming to terms with my feelings for her, but I can’t ignore them.”

“No, it’s more than weird, Beck. It’s fucking wrong. She’s a child⁠—”

“She’s not a child,” I say quickly. “I know she’s your little sister, but she’s an adult.”

“It doesn’t fucking matter!”

I can tell he’s frustrated, so I say the only thing I can think to say to attempt to calm him down. “Sawyer, I have feelings for Willow, and I’m pretty sure she has feelings for me too, but it’s important to note that she’s not here. We’re not together or anything. She’s in Italy having the time of her life, which is exactly where she needs to be.”