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It was a bit overwhelming how quickly things had changed. In that one split second, when she had decided to kiss him, Willow had known in the back of her mind that she was taking her future into her hands.
And I’m so glad I did.
“Good morning.” A gentle hand squeezed her shoulder, and as Willow turned, Asher walked straight past her. “Hope I’m not interrupting anything.”
“No, not at all. It was great to see you last night, Asher.” Meredith shot Willow a glance, then smiled back in Asher’s direction. “Coffee?”
“No, thank you. I better get back home.” Tugging at his t-shirt, he wrinkled his nose. “I’ll be honest, I think I stink pretty bad.”
“Are you working today?” Asher nodded in answer to Meredith’s question.
“Got a busy day. I probably won’t see you around much today, Willow.”
Willow swallowed hard. There was a strange awkwardness between them, and the tension was practically suffocating her. Asher wasn’t even looking at her. Instead, his eyes were just above her right shoulder.
Does he think last night was a mistake?Doubts began to creep into her mind.Is he really that busy, or is he avoiding me?
Meredith’s gaze jumped from Willow to Asher and back again, perhaps aware of the change in atmosphere. “Is something going on?” Her eyes narrowed slightly, and she turned her full attention to Willow.
“Willow?”
“No, nothing happened last night.” A strained, strangled laugh broke from Asher’s lips as Willow’s face burned hot. “You know we’ve only ever been good friends, Meredith.”
Willow dropped her head. She couldn’t even get her thoughts straight, her mind whirling so furiously that an ache began to form right between her eyebrows.
“Well, I’d better be going.” Asher’s voice was light, his tone easy, and Willow’s stomach twisted painfully.
He was just going to head out the door and ignore everything that happened between them last night?
“Thanks for the offer of coffee and for inviting me to the party. I had a lot of fun.” As he walked toward her, Willow thought, for a split second, that he might lean toward her and kiss her again. But then he gave her a small, flickering smile and a thumbs up before heading out the door.
Willow’s heart shattered.
“Willow? Is everything okay?”
Sucking in a breath, the air gone from her lungs, Willow turned away. “I’m fine, Mom. I’m just tired. I should probably go lie down.”
“Honey, you really don’t look well.” Coming over to her, her dad put one hand on her arm. “Are you sure you’re okay? What do you need? What can I get you?”
You can get me back to five minutes ago when I was actually happy.
“I’m okay, really.”There is no way I’m going to tell them what happened last night, not now.“Like I said, I’m just tired. I might go lie down again.” She didn’t even look at Skippy, who was busy chewing on something in the corner of the kitchen. Normally, her parents’ pet raccoon made her smile no matter what was going on, but Willow wasn’t in the mood for smiling right now.
I can’t believe he gave me a thumbs up. He just seemed so distant, like he wanted to put space between us.
“But you haven’t had anything to eat,” her mom protested as Willow headed for the door. “I need to fix you something!”
“I’ll come back for it.” Her voice was breaking, and tears began to drip from her corners of her lashes. “Just give me an hour, and I’ll get something to eat then.”
Ignoring the rest of Meredith’s protests, Willow shut the kitchen door behind her and practically ran for the bedroom. In one single moment, her whole world had seemed to collapse around her.
* * *
“Mom?”
Meredith looked up quickly from what she was doing. “Hi, honey.” Her voice was filled with sympathy. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“That rest did me good. Like I said—”
