Seventeen
Will had a few serious relationships under his belt. He’d known love, heartbreak, disappointment. He’d even thought he’d found the one when years ago, on break from college, his mom had set him up with the daughter of a friend. When it turned out the family was having severe money problems, Will found the security of his bank account had been more appealing than he was.
Still. None of what came before had prepared him for being with Lexi. For how much he wanted to be with her while at the same time worrying that all of this was too much on her. On her mother. Lexi stared out the passenger-side window, quiet and incredibly still.
He reached over, loving the feel of her fingers automatically curling around his when he touched her hand. “Are you okay?”
Stopped at a light, he looked over at the same time she turned to face him.
“I am. It feels strange. All of this. Honestly, since the second I sat down with you, I’ve felt like I’m in some sort of play or television show. I can’t tell if it’s a comedy, drama, or farce.”
“Life is all of those, right?”
She smiled at him before he turned back to face the windshield. Traffic was slow on a Saturday morning but he liked having her to himself right now.
“Maybe it’s too complicated,” she said quietly, tracing her finger up and down the back of his hand.
“Probably. I was just thinking that myself. I don’t want to hurt your mom. Or my mom. It got tangled pretty quickly, but I don’t want to stop seeing you.”
She was quiet so long his gut cramped.
“I don’t want to stop seeing you either.” She said it so softly that he wondered if she was just admitting it to herself and he was lucky enough to overhear.
“It might be an accident but outside of the mama drama, it’s been a happy one.”
Lexi laughed, the sound filling him with unexpected lightness. “Mama drama? You could have shirts made.”
“There’s that marketing brain. I wish it’d happened in an easier way where the lie wasn’t wrapped around the truth. But let me just say, pretending to be your boyfriend, fiancé, significant other, doesn’t matter. If it means I get to spend time with you, I’ll take it. But I understand if you’re worried about your mom. About the fallout from all this at some point.” It surprised him how very much he didn’t want to think about that. About the idea of them ending. “If you want, I can and will tell my parents the truth, and then we can print a retraction.”
“Your family would be okay with that?”
He shook his head. Not her problem. “I’m starting to realize that I can’t live my life making sure my family is happy at the expense of my own feelings.”
He’d sat down with his family, minus Kyra, who’d been at school, yesterday to go over their options in terms of moving forward with Home Needs. Will had stayed in touch with Holden Wright and even talked to Kyra about seeing some of her long-term ideas about being earth-friendly coming to fruition through this possible partnership. But his father hadn’t been in any mood to hear about what Will had to say. He was as caught up in opening more stores as his grandfather had been.
“That sounds like it’s bigger than just what’s happening between you and me.”
He liked having someone to talk to. No. You like talking to her.
“It is. I don’t want to go through with the merger with Home Needs. My grandfather and father think opening more stores is a must and I’m not sure I agree. My mom is so worried about our image and being on the list for every social engagement, I don’t think she cares which direction we go as long as she gets invites. I tried to bring up Comfort Plus but my father wasn’t in a headspace to hear it.”
“For what it’s worth,” Lexi said, reaching out for his hand, “I got a really good feeling from the Wrights. They’re a wonderful couple and their business model, as well as their values, seems to be more in keeping with your family’s.”
He parked in the back of the Side Tap lot, cut the ignition, and released his seat belt. Putting a hand to her cheek, he pulled her closer. “Your opinion is worth a lot to me. And I agree. Look, I know what we have has been brief and unconventional, but I care about you and I’ll do whatever you want. Tell the paper myself, say no comment to anyone who asks. I just want to see where this goes.” He pressed a light kiss to her lips, pulled back. “What do you want, Lexi?”
She took a deep breath, and he felt the soft, sweet warmth of it when she exhaled. “Right this second? You. I want today with you.”