15. Will
WILL
“Are you seriously telling me you’ve never even run your fingers through it?” Theo sounded genuinely appalled. “It’s the nicest hair in the world.”
“I’m aware.” I shifted in the stirrups, letting my backside breathe. Applejack had to be the widest horse on the planet. How had I let James talk me into this? Oh, right—the beard, the eyes, the cocky swagger.
Still, it wasn’t that bad. I’d expected to hate horseback riding, but it was much easier to stay on as an adult, and the forest was stunning, all dappled sunlight and birds chirping.
“Ryan’s not only the hottest guy ever. He’s also really talented. He’s a way better actor than anyone gives him credit for. It’s not his fault the writing in Blood Brothers is so basic.”
“I’ll take your word for it.”
“Wait, you’ve never seen Blood Brothers?” Theo’s jaw dropped. “You better clear your schedule tonight. We’re binging the first season.”
“I can’t. I’m having dinner with my father.”
“After, then.”
I had plans after, too. Well, hopes, really. Derek was staying at the same inn as my dad, and I was hoping we’d run into each other.
“Do you have a boyfriend or, like, a friend with benefits?” Theo asked out of nowhere.
Jesus. Maybe I should’ve volunteered to take Atticus to the hospital instead of James. That morning, just as we’d been about to leave, Atticus had a seizure, and James had to rush him to the vet. I wasn’t too worried, though. That dog was indestructible.
“No,” I said, trying not to sound bitter.
“Why not?”
“Why do you think?”
“Come on, you’re, like, super fit. You could have any guy you want. What’s your type? Do you like ’em older or younger? Twinks or daddies?”
“I’m not having this conversation with you.”
We reached a fork in the trail. One way followed a narrow, gurgling stream, and the other climbed a steep bank that looked like a landslide waiting to happen. Our guide, naturally, chose the landslide route.
“What’s up the other way?” I asked.
“It’s a loop,” Beth said. “It’s easier on the horses if we go up the steep way and down the switchback.”
“Can’t we just go up and down the switchback?” I didn’t want Applejack to break a leg. Plus, we’d never catch Derek at this rate. Our only hope was to intercept him on his way back down. Jesus, I really was a stalker.
“Sure.” Beth changed course, and I immediately regretted speaking up. I wasn’t ready to see Derek again.
Theo pulled up alongside me on his shiny chestnut thoroughbred. “What about my dad? Do you find him attractive?”
I’d always found Mom’s boyfriends attractive, which wasn’t entirely my fault. Growing up around shirtless models and rugged handymen had warped me. Now, instead of brains and kindness, I got off on armpits, tattoos, and scratchy facial hair.
“I already told you. I’m not having this conversation.”
Theo pushed his glasses up his nose. “Why, are you, like, a virgin or something?”
“I’m not answering that.” I was a mandated reporter.
Beth stopped at a break in the trees. “There’s a beautiful view here if you want to take some pictures.”
It really was beautiful, so beautiful I momentarily forgot about Derek. With the sun glinting off its surface, the lake looked like a sheet of silver, and the green landscape around it was cartoonishly quaint, like one of those elaborate train sets.
“That must be where they’re filming the movie,” Theo said.
I followed the line of his outstretched hand to a small farmhouse with two barns—an old, dilapidated red one and a large, modern one with corrugated metal siding.
Film trailers lined the twisting drive like a long white train, and in a hollow just below the house, a majestic weeping willow spread its umbrella over a small pond.
“Will, is that you?”
I flinched at the familiar rumble of Derek’s deep voice, and Applejack whinnied beneath me in response.
Schooling my expression, I brought her around to face the approaching hoofbeats, and there he was, a modern-day Marlboro Man, astride his shiny black stallion.
“Listen, Will, I want to apologize for Sharron. I was going to say something at the party but . . . well, you know.”
“It’s fine.”
Another rider pulled up beside Derek, and I almost didn’t recognize him without his glorious blond mane.
“Hey, Will. I didn’t know you made it up. You should’ve called me,” Ryan said, looking every bit the Abercrombie model. Next to me, Beth and Theo gaped like zombies staring at brains.
Theo recovered quickly, though. “You cut your hair.”
Ryan ran his hand over his stubbled scalp. “It’ll grow back.”
Even without hair, he was gorgeous. If anything, it just made his supernaturally blue eyes pop more.
“This must be the boyfriend Tony was telling me about,” Derek said, eyeing Theo up and down. “He’s . . . tall.”
“He’s your boyfriend?” Ryan asked, understandably appalled.
I wanted to disappear. “No, of course not. Theo’s only eighteen.”
Ryan laughed, flashing his unnaturally pointy incisors.
“You’ll have to forgive Ryan,” Derek said. “Your father’s on a mission to get you two together before the wedding. I tried to tell him you already have a boyfriend, but he didn’t believe me.”
“He does,” Theo said. “And they’re very serious.”
My throat went dry.
“He’s dating my dad, and they have sex multiple times a day, every day. It’s disgusting.”
What is wrong with this kid? “Theo doesn’t know what he’s talking about. We’re not—”
Derek held up a hand. “It’s none of our business.”
Theo, oblivious, kept talking. “Do you guys wanna come over for dinner this weekend? Our house is huge, and there’s a pool and a boat.
” What the literal fuck? “We could all go water skiing or tubing. You have less control on the tube, but that’s what makes it fun.
You just gotta hold on and hope for the best.”
“Words to live by,” Derek said, never taking his eyes off me.
I wanted to crawl under a rock and die. But coming clean and admitting I hadn’t had sex in over two years, let alone multiple times a day, every day, was more embarrassing than Derek thinking I was some kind of daddy-chasing sex addict.
“How about Friday? I can make spanakopita and other vegetarian stuff for Ryan, and you can catch up with Will. I mean, it’s been years, right?”
Derek blushed. “Uh . . . I don’t know if Donna would want us bugging her at home.”
“She won’t mind. She misses a full house.” Theo beamed. “I can make apple pie, too. It’s Ryan’s favorite. Come on, don’t make me spend another Friday night alone listening to Dad and Will go to pound town.”
Jesus.
“I’ll run the idea by Donna and see what she thinks,” Derek said, amused by my obvious mortification.
“Okay, but trust me, she won’t care. And what else are you gonna do? This place is boring as fuck. But don’t bring your girlfriend. That was seriously uncool, what she did to Will.”
Derek looked taken aback, and even Ryan did a double take.
“She’s back in L.A. now,” Derek said, sounding almost ashamed.
“Good. We’ll have a boys’ night, then. Do you like mojitos? There’s tons of fresh mint in the herb garden, and I make the best mojitos.”
By the time they rode off, I couldn’t tell up from down. This was a disaster.
“What the hell, Theo?” I asked the moment we were alone in the car.
“I know, I’m a fucking genius, right? Now you can ask Derek what really happened, and he can’t accuse you of stalking him because you have a boyfriend. Plus, he’s coming to your house. So it’s more like he’s stalking you.”
“But I don’t have a boyfriend.”
“He doesn’t know that. And he already thinks you do, so what’s the big deal? My dad’s not gonna care.”
“I care.”
“Why? You don’t think my dad’s hot enough for you? I know he’s starting to get a bit of a dad bod, but I never took you for a fatphobe.”
“I’m not. And your dad is plenty hot, but—”
“Great! Then what’s the problem?”
I had taught long enough to know there was no getting through to some kids. Usually, though, they were too angry to reason with, not too happy.
“I can’t believe Ryan is coming over to our house, and I’m gonna get to feed him,” Theo said. “This is literally the best day of my life.”
Maybe my mother would say no. Maybe Derek would invent an excuse not to come. Maybe the monster that lived in the lake would swallow me whole, and this would all be a moot point.