Chapter 5
Falcon
I shouldn't have come to town. Thorne thinks he knows best but being around all these people is making me feel antsy. And Ridge says Thorne’s thinking is off because he is in love. I feel like everybody is looking at me. Talking about me. I’ve never liked being the centre of attention.
The only thing that.made me agree was the hope I might see Willow. That girl has been haunting my thoughts and dreams.
I shouldn't have said those things to her. Not that it wasn’t true.
I would like to get my hands on Willow’s curves.
But it was meant to scare her. To remind her that we are so different.
But it backfired on me. Because as soon as I got close to her I knew I was in trouble.
Her perfume was sweet and intoxicating. Like a meadow of flowers and freshly cut fruit.
She smells of summer, and hope. Watching her eyes go wide.
The way she squared off with me. The little O of her mouth when her jaw dropped with surprise.
God she is beautiful. And was that attraction I saw in her eyes? Just for a moment did she sway towards me when we were so close to each other? Just the thought that Willow might be even a little bit attracted to me has me feeling hot all over.
I look around and see a couple of kids leaning on the fence.
I'd insisted we bring a little wooden shelter for the mumma goat and her babies.
I don't like them being on display like this.
The whole town looking at them and pointing at them.
But because there is only one side of the pen where the goats can be seen, kids are pushing up against it.
“Don't lean on the fence, kids.” I try and keep my voice light but the two boys look up at me with fear and turn and run. An older woman tuts loudly. “Are you qualified to be looking after animals?”
“How about you mind your own business, Mrs. Groves.”
I turn at the sound of a girl's voice and there is Willow, looking magnificent as she walks up beside me. The woman narrows her gaze on the both of us before turning away.
“Thank you.” I say to Willow. Feeling suddenly awkward after she has been on my mind so much and now she is here in real life.
“It’s no problem. I'm going to stand here with you so people stop staring at you.”
She crosses her arms and stares off with a few people who pass us by.
It feels strange to have her on my side, all protective, just like she was about the chicken.
“People will think it's weird that you're here with me.”
She shrugs. “I don't care what people think.”
To my surprise and delight, Willow stays with me for the rest of the day.
We talk about the animals, the town and general things.
Even surrounded by the crowds, I find I can relax with Willow.
And when she brings up high school, I feel compelled to admit to her that I had quite the crush on her back then.
“What? You wouldn’t have noticed me. I saw the girls you went out with. I wasn’t pretty enough. Or wild enough.”
“I think you’re pretty. I thought it back in high school and I think it now. And I’m betting you could be wild if you wanted to be.”
Looking into each other’s eyes, at that moment the rest of the world could have exploded and I wouldn’t have noticed.
It is like Willow and I are in our own little bubble.
A bubble filled with electricity between us.
The moment is spoiled by a baby goat headbutting me at the knees.
But from then on we often glance at each other and smile.
An understanding of mutual attraction. An excitement about things to come.
Towards the end of the day, all I can think about is getting out of there with Willow. A word with Thorne and he agrees to take care of the goats.
When I suggest to Willow we go for a ride on my bike she grins.
“You have your bike here in town?”
I shrug. “Thorne brought the goats down on his donkey trailer. I figured if I had to be in town all day I at least needed my bike in case I needed a quick escape.” And then I add. “Always the bad boy.”
She gives me a knowing smile. “You don’t have to be the bad boy anymore. None of us have to be what we were in school.”
I help her strap into her helmet, wondering if she ever got tired of being known as the good girl. And what I wouldn’t give to help her be bad.