Wanting

Chapter 17

G olden morning light filled my room. I stirred sleepily, Will’s warmth pressing against me.

Rising on one elbow, I took him in. His tumbled brown hair on my pillow, his face relaxed in sleep, one arm flung over my waist.

I was about to snuggle against him and go back to sleep when a buzz came from my nightstand.

Who was calling so early on a Sunday morning? Reluctantly, I picked up my phone. My aunt’s name showed on the screen.

My stomach clenched. Better to deal with Aunt Rose now than later.

“Hello?” I said quietly.

“Andrea, this is Richard.”

My blood chilled in my veins. I glanced at Will, sleeping peacefully beside me.

“What do you want?” I tried to keep my voice from trembling.

“Well, that’s an interesting question,” he said amiably, like he’d called up for a pleasant uncle-niece chat. “We’ll start with this. You have twenty-four hours to return my son to his family. Do it by then and you’ll keep your job.”

To my amazement, I laughed. It was all too much. The exhaustion of the past day, the carousel of emotions.

“Are you kidding?” I spluttered. “I didn’t kidnap Will. I’m not playing your game of ransom.”

Richard chuckled, but there was a strain in his voice that hadn’t been there last night. “You’ve got spirit. But you’re bright enough to see that you’re out of your league. You don’t know much about games, and you know even less about Will. If you’re thinking he’ll protect you, you’ll find yourself in a sorry state very soon.”

I pressed the covers to my naked breasts. I hated the feeling that I could see Richard’s calculating dark eyes. He had no business in my cozy bedroom.

“I know what I need to know,” I said stiffly.

“You’ve taken the boy from where he belongs. I’m sure it seems romantic to you. You think you’re in love, and he can give you what you want.” Richard’s voice was soft and friendly, the tone of a trusted advisor. “But he’s not going to handle this well. My son is selfish, Andrea. He’ll use you up. He won’t last more than a few days before he throws you away. Save yourself the trouble and send him back.”

My grip tightened on the phone. Richard sounded absolutely sure, describing Will like he was nothing more than a spoiled animal raised in a gilded cage. Incapable of surviving in the wild.

Incapable of loving anyone.

“I didn’t take him,” I said steadily. “He left. It was his choice.”

“Twenty-four hours, Andrea. Think about it. What will my boy do when I cut his money off? Turn to you for support? He’ll be ashamed. Resentful. He’s used to much more. Neither of you will find work if I say you won’t.”

Reaching over Will’s motionless body, I twisted the rod on the window blinds, opening the slats partway to stare out at the buildings of New York. My heart thudded so loudly, I was afraid it would wake Will up.

“No one has that much power.” I kept my voice low. “Not even you.”

Richard only laughed. “My son is weak. His interest in you won’t last. You’re too easy for him now. Without the life he knows, he’ll hate you before the week is out. And he won’t be kind. Kindness doesn’t run in our veins. I advise you to send him back.”

Richard’s words were poison. They weren’t true; couldn’t be. Yet they pricked at me, drawing blood.

“If you believe all that,” I said thickly, “you really don’t know either of us.”

“You’re a feisty one.” My uncle’s voice was maddeningly calm. “I can see why Will insisted on having you.”

Fury, sudden and hot, loosened my tongue. “And I can see why you’re calling. You’re scared. You’re afraid your son really isn’t coming back. Whatever grand plans you have for the Randolph empire, he won’t carry them out. There’s something between him and me that you don’t understand. He can be happy. Whole. That bothers you, doesn’t it? It’s out of your control. It’s not something you can ever own. And you don’t own me, or Will.”

The sheets rustled. I hadn’t realized Will had woken. He sat up in bed, staring at me, light slanting onto his face.

Richard’s voice was tight with anger. “You’ll both come crawling back to me, ready to do anything I want. I look forward to that day.”

Will’s face darkened. “My father?”

I nodded.

He held out his hand. Slowly, I gave him the phone.

“Don’t ever call Andie again,” he said coldly. “Or I swear, I will end you.”

I heard laughter on the other end, so humorless that it chilled my spine. Words from Richard, booming through the phone. You’ll never make it without me. Every door will be closed to you. And finally, No pussy is worth our family fortune, son. Not even your cousin’s. You’re going to have to choose.

Will hung up. He reached for me, and it wasn’t until he wrapped his arms around me that I realized I was trembling.

“Sweet girl. What did he say to you?”

“Just some vague threats,” I mumbled.

“No. My father doesn’t deal in vague threats. He’s very specific.” Will stroked my hair, his voice gentle but firm. “I need you to tell me, Andie.”

The words stuck in my throat. I touched his hollowed cheekbones.

“Be honest with me.” He sounded more commanding, sharper with tension. “It’s the only way.”

“He said I have twenty-four hours to send you back to him and Rose if I want to keep my job,” I said in a rush. “Like you’re a package to be delivered. He said if you stay, you’ll hate me, because I’m — too easy for you now.”

Will winced. “The dirty bastard,” he muttered. “He thinks he can hurt you, manipulate you— force you.” His fists clenched on my pillow as his body went rigid. “I’ll never let him do that. You know it’s all lies, don’t you? What he said, how I feel about you.”

I put my hand on Will’s chest. His heart was racing. When his palm pressed over my own heart, above my breast, it thumped just as fast.

“I know,” I said, taking a deep breath. “But Will, you left everything behind so fast. I basically asked you to run away with me.”

His chest heaved. “You know how long I’ve been waiting for that?”

I stared into his clear green eyes. Then I deliberately moved closer, until our bare bodies were sandwiched together, our hands over each other’s hearts.

“Eight years?”

“Eight years. Since the first time I asked you, in the woods behind your parents’ house.” A wry smile twisted his lips. “So don’t take all the credit. Or the blame. I’ve said and done a lot of things, but I’ve always told you the truth.”

“You have.” I rested my cheek against his shoulder. As much as Will had armored his emotions in the past, everything he’d ever said to me had been honest.

“I could never hate you.” His hands moved down to squeeze my waist. “And you’ll never be too easy for me. The way he threatened you…” Will shook his head. “I should have warned you. I knew this would happen.”

“Me too,” I said quietly. “Ever since last night, I’ve been expecting to get fired.”

He took a deep breath. “Do you want to keep your job?”

“Will—”

“It’s up to you.” Will looked pale now, a greenish cast to his face, but his jaw was set. “I’ll go back if you want.”

“No,” I said forcefully. “No, I don’t want that. But if you’re having second thoughts—”

Will swore under his breath. “Never,” he muttered. “But the last thing I want to do is fuck up your future, Andie. I couldn’t live with myself if I took that from you. You love your job. You told me you can’t afford to lose it.”

My stomach twisted. Will was right; my job meant a lot to me. My life in the city revolved around it. I’d worked countless long hours and late nights, dreaming of climbing that particular ladder. Yet I didn’t hesitate as I met his eyes.

“But I love you more. And I can’t afford to lose you.”

Will sucked in a long breath. That stunned look from last night was creeping over his face, like a sunrise breaking.

“So I didn’t dream you saying that,” he muttered.

“It was real,” I said softly. “There are other jobs. Richard always controlled this one. If I stay, he’ll still have power over me. And whether we’re together, or — or not, I want you to be happy. You were dying last night, Will. I saw you. You were in a cage with no light or air.”

He pulled me into his embrace. “Last night, you also said ‘I’m yours.’ Did you mean that too?”

“Completely.”

His breath stirred my hair. His arms tightened around me.

“Mine,” he said slowly, as if he were trying out the word. “I didn’t think you ever would be. We fit together.”

I let out a shuddering breath, molding my naked body to his. Will was right: we fit together. My petite curves found the nooks and shelters in his long, lean frame. My thigh parted his, and he clasped it with his legs.

“Are you mine too?” I murmured.

“Fuck, yes. I have been for so long.”

An impish impulse drove me to tease him. “Are you sure?” I tickled his ribs, making his teeth flash in a surprised laugh. “What does this mean for us? Are you my boyfriend now? It’s pretty weird to be in a relationship with your cousin.”

“Jesus.” His face contorted, fingers squeezing my upper arms. Blowing out a breath, he loosened his grip. The way he looked at me, so much longing written in his eyes… “I don’t care what people think. Remember when I said I’d fuck you on the sidewalk for everyone to see? Back in the fall? I meant it. Just to show the world we belong together, that you’re my girl and anyone who has a problem with it can go screw themselves. You know what I do care about? You. All of you. My sweet, savage love.”

Hearing Will talk this way sent a tidal wave of wanting through my body.

“Tell me.” I cupped his strong shoulders.

“Really, baby?” He was the one teasing me now. He licked my neck, and I dissolved into laughter. “You want to hear how much I care?”

“Yes.” My breath caught. “Because Richard said you couldn’t. I know he’s wrong, but…”

A cloud passed over Will’s face. “He scared you. He never should have gotten near you. Okay, Andie, I’ll tell you.”

When he spoke, his voice was rasping, spilling out in a torrent as he slid kisses down my neck.

“You’re probably the only person I’ve ever cared about. I’ve wanted you for so long, and I thought it made no sense. I’ve been hoping since I was fourteen, okay? And I didn’t like it. I didn’t like how much I wanted you, because I thought it gave you control. And us being cousins? Just made me want you more. You were off-limits, so I had to prove I could have you. But it also felt like you knew me, like we fit together. When my parents and I showed up at your family’s house eight years ago, I could tell you knew who you were. You were quiet, but you liked to run wild in those woods behind your house and you didn’t fucking care, back then, what anyone thought. Out there with you, I didn’t care either. I realized how much I hated my life, how trapped I was. You made me realize it. That was when I thought of running away. I would have, Andie, with you. Anywhere. And after that, I couldn’t get you the hell out of my head. My quiet little red-haired cousin. I didn’t know whether to love you or hate you, because you were always there, in my head, in my body, fucking with my life, reminding me that it was empty. When I invited you to Bryce Wingard’s graduation party, I couldn’t say if I wanted to make you mine or get you out of my system. All I knew was that I had to have you. I wanted to make you admit how much you loved my life, how jealous you were, how much you wanted to be part of it. And you were so fucking infuriating, because I failed to do any of that. Then you came last summer. The more I tasted of you, the more I wanted. Until…” He shook his head. “We talked. Held each other. I wanted more of that too. I don’t know when I fell in love with you, because I thought it was impossible. You’d never be with me, Andie. Not with your cousin. Spoiled. Empty. On his father’s leash.”

“Not anymore,” I murmured.

“No. Now I can try to deserve you.”

I hugged Will tight around the neck. “I’ve never heard you say so much at once.”

“It’s because of you, sweet girl.” He looked me over with narrowed eyes. “And since you asked, yes. I sure as hell am your boyfriend now.”

Warmth spread through me. Will sounded as certain as I felt, loosening the knots his father had tied in my stomach, turning the poison to sweet elixir that swirled low in my belly.

“I don’t care what people think, either,” I murmured. “Not anymore. I don’t want to hide.”

Will caressed my chin. “Andie, my parents will try to keep us apart. They’re going to make life hard for us. Are you ready for a battle?”

“I’m not a fighter. But for you, yes.”

His thumbs stroked over my collarbone, along the curves of my breasts, down my waist. I sighed, pulling him closer. Finally, I felt completely open to him. Finally, we belonged to each other.

“You are,” he said. “You fool people, looking so quiet and dreamy. But you know how to bite and scratch. You know how to survive, Andie. I need you to be strong while we get through this.”

I stroked his jaw. “Will, you’re strong too.”

He shook his head. “You know how soft I’ve had it? That’s over.”

“Then show me,” I whispered. “Show me how strong you are. Make me yours, all over again, because I am, Will. You’ve been inside me as long as I’ve been inside you. That time in the woods eight years ago? You changed me too.”

His mouth fell open a little. His eyes glowed in the early morning light. “Make you? How?”

“I need you to take me.” I held his gaze. Totally sure of myself, confident in what I was asking. “In every way you want to.”

Will’s cheeks turned a dull red. “You want me to be selfish with you, Andie?”

I shook my head. “Last night was beautiful and perfect and I know you don’t want to take anything from me. So give to me by possessing me. Do what you want with me, Will, and give to me that way. I know you’ll take care of me.”

“Fuck, I will, baby,” he breathed.

I ran my fingers through his hair. “Get the demons out. I know they’re still there.”

Will let out a long breath. “Your demons or mine?”

“Both.”

“There’s so much we haven’t done yet,” he murmured. “So much I thought I’d never get to do with you.”

Idly, he cupped my breasts, caressing the small curves. He teased my nipples into puffy pink points until I hissed with need. Arching toward him, my palms found his bronzed chest. My fingers skated over his ribs.

“You’ve gotten thinner,” I murmured. “You haven’t been eating enough.”

Will’s mouth went soft in the way it did when I expressed concern for him. Looking back, I wished I’d done it more. Then a devilish gleam lit his eyes.

“That’s because your pussy hasn’t been available.”

“Will.”

He cocked his head. Warm hands slid down to my thighs, pushing them open. “You kept your body away from me, baby girl. This sweet, precious little pussy that we both know is all mine. The perfect fit for my cock, my tongue, my fingers. Can you blame me for starving?”

I gripped his shoulders, digging my fingers hard into the muscled swells. Will was caressing my thighs unbearably gently, moving towards my cunt, grazing the tender skin of my lips.

“No,” I breathed. “No, I guess I can’t. But Will, I was starving too.”

“And I’ll feed you so well. Good thing you’re completely available now. You’re mine . Sweet little thing. I can drink you in every day.” His thumb pressed on my clit, just as sure fingers plunged inside my pulsing tightness.

I shrieked. My hips lifted, my feet coming to rest on his back with an eager clasp.

Belatedly, I realized how loud I was being. I thought wildly of Meg and Emily in the apartment, the thin walls. In the daylight, this was all bright and warm and real. No shadows. No dreams. No woods to hide in.

I buried my fingers in Will’s hair, wandering through the wild brown waves, as he eased out of me and soothed my folds with his tongue. A slight sting took me by surprise as he lapped at my opening. Sex with Will had stopped hurting last summer, turning entirely to pleasure as I became accustomed to taking my cousin inside me. But he’d been rougher than usual with his fingers just now, and his tongue was hot and insistent.

When he began licking long lines up to my clit, the twinges of pain mingled with my rising pleasure like a heady, complex wine. I moaned, gushing into his mouth, and he sucked and licked me so ferociously that I was gasping. As if he truly had been starving for me.

“Andie.” His thick tongue pushed inside my tight entrance, and I bit my fist to keep from crying out. When my juices seeped down, soaking my ass and forming a puddle on my sheets, he pulled back. “You’re such a good girl. You’re wet and ready for everything I’m going to give you.”

“What are you going to give me?” My voice trembled with excitement.

Will smiled at me, his beautiful lips glazed with my arousal. “A special present for my special girl.”

He massaged my tender opening, slow and gentle, his eyes sparking when I moaned at his tugs on the swollen flesh. His fingers traveled downward, caressing the sensitive cleft of my ass. I groaned as a juice-slicked finger teased my tight hole, stroking and penetrating. He eased up and pressed in again, feeling wider, more demanding.

“Will, uh…God, that’s big…”

“Sshhh, he crooned. “It’s only two fingers in your tight little asshole. It’s nothing compared to how big my cock is going to feel.”

“Will!” I gasped, clamping down hard on his fingers and trapping them in my ass. He spoke softly to me, rubbing my clit and flexing his fingers inside me, until I relaxed enough to let him pump in and out. Back in the summer and fall, I’d come to crave Will’s finger in my ass, but he’d only ever used one.

“That’s what I’m going to give you,” he promised, leaning down to press loving little kisses on my breasts. Heat raced through me, blooming from every touch of his mouth. He sucked my nipple into a tight, eager peak as his fingers filled me, opening and taking. “My cock in your exquisite ass. Pleasure like you’ve never known.”

I bucked and wriggled in his hold, spasming around him. “Never?”

“Andie, you have no idea how good you’ll feel.” His voice was hypnotic. “I’m going to give you my cum there, because you need it.”

I whimpered, fisting his hair, kicking my heels on his lithe back. Will looked drunk, his eyes huge and dark and hungry. Voracious, like an animal who’d been lost in the woods for too long and had just found food.

“Don’t fight me, little cousin,” he grunted. “It’s going to happen.”

That set me off. I sobbed, coming hard on Will’s fingers in my ass, his thumb on my clit, his mouth on my breast. He growled, pleased and surprised, pushing me to a fresh peak.

“Slut,” he whispered, and that made me come again. I felt safe, and open, and shocked, and utterly dominated by Will. As I fell back, panting and exhausted, he chuckled. “Look at you, Andie. If that’s all it takes…”

“Will!” I kicked his waist. “You bastard.”

Gently, he eased his fingers out of my ass. The narrow channel clutched him, trying to keep him inside.

“I told you what I’ll give you,” he crooned. “But really, it’s about what you’ll give me. You’re an animal, but deep down, you’re also a good little girl. You saved your virginity for me all those years. And your perfect ass? You’ve saved that for me too.”

“Oh, really?” I tugged his hair. “How do you know?”

My cousin laughed. “Look me in the eye, love. Tell me with a straight face that your boyfriend this spring put his cock up the ass that we both know is mine.”

“No. He didn’t.” My heart thudded jaggedly. Taking Will’s length and girth inside my ass…it made my head swim.

“Has anyone else?”

“No…”

Will stroked my cheek tenderly. “Did he fuck you, sweetheart?”

“Yes,” I murmured, flushing. “It wasn’t anything like it is with you.”

“Of course not,” Will soothed. “I forgive you. I’ll have to spank you soon, though. And you’re going to feel it. You need a lot of discipline, for letting another man touch what’s mine.”

A hard shudder of excitement ran through me. God, I wanted everything Will was offering.

“Yes, I do,” I breathed. “But you do too, for being with Maddie.”

Will’s jaw clenched briefly, and I was afraid I’d gone too far. There was more pain there for him than for me; that was clear. Then he bowed his head, kissing my belly until I softened and heated beneath him.

“Well, you can spank me too, baby,” he promised.

As I buried my face in the pillow to muffle my moans, Will gave me one last kiss below my navel and stood up.

“Stay there,” he murmured, pulling on his boxers one-handed. My toes curled, clenching on the sheets, as he opened the door a crack and slipped out.

Were Meg and Emily awake? Out in the kitchen? I’d have to tell them what had happened. That Will was here now, with no place else to stay for the time being. That we were together, that he’d cut ties with his parents.

Will re-entered, smelling like the lemon soap we kept in the bathroom. Grass-green eyes raked over my naked body as he began pulling on the tux that lay draped on my chair.

I lifted my head. “What are you doing?”

His lips quirked, lust soaking his face. “Getting dressed. In the only clothes I have right now.”

“Why? I’m right here. We’re about to...”

“I’m going down to the drugstore, Andie. To get what I need to fuck your ass. Unless you want me to just put it in there? I think that might be too much for you.”

I moaned, my hips rising toward him. “Don’t.”

“No?” Will raised his eyebrows. “Trust me, sweet girl. I want it to feel so good for you.”

“I do trust you,” I said softly. “Take your clothes off. And look in my nightstand.”

Will unbuttoned his shirt, sliding his pants and boxers down, watching me with a slight smile. His cock pointed at me, flushed dark red, the skin tight and satiny, pearls of liquid oozing from the fat tip.

Suddenly, he pounced, naked, crossing the room with a spring, gripping my waist and rolling me over. A pillow was pushed under my hips. One hand splayed on my lower back, pressing me down as I heard the rattle of my bedside drawer.

His hand roamed over my ass, squeezing the soft mounds. I pressed my face into the mattress.

“What’s this, Andie?” His voice was soft and dangerous. I quivered as he sensuously traced my flushed pussy. “A bottle of lube? In your nightstand? You never used this with me. Was this from that guy you were seeing?”

“Yes,” I whispered.

“Oh, little cousin,” he murmured. “You couldn’t get wet for him, could you?”

“Not always. And when I did—”

“Tell me.”

“It was because I thought of you. And then I got so wet, it was embarrassing. He didn’t like it.”

“Poor, sweet baby.” Will rubbed my ass rhythmically while he massaged my clit. I arched into his hands, moaning with need. “Dating someone who couldn’t handle what a little animal you are. In heat. Greedy. A perfect slut. Only I understand. I’m the only one who can give you everything you need.”

“Yes, you are…”

I glanced at him over my shoulder. His sweat-dampened hair fell over his forehead, dark and tousled, his lips parted. His hand left my ass to take the bottle of lube from my nightstand. I moaned in protest when his other hand left my clit to open the top.

“Touch yourself, Andie,” he breathed.

My hand slid down to my pussy without thought or hesitation, pulled by Will’s voice. I stroked my swollen nub, coaxing flutters of pleasure through my body as slick fingers met my ass.

He massaged me with lube, making me shiver, dipping his fingers inside me. When the bluntness of his cock met my secret place, I let out a deep breath, trying to relax.

The long coppery strands of my hair fell over my face, shielding me. But I didn’t want to hide from Will. I flung my hair back and looked over my shoulder.

“I need to see you,” I panted.

Will’s eyes were glazed. “Keep looking at me, Andie. I need to see you too.”

I lifted my ass to him, feeling open and vulnerable as his fat head pushed against my tightness.

“Oh!” I cried out, when he popped in.

“Shhh, baby. It’s okay, sweetheart.” Will stroked my hips, soothing me. “I love you so much.”

Tears oozed from my eyes, because it was all so intense. Will had felt big, the first time he took me in the woods. But he was enormous, shockingly so, inside my ass. I throbbed around him, sensitive to the slightest movement.

“I love you too,” I moaned.

“Keep playing with your clit, Andie,” he urged.

I wouldn’t dream of stopping. Stroking the swollen nub magnified every sharp scrape of pleasure from Will’s cock.

“Beautiful,” he murmured reverently.

As he kept pushing in, so slowly, so slippery and patient, it felt strange. It burned the way loving him had hurt, until now. But it didn’t hurt anymore to love Will, and as he penetrated my ass, my body began to say yes. Quietly at first, a whisper, then rising to a shout.

“Oh God, Will, yes!” I cried out.

He groaned, sinking deeper. “Andie,” he breathed.

I fluttered around him, stunned at his thickness, but thrilled by the intense waves of pleasure.

“You’re so big,” I gasped, wanting to talk. Needing to hear his voice.

“I know, sweet girl,” he soothed. “It’s good, isn’t it? Having my big cock in your tight, tiny, private place?”

“Yes, yes…”

“You belong to me in every way now. Giving me your last virginity, like you should.” Gripping my hip with one large hand, rubbing my back with the other, he sank deeper. I cried out, tears trickling down my cheeks. “I always knew this was meant to happen.” His voice was hoarse. “It’s my job to fuck you and take care of you and run away with you. Us, baby. Finally together.”

I dared to raise my ass to meet him as Will flexed his hips behind me, opening me with his dirty, loving words. His slick shaft pulsed in my tight embrace.

“I’ve — been running from you for so long,” I panted. “But all along, I wanted you to come with me.”

Will let out a growl. He was moving faster now, fully fucking my ass, driving a gasp from me with every thrust. All I heard was the harsh mingling of our breath. My breasts bounced, my bed creaked, and I was taking Will inside me in the most intimate way possible.

All shame was gone. I rubbed my clit eagerly, my mouth watering with excitement as the pleasure built and built. I was starving for everything Will promised, hungry to find out how his cum would feel in my ass.

A scrape and a rattle behind me made me jerk, fluttering around his girth. The blinds on the window were trembling, because Will had knocked against them in his frenzy. And they were partially open.

Being exposed like this, with my cousin, would have terrified me before. Now I was so far gone, so hazed with pleasure and full of Will, so in love and so sure, that I didn’t care about the world. I was impervious. I could handle anything. No one else’s opinions mattered.

“Will,” I gritted. “Open the window.”

He stilled behind me, his body taut with need. “You want me to, sweetheart?” Gravel edged his voice. “You want the whole city to see me fuck your ass?”

“Yes,” I moaned.

He inhaled sharply. His cock gave a hard throb inside me. There was the sound of the blinds being raised, and light flooded my small bedroom.

“Mine,” he whispered. “I’m yours. For everyone to know.”

A long spasm seized me, fusing me to Will, shaking us both in a seismic quake. As my fingers surrounded my clit, I convulsed, my pussy squeezing and my ass clenching helplessly on his broad girth. Hot cream bathed my sensitive ass, shocking in its suddenness. Will’s thrusts were hard and urgent, his breath driven out in gusts.

Some time later, he eased out of me, cradling me in his arms. I kissed his shoulder, his lips. The early summer sun shone down on us, setting our nakedness aglow.

Will murmured, so quietly I could barely hear him. “You mean everything to me.”

My breath caught. I opened my mouth to answer, but he continued. “Can you promise me one thing?”

“What is it?” I drew patterns through the dark hair dusting his chest.

“Promise me you’ll start writing again. Anyone tries to stop you, I’ll deal with them.”

My heart felt suddenly full, pressing against my ribcage. “What if it’s about you?”

“It can be anything.” He grinned. “Go ahead and do your worst. I just don’t want you shut down. I want you to be as open as you are now.”

I rubbed my forehead against his shoulder. It wasn’t easy to speak, but for Will, I did. “Okay. I promise.”