5. Millie
CHAPTER 5
Millie
WIll
Where is “forgive Will” on your to-do list?
I groan as I hide in the storage closet of the venue, figuring it would be the easiest way to let Will sweep and leave. It reminds me of a dusty old closet from high school, with a single light hanging from the ceiling. I sit on a stack of boxes and doom scroll on my phone. This is the first time I’ve sat since driving here this afternoon.
That’s how busy today has been.
All I want is to go home, wash my face, and go to sleep.
Will
Where is this damn broom at?
I look away from my phone for a brief moment when the door in front of me opens inches from my face.
“Fuck, Millie, what are you—” Will pauses and tilts his head. “Are you avoiding me?”
Will’s hair is rustled from working all day, a few pieces having fallen over his dark brown eyes. If his eyes weren’t distracting enough, you also have your pick of the double dimples he’s sprouting from his smirk or the tattoos peeking out from under his signature v-neck shirt. Anyone would admit that Will Carter is drop dead gorgeous.
“Why do you assume I’m avoiding you?” I give Will my biggest grin and try to forget I’m sitting in a mostly dark closet by myself.
“You’re hiding in a closet?” Will suggests, leaning against the threshold.
“Hiding? Mm.” I chuckle nervously. “I’m not hiding.”
He purses his lips and chuckles back. “Okay, Rose, you’re not hiding.” His eyes trace me again and his tongue skates across his bottom lip.
My fingers ache to touch him. My heart beats too fast, knowing that he’s seen me, touched me, and is now looking at me under a microscope. I somehow resist the urge to shove him away from the door and slam it shut.
“Do you need something?” I ask.
His gaze snaps to mine as if he’s remembered he’s not here to stare at me. “The broom.”
“It’s not here,” I say.
“You didn’t even look.” Will rocks off the side of the door and takes a step into the closet.
Or tries to.
“Stop, there’s not enough room in here for us both.” I push off the box to stand, but there’s nowhere for me to go, so I remain seated.
“I’m going to check behind the door. Pretend I’m not here.”
“Pretend…” I scoff and mumble more of my annoyances under my breath. Sure, I’ll pretend this tiny closet that barely has enough room for one person can now easily fit two people. I’m only going a little bit insane from the smell of his signature pine scent.
Will somehow inches his way into the closet and gets the door shut .
“Damn, it’s dark in here,” he says with his back to me. “And no broom.”
“Told you.”
He turns to me and pushes playfully at my shoulder. “You didn’t know.”
I shrug even though I’m not sure he’s looking at me. I’m too busy keeping my eyes on the floor.
“Can you leave the closet now? Or do you have more items to add to my to-do list?” I ask.
“Oh, so you have been getting my texts? I was afraid they were going straight to the trash.” Will slides down the door and sits in front of me, forcing me to look at him.
“What are you doing?” I stammer out.
“Well, Millie Mae, I’m sitting on the floor of this incredibly small closet. Figure it’s the only way to force you to talk to me.”
“Or I could sit here in silence until you leave.”
“You could.”
Will pretends to look at something interesting on the shelf to his left while I tap my foot. How can I get out of this? The last thing I needed today was forced conversation with Will Carter.
He knows me too damn well.
And sure, I might be mad at him, but I’m genuinely a happy person. I love living in Willow Pines. I love what I do.
If I reflect on the plus side to getting my heart broken by someone I thought I would spend forever with, it’s that I threw myself more into work and stumbled upon running events. So, I guess I should be thankful.
My sigh breaks the silence between us and Will looks my way, about to say something, when someone calls his name from the other side of the door. It sounds like they’re only a few feet away.
“Is someone looking for you?” I ask, standing to try and push him out of the way so I can open the door.
“Millie. Wait.” Will scrambles to stand and blocks me from twisting the knob. He rests his hands on my arms .
We hear the voice again, which I now recognize as Kira, calling for Will’s name.
“Why is Kira looking for you?”
“I don’t know, but she’s already asked me out once tonight.”
“She asked you out when you have a fiancée?”
“I’m—uh, single.”
My jaw opens, so many questions on my mind, but I don’t know what to ask first.
“Maybe it’s something you can help me with,” Will scrambles out.
“You have five, maybe ten, seconds to explain.”
Will grips me hard. Before I have time to react, I find myself pinned between the back shelf of the closet and his toned torso. Somehow, the box I was sitting on is pushed to the side.
“No time. I’ll explain later, promise. I need your help getting Kira off my back. Now.”
I shake my head. “She’s always wanted you, Will. Ten years of rejection hasn’t swayed her, what makes you believe I can help?”
“I was thinking…if I had a girlfriend…” he says cautiously, tracking my gaze.
I shake my head again. And again. This cannot be happening.
“Will, I can’t be your girlfriend. Are you kidding me? What would people say? The town would have a heyday if they found out we were together, even if it’s fake. And what if someone comes along that I want to date, but I’m supposedly taken. We haven’t even talked in years . And Jeremy?—”
He presses a finger to my mouth to quiet me, then returns his hand back to my arm.
“One, I don’t care what the town has to say about it. Two, we could cross that bridge if it came to it, but you’d be mine until something like that happened. And three, Jeremy would throw us a celebration party. He’s always wanted us to be together.”
“In the twenty years I’ve known you, I swear this is the most annoying thing you’ve ever asked of me. ”
“It wasn’t the time I asked you to show me how you made your special cookie recipe for the fifth year in a row?”
“No.”
“Or the time that I made you take me all the way to the city for a college interview, only to find out it was the wrong day?” Will takes a step closer if that’s even possible. I’m doing everything I can to focus on things other than the way his chest rises and falls when he breathes.
“I forgot about that day. But it wasn’t that annoying since you bought me lunch,” I say with a small smile. “But there was that other time you made me drive you to the city to try and get those concert tickets. Do you remember? They were trying to beat the bots or something and you had to buy them in person, instead of online.”
He takes one more step, moving one of his hands to be behind my head on the shelf, caging me in. “Oh, I remember. Jeremy couldn’t take me because he was busy.” He leans forward, grazing his lips on the outer shell of my ear. “I lied. He wasn’t busy. I wanted to spend time alone with you.”
My chest rises faster, and I can’t help myself, I bring a hand to rest on his chest to find if his heartbeat mimics mine.
“Be my fake girlfriend, Millie Mae.”
“Does it have to be me?” I ask.
“Do I have any other options?” He looks around the closet as a joke.
“Uhh—”
“No, Millie. It’s either you fake date me or I’m stuck fending off Kira for the rest of my life.”
I roll my eyes, knowing Will would be fine if I didn’t agree to this. He’s always had a way with words. Even now, I yearn for things between us to be the way they used to be. The late nights on the roof of the record store hold some of my fondest memories. I take a few extra beats to weigh the options, knowing Kira is bound to find him eventually.
“Will? You back here?” Kira’s voice radiates from outside the door. Speak of the devil.
Will pingpongs his gaze from me to the door and back. He moves his hand from my arm and cups my cheek, forcing my gaze to remain on him.
“What will it be, Rose?”
I sigh. “Don’t make me regret this, Will.”
His thumb grazes my bottom lip. “Should we kiss on it?”