17. Will
CHAPTER 17
Will
“ W e need to say bye before we leave,” Millie says as I guide us back to the dance floor.
“Do we though?”
“Come on, it’ll be quick.”
Millie takes the lead when we get to the bottom of the stairs, and we weave through the bar, saying goodbye to all our friends. We finally get to leave after being stuck in conversations for thirty minutes. Millie grabs her jacket from the coat check by the front door. I’m thankful she wore one with that tiny piece of fabric she calls a dress since it’s freezing outside tonight.
“Leave your car,” I say.
“I didn’t take you for the sleepover type,” Millie says. She grabs a bag from the back seat of her car, an overnight bag, then gets in my truck like this is a normal occurrence for us.
“I’m not, but it’s you. I see you were prepared.” I dip my head in the direction of her bag.
She hums, a smirk plastered on her face, but keeps her thoughts to herself.
I didn’t expect for anything to happen when I came back to town, but this is how it always was with Millie. We seek each other out, and for better or worse, we end up in each other’s arms. All it takes is one look at her, and I have the urge to kiss her.
“What?” Millie asks. “Why do you keep looking at me? Do I have something in my hair?”
I chuckle. “No, no. I—I don’t know.” She makes me nervous, damn. “I’m happy, is all.”
“Me too.”
The smile on her face speaks a million more words that she won’t voice. I know she’s thinking about everything that happened in that little head of hers.
It only takes a few minutes before we are back at the record store and parked in the back.
“Okay, come on, Millie,” I say, but when I look over, she’s asleep.
I brush back a piece of her hair, thinking about the trust she’s given to me so easily when I don’t deserve it. She’s given me her heart over and over again and this time it feels different.
All the other times we knew there was an end to our intimacy. It was always a weekend, or one night, and we’d go back to whatever we were doing before.
I slide out of my seat and walk over to hers. After the seat belt is unbuckled, I place my hands under her and lift her into my arms.
Millie doesn’t wake as I fumble to unlock the back door and make our way up the stairs.
And now that I’m alone in my room with her, I don’t know what to do. She likely doesn’t want to sleep in this tiny dress, right? Damnit.
Carefully, I lay her on my bed, then grab a shirt from the bottom of my closet. I wore it yesterday, but it’s clean.
“Hey, Millie,” I say quietly while I rock her back and forth.
She mumbles, but turns her face away from me.
Ugh.
“Love, you need to change out of your dress. And take off your makeup.”
I shake her again. This time, she flutters her eyes.
“That’s my girl, come on. Wake up for a minute, then you can drift back to sleep.”
“Will?” Millie looks around with confusion. “What time is it?
“Woah, careful,” I say and help her stand. “It’s barely past eleven.”
“That for me?”
Millie points toward me, and I forgot I was holding a shirt for her because her dress has all but ridden up to be by her waist, and she’s wearing the tiniest panties.
“Eyes up here, William.”
“Ye-yeah, this is for you. To change. I don’t have those makeup cloth things, but there’s extra towels under the sink.”
Millie softly smiles and hugs the shirt to her body before walking past me to the bathroom.
I undress and throw on a pair of sweatpants before I slide into my side of the bed and wait for her.
A few minutes later she stumbles out of the bathroom, rubbing her eyes. She yawns and runs a hand through her hair. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen her like this. When we are around town, Millie is the face of so much. People expect a lot from her, and knowing her, she accepts it with a happy smile.
“Do you need any water?” I ask.
“I know where it is. I can get it.” Millie beats me to the kitchen.
I could get used to her in my space.
“Thank you, by the way,” she says. “You sure you don’t mind if I stay?”
“It’s not the first time. Come to bed, Rose.”
She sulks over, eventually making her way under the sheets. I wrap an arm around her waist and pull her toward me.
“You confuse me,” Millie whispers as she snuggles her head into the crook of my neck.
“Is that anything different?” I ask.
She giggles, her chest rising and falling at a rapid pace. “No, I suppose not.”
“Get some sleep. We will talk more tomorrow.” I kiss her forehead and hug her tighter. “Goodnight, Millie Mae.”
“Goodnight, Will.”
I wake up to a loud blaring and remember I set an alarm on my phone for five in the morning for Millie. I wasn’t sure if she remembered before we went to bed, but I wasn’t about to be the reason why she was late to work.
It’s important to me she knows I care about her. And caring about her means supporting her wild work habits because the girl is ambitious.
“Make it stop,” Millie groans, throwing hands everywhere.
“You’re going to hit me, Millie, stop it.”
“I don’t care, let me be. I’m my own boss. What time even is it?”
I chuckle. “Five. Do I need to drag you out of this bed? Or are you okay with sleeping longer?”
She plops her arms by her side and lets out a huge sigh.
“This is why I never drink, Will.” Her head rolls to the side so she can meet my gaze. “I do need to get up. I have to get to the shop around six.”
“Why don’t I help today?” I surprise myself by asking.
Grandpa told me he had the shop covered today and it’s not like Jeremy is going to be awake any time soon. Grant texted me at three in the morning to let me know they made it home.
“Do you have any events to prepare for?”
Millie nods. “One in the evening.” She counts to three, then quickly shuffles her legs to the side and out of bed. She shivers and rips the blanket off the top of the bed and wraps it around her body.
“Do you need pants?”
She shakes her head, her lips quirking up. “I’m good. Coffee?”
“Please.”
Millie walks to the kitchen, taking the coffee pot over to the sink to get water to make the brew. “And if you don’t have anywhere else to be, I suppose I could use the extra hands. We need to talk about the spring festival anyway. We have time, but I want to make sure next week we feel good about the direction since we will be a few weeks out.”
I follow her back toward the pot and lean against the counter. “Sounds fun.”
She playfully shoves me. “Hey, you got us into this mess.”
“You like this mess.” I raise my brows.
“I recall something about interest that was never delivered,” Millie hums as she presses the brew button and turns to face me.
“You were sleeping,” I deadpan.
She shrugs and waltzes over to the bed, and the minute she turns to sit and face me, I’m right there.
I lay her down, grabbing both of her hands and pinning them over her head. My mouth dips to meet hers, but right before, I remain at a hover and mutter, “Shit, is this okay?”
My breath is shaky as I ask because we are acting more like we are in a real relationship than a fake one.
“I appreciate you asking for consent, Will, but I suspect we are past that after last night.”
That’s the only confirmation I need before I press my lips to hers. Within a few minutes, our breathing is ragged and she’s trying to move her hands still pinned above her head.
“Do you need control?” I ask, pulling away with her lip in between my teeth.
She lets out a breathy moan. “Will.”
“Patience, love, patience.” I kiss her again, releasing my hands from her wrists to trail her arms and cup her face. My tongue teases her lips to be let in, to give in to me, and she does.
She moans and wriggles. It’s enough to make me spill in my pants from the noises alone. My fingers dance along the hem of her shirt, my shirt, slipping beneath to grasp onto her soft skin.
“You haunt my dreams, Millie Mae,” I whisper as we break apart. “And I will repay you, cross my heart. But we need to go.”
“Shit.” Her eyes widen briefly and she lets out a fit of giggles. “What are we doing?”
“Whatever we want to do.” I kiss her nose and stand, holding out a hand to help her. “Let’s go to work, Rose.”