Growing up, I’d spent as much time at Liam’s as I possibly could. And when it wasn’t possible to hang out at the Mulligans, I spent my days down by the creek or riding my bike aimlessly through town.
When I got older, I filled my time with practice. I’d been a four season athlete not out of any love of sport, but as a way to avoid having to go back to my house.
I’d grown up in a house. But it had never felt like a home.
Now that I was an adult, the place that felt most like my home was the Crown Tavern. The dive bar was perched on a prime piece of property on Main Street, right by the creek and the second set of waterfalls that tumbled through town. It was the kind of building that my father would have loved to get his grubby hands on and turn into luxury lofts or something equally dumb. But the Graham family had owned the Crown for three generations, and Ethan’s grumpy cousin Taylor was just as resistant to letting it go as his grandfather had been. It was a solid place, the kind of home-away-from-home where couples met on their first dates, and better fathers than mine took their sons for their first drink. Ethan’s family connection meant that we’d all been drinking here way before it was actually legal. I’d always walked in and immediately felt like this was my home.
And tonight, I was bringing my girl home with me.
I pulled in around the front of the building and parked in the side lot under the glow of a single streetlamp. Nightbugs buzzed in crazed circles above us, forming a silent tornado that seemed to hold all of Willa's interest because she wasn't making any moves to get out of the truck. "You're waiting for me to open the door for you?" I asked, half teasing, half worried-but-trying-to-hide it. "Want me to swat them away first?"
She blinked a, "Hmm?" then shook her head like she was just waking up from a trance. "No. Sorry."
"Hey, what is it?" I had a feeling I knew the answer to that question, but I had to press. Because I wanted to reassure myself as much as I wanted to reassure her. "You still worried about how they'll react?"
"Livvy had a thing for you," she suddenly blurted.
"No way."
She nodded, looking down.
"Well she never said anything and obviously she's moved on." I tried to search my brain, but couldn't come up with a single moment where Olivia Morgan had ever articulated any interest in me. Sure, she was shy, but she certainly said enough once you got her talking. I cocked my head at Willa. "Seriously? Livvy?"
Willa gave a one-shouldered shrug. "It was a crush." She shrugged again. "But it was something, and she told me about it and I feel sort of bad now.”
When I said nothing, she glanced at me. Whatever she saw on my face made her whole expression change. "Stop."
"What do you want me to say, Willa? You were with him for three years."
"In high school."
"If you think you should feel bad about Livvy's crush, then how the hell am I supposed to feel, huh?" I tapped my fingers on the steering wheel as I stared out at the crazily spinning bugs. A thought occurred to me. "It's kind of weird though."
"What is?"
Willa's voice was tight with warning but I plowed on anyway. "How Liam hasn't said anything to me." I glanced back at her and tried to smile. "He hasn't warned me about you at all. Nothing."
She lifted her chin. "Probably figures you should know by now."
And just like that, the tight clenching around my chest, the feeling of not getting a full breath was gone. Because she was right - except, "Haven't we established I don't know a damn thing?" I reached over and closed her slim fingers in mine. "Honestly, he could have at least given me the Cliffs Notes."
She turned her hand upward to catch mine. A small grin caught the corner of her mouth, tugging it upward. "But that would be cheating, don't you think?"
I swallowed, then pushed away the knee-jerk reaction to the word, and instead leaned in and caught that perfect curve with my lips. "And I'm not a cheater," I whispered, letting my mouth brush across her ear. I loved how she always shivered when I did that.
She squeezed my hand and looked at me. "Okay?"
I nodded. "Ready." Then looked down. "But you have to let go of my hand in order for me to get out of the truck." I squeezed her fingers gently.
We walked into the Crown. It was such a small thing, something I'd done either by myself or with... anyone else... a million other times. There was nothing strange about the act of walking into the Crown.
But walking into it with my arm slung around Willa - pulling her close, kissing her head and inhaling the scent of her curls - was something entirely new.
Willa felt it too. I could feel it in the way she slowed, dragging her feet. “We should have stayed at the cabin," she whispered.
I looked in the direction she was staring.
Ryan was bent low, but for the first time in forever, all his attention was not focused on Naomi. He was darting glances at us as he spoke. Naomi had clearly trailed off mid-sentence and was blatantly staring. When I caught her eye, Claire raised her arms over her head like a football ref calling a touchdown then burst out laughing and leaned over to whisper to Sadie, who suddenly darted her head up from her drink like she hadn't realized we'd arrived. Ruby was looking down at her hands, her fierce blush apparent from way over here. Ethan was pretending to be absorbed in his phone, but he hadn't scrolled a damn bit since we got here. Avery and Livvy were both just grinning like maniacs, but Cody's eyes were narrowed, and if it was possible for a grown man who worked at his uncle's body shop for a living to pout, then pouting was exactly what he was doing.
"Look who it is!" Taylor bellowed from the bar. "Something you two want to tell me?"
I stepped in front of Willa and spun around, putting my body between her and the table - hell the entire fucking bar - full of our friends and neighbors who wanted to know just what the hell had changed. I was acutely aware that everything I had once believed about Willa - and that Willa had believed about me - was also what they believed. "If you remember, " I murmured, leaning in and pressing my lips to her flushed forehead. "I was completely in favor of spending the rest of our lives in that cabin."
"I know. I was the one who forced us to get back to our lives."
"And our lives are right here, right?"
She nodded. I lifted her palm and kissed it. "So let's go live them.”