The Road That Leads to Us (Us 1)

“What?” Alyssa gasped. “That’s so cool!”

“Their music is timeless.” Chase agreed with a nod.

Willow glanced up at me and her teeth dug into her bottom lip. I knew she was wishing a hole would open up and bury her alive.

Beneath the table I reached for her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, reminding her that I was here.

“So, you’re like famous,” Alexis said, sitting across from Willow. “What was that like growing up?”

“I’m not famous,” Willow said adamantly. It was her standard reply.

Alexis wrinkled her nose and tilted her head to the side. She seemed to know she’d hit a soft spot of Willow’s and luckily let it go.

“How do you two know each other?” Chase asked, wagging a finger between us.

“We grew up together,” I answered, glancing at Willow to make sure she wasn’t about to panic and run. I’d often believed her adventurous spirit stemmed from her need to escape—and this conversation was bound to send her running unless I could keep her calm. Beneath the table, I rubbed my thumb over her hand and I felt her relax a fraction.

“That’s so cute!” Alexis cried, clapping her hands together. She was obviously the much more exuberant of the two girls. Alyssa was the quiet type who sat back and studied a situation before making an observation. “You’re like a couple, right?”

I nodded.

“I can’t believe you grew up together and now you’re a couple. That’s so romantic. Are you famous too?” She asked me.

I knew Willow had probably rolled her eyes out of her head at that comment.

“No,” I shook my head. “I’m just Dean and she’s just Willow. That’s all.”

“Lexi, can you help me inside. I need to find something.” Alyssa pointed towards the camper.

Her face fell, but she nodded.

Once the girls were gone Willow breathed out an audible sigh of relief.

Both guys smiled apologetically.

“Sorry about that,” Jacob shrugged, grabbing a beer from the cooler, “Lexi can be a bit nosy and this is the closest she’s come to meeting a famous person.”

“It’s okay.” Willow mumbled, but I knew it really wasn’t.

“Let’s go for a walk.” I stood from the table and she followed reluctantly.

I hoped if I got her away for a little bit she’d feel better. I knew Alexis meant no harm with her innocent questions, but Willow didn’t like it because it set off a ring of thoughts in her mind about what people expected of her because of who her dad was. On the surface, Willow seemed like she had it all together, and she did in many ways, but like everyone else she also had doubts and those doubts could eat away at her.

We moved into the cover of trees and I leaned my back against one, turning her so she faced me. I held her by the waist so she couldn’t get away and her sad eyes lifted to mine.

“Are you okay?” I asked her.

She nodded. “I feel silly for clamming up, but I hate talking about my dad and my life.”

“I think most people hate talking about personal things with strangers,” I assured her. “But when you have parent’s in the public eye, people assume it’s fair game. They don’t think.”

“I’m not crazy?”

“Not when it comes to this.” I smoothed stray blonde hairs off her forehead before rubbing my thumb over her plump bottom lip.

“But you’re saying I am crazy,” she laughed, and it felt good to hear it after how quiet she’d been.

“Most definitely.” I grinned, cupping her cheeks in my hands so I could look at her.