That morning, Willow floated around on cloud nine.
It wasn’t the first time she came home in last night’s clothes, but it was the first time she came in with an insuppressible grin on her face. Ashlynn had already left for work, but her mom was still sipping her morning coffee. When Willow came floating into the house, her mother’s face flushed, and she averted her gaze toward the television.
Still a little tired, she went up to her room and climbed into bed, thinking maybe she’d take a nap before starting her day. Instead of falling asleep, she ended up lying there, smiling as she remembered the lovely night—and morning—she had spent with Ethan.
Her head was bloated with feelings she had no intention of sharing—not yet. Logically she knew it was too soon to be convinced that Ethan was everything she wanted, but her foolish heart couldn’t be convinced. It felt like they had finally managed to overcome the obstacles, and having to fight for it, knowing for so long she might never have him, made their victory that much sweeter.
Euphoric. She felt euphoric.
She hated that she couldn’t stay. Minutes after lea
ving him, she already missed him.
It took longer than she expected, but around mid-afternoon, Ethan sent a screenshot of Brian’s posts from the night before along with the text, “Something I should know?”
She spent the next few minutes explaining the situation, then a few minutes after that convincing him it wasn’t a trick, and yes, Brian really was that cool. He didn’t buy it, and she told him he was too suspicious of everyone.
No matter how stupid the text she sent or received from Ethan, she couldn’t seem to scrub the stupid smile off her face.
She had it bad.
Unfortunately she did not get to spend her whole day wrapped in an oblivious cocoon of infatuation. Work called. She asked Ethan if he wanted her to stop over after her shift, but he told her he wasn’t sure if he would be home yet. He didn’t volunteer what he was doing and she didn’t ask, but she just assumed that he must be working, too.
Before her shift, Willow checked for new messages, then decided to hop on social media for a couple of minutes. Brian had posted again, a picture of her doing a stupid pouty face in the aisle at the grocery store with the caption, “I miss your mouth.”
Willow rolled her eyes, hoping her mom didn’t read into that one and checked her messages one more time before putting her phone away and clocking in.
That night was busy, but it made her immeasurably happy when she stole a look at her phone between tables and finally saw a message from Ethan.
“Is this Brian kid trying to piss me off?”
Laughing to herself, she sent back simply, “Yep.”
Her boss caught her looking at her phone and gave her the evil eye, so she slid it back into her pocket and headed back to her tables to see if anyone needed a refill. She didn’t even know if he responded—she was too busy to feel the vibration—but eventually it died down, and she was able to sneak her phone out when she ran to the bathroom.
“It’s working,” he sent back.
Grinning, she reminded him that Brian was doing them a big favor, then asked again if he wanted her to stop over on her way home.
Since she didn’t want to get caught on her phone again—it was not unheard of for her boss to confiscate them if he saw them more than once on a busy night—she waited in the bathroom for him to respond.
“I would love that, but I’m going to be at the house. Ali’s books showed up today.”
It made her feel guilty to feel so immediately disappointed; she knew he would be unavailable to her sometimes. Still, it bugged her that she was only working until eight and it would take her about a half hour to get to his place—how late did his kids stay up?
Shoving it to the back of her mind, she tucked her phone away and headed back out on the floor.
---
Two full days passed before Willow got to see Ethan again.
By the time he invited her over, she’d begun wondering if he was regretting their hastily made decision to get together. They were so good together when it was just the two of them, but that wasn’t Ethan’s life. It never would be.
When they finally got together, it wasn’t until late since she had to close. It felt like little more than a booty call, but she reasoned she was allowed to answer booty calls from her own boyfriend.
Boyfriend. It still seemed weird to call him that.
Despite her anxiety about regrets he might be having, once she was at his apartment again, the scent of him enchanting her, his touch seducing her, his smile wrapping around her heart and squeezing, any doubts melted away.