“So are you,” he said, the words garbled.
“Nope.” I chewed and swallowed. “You’ve got some crumbs in your beard.”
“You wanna get ’em for me?” he asked, taking a step forward.
That girl with dark hair flashed through my mind. Did she do that? Make sure he didn’t have food on his face? Did they laugh about it?
“No, thank you,” I answered after I’d swallowed the last of my food. “I’ve played that game before. It didn’t end well for me.”
His head jerked back like I’d slapped him. “We’re doin’ this now, then? Alright,” he said, tilting his head to the side.
“I think it’s better if we’re just friends or something,” I replied, reaching for the water bottle I’d left on the floor near the bed.
“We’ve never been friends,” Will pointed out.
“Ouch,” I mumbled, lifting the water bottle to my lips. “Fair enough.”
“You wanna have this out?” he asked softly, coming closer. “Let’s have this out.”
“There’s nothing to have out,” I said, meeting his eyes.
“Baby, don’t play that game.”
“No game.” I shrugged my shoulders and winced. “You moved on.”
“I didn’t fuckin’ move on,” he argued. “Told you that.”
“You were sleeping with someone else.”
“That doesn’t mean shit,” he growled, throwing his arms out to the side. “Just sex once in a while.”
“You sound like a cliché.”
“It’s the truth! She knows the score. We hung out a few times around the club, fucked when we felt like it.”
“And outside the club,” I countered. “I saw you, remember?”
“Fuck yeah, I remember.” He leaned forward at the waist, pointing toward the door. “I haven’t been with her since.”
“Should I be happy about that?” I asked incredulously.
“You shouldn’t feel anything about it!” he snapped. “It’s not even relevant.”
“You dumped me and started sleeping with her,” I shot back. “Pretty fucking relevant!”
“Jesus Christ,” he mumbled, rubbing his hands over his face.
“Getting frustrated?” I asked in mock pity. “Poor thing.”
“The fuck is wrong with your mouth?” he asked, looking at me in surprise. “When did you become a goddamn harpy?”
“I never had a reason before!” I yelled back, pushing to my feet. “Because stupid me, I never even thought we were fighting before you disappeared!”
“So this is the shit I have to look forward to?”
“You don’t have anything to look forward to!” I screamed back, my mouth snapping shut when I realized how loud we were being.
“Bullshit!” he roared back, making me startle in surprise. “You wanna bitch at me? Hate me? Fuckin’ hit me? Fine! But don’t pretend that we won’t be together.”
“You made that decision!”
“’Cause I’m a fuckin’ idiot!” he yelled toward the ceiling. He dropped his head back down. “You know I’m a fuck up.”
“You’re not a fuck up,” I snapped back.
“Baby, my head was all over the place back then,” he said softly, apology written all over his face. “Didn’t know what to do, so I dropped the only thing that made sense.”
“Me,” I said flatly. “And how did that work out for you?”
“Knew I was an idiot the minute I walked out the door,” he replied softly. “The instant I said that shit to you and your face fell like I’d slapped you.”
I looked away from him. I had no idea what to say. Part of me was glad that he’d realized his mistake that fast, but the other part of me hated him for never trying again. He’d walked away like I was nothing, like Rebel and I were nothing.
“You never came back,” I murmured softly, my eyes watering.
“Knew you wouldn’t see me,” he said, his voice as soft as mine. “Didn’t blame you.”
“So you would’ve just never seen us again?” I asked, pushing him away as he tried to pull me closer.
“No way in hell,” he said, dropping his hands to his sides. “Was already plannin’ on callin’ you when you showed up at the clubhouse.”
“Easy to say,” I murmured.
“Swear to Christ, Molly,” he insisted. “I missed you like hell.”
“You just left,” I whispered, meeting his eyes. “Who does that?”
“I’m so sorry,” he replied, his voice cracking. He cleared his throat and shook his head slowly. “I’m so sorry.”
“Rebel asked for you, Will.” I sucked in a harsh breath as I shook my head. “She asked for you every day for a year. Do you know what that was like? She didn’t understand why you were gone. I didn’t understand why you were gone.”
“I’m sorry,” he said roughly. “I was so fucking wrong about everything. I love Rebel. You know I do. I’d never hurt her on purpose.”
“It doesn’t matter if you did it on purpose. You still did it.”
Will’s lips trembled and his eyes grew glassy, then he cleared his throat like he had something caught in it.
“You—” I choked, swallowing hard. “You made me feel like nothing.”
“Moll,” he whispered, his face falling. “Never, baby. You were never nothing. Not for a second.”