Page 86 of Mine to Take

I just need to be patient.

My mind trips back to the library and everything I’d divulged. I never expected that opening up and sharing my fears about Mom would be so easy. The words had tumbled off my tongue before I could stop them. We might not know each other well, but I feel like I could share my deepest darkest secrets with her.

Stranger than that, I trust her to keep my confidence.

And I don’t have any reason to believe that. Especially when she’s with the one guy I can’t fucking stand.

But I do.

The knowledge is innate.

There are times in life when you meet someone that you instantly click with. Someone you feel like you’ve known forever, even though that’s not the case.

It’s a rare occurrence.

Like a shooting star.

That’s exactly what it feels like with Willow.

I’m afraid that if I loosen my grip, I’ll lose it.

I’ll lose her.

The more time we spend together, the more wrapped up in her I get.

I’m afraid of what will happen if she decides not to end it with River.

That thought is enough to have my fingers tightening around the steering wheel until the knuckles turn bone white.

It takes effort to loosen them.

I flick another glance in her direction. What I’ve discovered from the little time we’ve spent together is that she’s not very adept at hiding her feelings. Every thought is written across her expressive features for all to see.

It’s just one of the things I like about her.

Her kindness is the other. It hadn’t been easy to divulge my diagnosis, but when I did, she treated it as if it were normal.

As if I were normal.

Until that moment, I hadn’t realized that it was a burden I carried with me. Like it was a dirty secret, even though no one in my family had ever made me feel that way.

Sharing it with Willow had somehow lightened the load.

I steal another glance at her. The way she avoids my gaze, all the while pinning her lower lip with her teeth, is just more evidence that she’s conflicted about the situation.

It’s not like either of us saw this coming.

Sure, maybe the first night I took her home it was to strike out at River. But that had only been a small part of it.

More like the cherry on top of a decadent sundae.

The real reason is that I wanted her.

Had to have her.

I consider broaching the subject as I turn into the parking lot of Harvey’s Eats and Treats.

Maybe that’s exactly what I need to do.

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