Page 36 of Wish You Would

I’d just pushed through the employees-only door into the bar when I was stopped again, this time by Anya.

“Jesus,” I said as I slid to a halt mere inches from her. “What are you doing, lurking like a creep?”

Anya, ten feet taller than me and infinitely more confident, looked me over. “I wasn’t lurking,” she said. “Why are you so jumpy?”

As if her words were a hypnotist’s trick, my brain conjured up memories of this morning. The thoughts I’d had about this woman’s baby sister. The filthy, improper thoughts.

My face burned.

“Not jumpy,” I grumbled, maneuvering around her to duck behind the bar. “Just didn’t expect you.” I glanced over my shoulder, hoping the dimly lit room hid the flush on my cheeks. “Haven’t seen you since you got back. How’re you? Love the new hair.”

She hopped onto a stool across from me and planted an elbow on the counter, chin in hand. A chunk of purple hair fell over her forehead. “Good, good.” Her eyes dragged over me, an assessing light in their green depths. “Heard you’ve been hanging out with Parker.”

My hand froze on its way to the clipboard I’d been reaching for with my opening checklist on it. “A little bit,” I said, hoping the neutrality I was channeling translated into my voice.

Anya and I had become what I would call friends since I came home, much to my brother’s chagrin. I loved her, and loved her for him. But I was also a little scared of her. She had a distinct I know how to hide a body vibe. Great quality to have in a friend, you know, in case you ever needed to hide a body. Terrible quality if you somehow became the body she needed to hide.

If she knew how much time I wanted to spend with her sister, I’d fall into that second category, for sure.

“She said you’ve been teaching her to flirt?” Anya’s dark brows lifted skeptically. “Do you have a copy of this…lesson plan?”

At that, I laughed. “I do not,” I said, clicking a pen open and poising it over my checklist. “Basically, I’m just…talking her through her anxieties about it.”

I could feel Anya’s eyes on me as I studied the checklist as if I’d never seen it before. The tips of my ears burned. The words in front of me blurred. Something like guilt roiled through my stomach. But guilt for what? I hadn’t done anything wrong. Not really.

Not unless thoughts counted.

When Anya didn’t say anything else, I looked up. “Out with it, woman. I’ve got work to do.”

Her gaze held mine for a couple quite beats before she spoke. “Just…” She exhaled, eyes moving to something over my shoulder. “Be careful with her, all right? She’s—”

“Too good for this world?” I finished before I realized the words were even forming in my mind.

Anya nodded. “Yes. That.” A soft smile curved her mouth. “Very that.”

“I know.” My heart stumbled, the reminder I didn’t need solidifying what I already knew. “Believe me.”

She studied me. I let her. If she was worried I’d hurt her baby sister, she didn’t have to be. I wouldn’t be getting close enough to. After last night, after looking into her blue, blue eyes and glimpsing a goodness I’d never before witnessed in this cold world…

Well, distance would become my best friend.

No matter how desperately I wanted to pull her closer.

16

16 PARKER

ONE WEEK

One week.

It’d been one week since my last lesson with Gigi. One week since she’d run out of my apartment without looking back.

After she left, Simon and I had stood in the kitchen, staring at the swinging kitchen door until it stilled.

“Well,” Simon had said, hands on hips. “Clearly, I interrupted something.” He then eyed me, hazel eyes seeing way too much. “I thought you said she was a friend.”

I looked away from his too-knowing stare and began cleaning up the kitchen. “She is,’ I said, taking our glasses to the sink. As I rinsed them out, I added, “And you didn’t interrupt anything.”

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