Page 82 of Still Love You

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Willow

Someone knocks on my window. I turn and see Trent's big head, smiling at me like he's already had a few drinks.

"You guys coming in or you gonna sit out here all night?" he asks through the glass.

I open my door. "We're coming."

He helps me out of the truck, his eyes sweeping over my body. "Holy shit, Willow, you look hot. You wanna be my date tonight?"

"Trent," Silas says in a warning tone as he meets up with us on the sidewalk.

"Yeah, I forgot," he says, walking beside me as we head to the house. "You have a boyfriend. What's his name again?"

"Shut up, Trent," Silas says, glaring at him.

I keep quiet. After that conversation we just had, I'm not addressing any questions about Silas and me. If people ask about us at the party, I'll change the subject. And I'll keep my distance from him. I'll have to control my natural inclination to hold his hand, kiss him, flirt with him. Those are all things a girlfriend would do and I made it clear just now that I am not his girlfriend. He gave me a chance to tell him how I felt about him, and about us, and I didn't. I just sat there and said nothing.

Now tonight, I'll have to watch as other girls go up and talk to him and flirt with him. I'll have to be okay with that, even though I'm not.

"Willow, I put you in charge of drinks," Trent says as we go in the house. He leads us to the kitchen, which is filled with grocery sacks.

"Good thing we came," Silas says. "Nothing's ready."

"I know." Trent hands him some sacks. "Start unloading. I don't know where the bowls are so you can just set the chips out in the bag."

"You can't do that," I say, taking the bags from Silas. "This is a party. It has to look nice. Do you have a table set up for the food?"

"Yeah." Trent nods toward the patio. "It's out by the pool."

"Do you have a tablecloth?"

Trent and Silas both laugh, then Trent says, "My mom would love you."

"Why? I don't get it."

"Never mind. Here." He hands me a plastic bag and inside it are two plastic tablecloths; a red one and a navy one.

"These are exactly what we need." I take them outside and put them on the two long tables that are set up by the pool. When I come back inside, I start searching for bowls. Silas and Trent are standing there watching me.

"Aren't you guys going to do something?"

"You seem to have this figured out," Trent says. "We don't want to get in the way."

I grab a stack of plastic serving bowls from under the counter. "You're just saying that so you don't have to help."

"Just tell us what to do and we'll get it done," Silas says.

I scan the kitchen, quickly figuring out what to do first. "Okay, you guys gather all the paper products and bring them outside. Then get the coolers set up. People will want drinks when they arrive. Then they'll want snack foods so those will go out next."

The guys get to work while I fill the bowls with chips. This is a good distraction. I need to be kept busy right now so I'm not thinking about Silas and what he said in the truck. Because when I think about it, it hurts. It hurts to not be able to tell him what he wants to hear. It hurts to want to be with him, but know that I can't. It hurts to think of him meeting someone else tonight, or sometime in the future. Because Silas is mine. I know I can't claim him like that, but my heart already has. He's my first love, and even if we're not together, a part of me will always love him.

"Hey." Silas walks back into the kitchen. "We got the paper stuff set up. Trent's out in the garage, filling the coolers with ice. What do you need me to do?" He smiles, which doesn't make sense. He should be mad at me for not saying something during that conversation. He was open and honest and I just shut down.

I'm holding a stack of plastic cups, but I set them down and hug him, squeezing him really tight.

He hugs me back. "Willow? Are you okay?"

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