Page 35 of Utah

We started walking down the hallway toward the bedrooms.

“What were you say… saying to Crash’s sister?”

“When?”

I tripped over my feet, but the two of them luckily caught me before I took all of us to the ground.

“At the cemetery.”

“Oh, that. I said we knew she was hurtin’ over her brother, but we were too. He was one of us.” He looked like he wanted to add something else but refrained. Then again, I wasn’t in my right frame of mind, so I could be mistaken.

A shot of pain took my breath away when I moved the wrong way as they helped me onto the bed.

“I need a pill.”

“You don’t need a pill. Just go to sleep,” Rez said as he and Ace headed for the hallway, the click of the door closing echoing behind them.

19

During my shift, I texted Utah several times to check in and see how he was doing, but he never responded. When I reached out to my brother to have him give me an update, he didn’t answer either.They’re dealing with something right now. Calm down. It's not personal.I repeated these sentences over and over to assuage my slight paranoia. It barely worked.

I should’ve called off work. I should’ve stayed with him to make sure he was okay, but I didn’t. I wished I could turn back the clock and handle the situation differently. Then again, if I had that capability, I’d rewind time further back to when Utah and I first started hanging out. Would I have blown him off, knowing what I do now? We started off just messing around, but somewhere along the way, I caught feelings for him, even though I denied them to both him and myself. And now we were having a baby together. Would I honestly change all that if I could? I simply couldn’t land on an answer either way.

“You ready?” Will stood beside me, his smile deepening when I nodded and grabbed my purse.

“Thanks again for covering for me today. I really appreciate it.”

“Anything for you, Ria.”

His hand rested on the small of my back as he guided me toward the door. He wasn’t finished with his shift but offered to walk me to my car since it was close to eleven at night.

I unlocked my car door and opened it, but before I disappeared inside, he touched my arm.

“Hey, I wanted to ask you something.”

“What’s up?”

“Are you still not seeing that guy?”What an odd question out of the blue.

“Utah?”

He quickly glanced at my belly. “Yeah, him.”

“It’s…” I wanted to give him an answer, but I also wanted to guard my private life. “It’s complicated.”

“Oh.”

“Why?”

Both Knox and Utah mentioned they thought Will liked me, but I never picked up on that vibe from him. Not until right now. He stepped closer, causing me to retreat a step, essentially trapping me between him and the side of my car.

“I like you, Ria. A lot. And I think you like me too.” A slight breeze tousled his hair over his right eye. I always thought he needed a haircut but of course never voiced my opinion. He pushed his hair back, leaning in closer.

“I do like you, Will, but not—”

His lips pressed against mine before I could finish my sentence. Everything happened so quickly, I just froze, which in turn gave him the impression I didn’t mind him making this bold move on me.

I didn’t remember a single time when I perceived Will to have flirted with me. Had I been that oblivious? Then again, I’d been so wrapped up in all things Utah, I didn’t pay much attention to anyone else at all.

---