Page 6 of Stopped

As the evening rolled around, my unease increased, but it had nothing to do with campaigning or potentially becoming the youngest Town Supervisor in the history of Windhaven. No, it had everything to do with a certain six-foot-two Sheriff due to arrive at my house any moment. I tried to tell myself I wasn’t anxious about making a good impression, even as I raced through my cottage to clean up all the clutter and dust all the surfaces. I refused to talk about the giant bowl of Doritos or the expensive six-pack of beer I’d grabbed from the market on my way home—especially since I didn’t even drink beer.

My conflicted feelings over William had only become more tangled over the last few days. My cousin’s comment also stung a lot more than I wanted to admit. Maybe, just maybe, it was time to put the past to bed and start fresh. If anything, finding a way to act civil around the man would help when I was forced to work closely with him in the event I actually won the position. The fact that he’d grown from an attractive teen to a drop-dead gorgeous specimen of a man over the last decade was no small part of my antsiness.

My anxious energy increased exponentially as soon as the big black pickup truck pulled into my driveway. This was a terrible idea. Catastrophically terrible. I shouldn't have been so worked up over it. Once upon a time, Will and I spent every waking minute together that we could. I knew him better than anyoneand he knew me. But ten years was a long time. My mind kept tripping over the juxtaposition of so much shared history and such a long time since we were close.

He jumped out of his truck and sauntered toward the bed. I damn near swallowed my tongue and then promptly moved away from the window where I'd been staring like a creep. That was the last thing I needed. I slapped my cheeks a few times with my fingertips to clear the fog and swung the door open—very casually, I might add.

“Hi. You're here.” Casual went right out the window as my voice squeezed out a full octave higher than normal. I coughed and struck my chest with a fist to realign everything. “Sorry, hi. Thanks for coming.”

He skimmed me up and down from afar before the dimples in his cheeks grew deeper. “Hi.”

“Um, wanna beer?” I waved over my shoulder toward the kitchen. The movement was the exact opposite of casual.

“Oh… hell, why not?” He prowled, yes prowled, up the driveway, dropped a toolbox beside my car, and continued to advance toward the steps of my tiny porch.

I froze in place as he climbed the stairs and stepped into my personal space, his grin growing wider with every step. “Am I allowed to have that beer inside or are we going to stand here on this pretend porch?”

With only a handful of inches between us, I shouldn't have felt so overwhelmed, but damn if he wasn't imposing. I lifted my eyes to maintain eye contact and the mirrored tumult of his own mixed emotions struck like lightning to my core. My former best friend's face was still so painfully familiar, but age had robbed him of the softness of youth and replaced it with a harder edge. Remorse and longing, regret and reminiscence shown in his gaze. I was almost positive mine reflected the same.

“Please, come in.” I stepped back, faster than necessary, simply to find the space I needed to breathe. So many memories I'd mourned assaulted my mind in rapid fire flashes. There was still hurt there, but nostalgia and a sudden need to see if there was anything left to salvage burned hotter than the lingering pain.

“This is a nice place.” His hands disappeared into the back pockets of his jeans. “New build?”

I led the way into the kitchen, answering over my shoulder. “About five years old. It was one of those tiny home kits. Cost a fortune but my parents helped out a lot.”

“Nice. Bigger than most of those tiny house things I see.” He slipped into the kitchen behind me and immediately eyed the bowl of chips.

“I couldn't handle the super small ones. This was a compromise between the bigger ones and the super small ones.” I gently nudged the bowl toward him. Another pang of nostalgia hit without mercy. He’d always loved Doritos. Some things never changed, despite how many changes had come between us.

The crunch, crunch, crunch of the Doritos killed what little small talk we had managed as I cracked open the beer and set it beside the bowl. His thanks came in the form of a wink. The fact that he was sucking the red dust from his fingertips as he did it sent my mind into a tailspin.Okay, Mr. Doherty.Way to toy with a man’s body.

I turned away with a small huff and returned to the fridge for a drink and some space. I skipped the beer and went straight for the White Claws I kept on hand for when the mood struck. Again, not a great decision when I was already worked up.

“I think running for the position is a good idea, for what it’s worth. You were always going to go places. You'll be great for the role.” His uncertain smile as I glanced over the door of the refrigerator tugged at something in my chest. Hard.

“Thanks, Will. That… actually means a lot to me.”

A strained silence fell over us as we got trapped in the eye contact, a decade’s worth of things left unsaid screaming into the void. I wanted so badly to find a way to bridge the gap. He clearly wanted to say something, judging by the way his jaw clenched and opened and clenched again. Never in my lifetime had I ever seen this confident, capable person look so damn insecure and part of me, a part I'd long buried under hate and hurt and mourning, wanted to rush toward him and hug him until he was no longer so unsteady.

Again, he opened his mouth to speak and I held my breath. A quick dart of his tongue over his lower lip caught my attention, but the anticipatory silence fell flat and hollow once he finally uttered words I didn't realize I didn't want to hear until it was too late.

“Lemme take care of those brake lights and I'll be out of your hair.”

“Oh…” My heart plummeted as fast as my shoulders sank. “Sure. Thanks again.”

“It's my pleasure, EJ.” He stole a quick glance at my face, the charming smile I still pined for replaced by a sad, inadequate shadow. “I mean it.”

“Will…”

“It should only take about twenty minutes.” He spun on his heel, beer and chips both abandoned. Right alongside me.

“Sure. That's fine.” My words fell on deaf ears. He was already gone by the time the last syllable left my lips. Yeah, this was a terrible decision. Misplaced, unnecessary hate hadn’t hardened my heart nearly as much as I had thought it did.

Chapter Four

William

A full work weeklater, I was still kicking myself in the ass over turning into a bumbling fool during the greatest opportunity I'd had to truly apologize for how shitty I'd done Elijah in high school and how much I regretted it. I was so damn mad at myself I went out of my way to avoid him for the whole week. I'd done a full tune-up on his little Honda, left without saying goodbye, and straight up disappeared from his normal routes and favorite places to visit. Like the yellow-bellied coward I was.

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