Page 79 of Fast & Reckless
“It was.” He smiled at her, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Come on. Night’s not over yet. Let’s walk over the bridge.”
They’d already taken a big risk, going out to dinner tonight. If they were smart, they’d grab a cab back to the hotel now. But she could never seem to hang on to her smart, sensible side around Will. It was a beautiful, warm summer night and he was right here in front of her looking absolutely edible in jeans and a T-shirt, and she wanted to enjoy him as much as she possibly could for as long as it lasted.
“Let’s go.”
The pedestrian walkway was crowded with people, and Will, a baseball cap covering that gorgeous head of dark hair, barelystood out. The sun was low over the horizon, setting New York Harbor afire with colors. At the center of the bridge, they stopped and found a spot along the railing, staring out across the water.
“It’s so beautiful,” she sighed.
When she glanced at him, he was facing her, and the look in his eyes made her heart tumble over in her chest. He reached out to tuck a curl behind her ear, his fingers lingering on the side of her face. His expression shifted, and he licked his lips. Her chest tightened, feeling like something momentous was about to happen, like he was about to say the words that had been fighting to burst out of her all week. “Mira—”
“Hey, you’re Will Hawley! I can’t believe it!”
She startled, jerking around. It was a young guy, maybe sixteen, and British. She cursed herself silently. Some anonymous restaurant in Brooklyn was one thing. The Brooklyn Bridge was packed with tourists from abroad, and a lot of them probably watched racing. They’d been so stupid.
Will tugged the front of his baseball cap down instinctively. “I, ah …”
The kid raised his phone. “Can I take your picture? My mates’ll never believe I saw you here!”
She reached out for Will’s arm in a panic. “No!”
Immediately, he stepped in front of her and reached for the kid’s phone. “Here, we’ll do a selfie.”
“Seriously?”
Will turned the kid the other way, angling his phone at their faces and away from her. She finally exhaled, turning her back to them and keeping her head down. Will exchanged a few words with the starstruck racing fan and then sent him on his way. He came to join her, leaning his elbows on the railing.
“Sorry about that.”
“No,I’msorry.”
“What are you sorry for?”
“You shouldn’t have to do this. The sneaking around, the subterfuge, the lying. I mean, my dad thinks I’m in Thailand with Violet!” She swallowed hard around the lump in her throat. “You wouldn’t have to do any of this if you were here with anyone else.”
He was quiet for a minute. Then he shifted closer until his shoulder was pressed against hers. Slowly he reached out and took her hand in his, threading their fingers together. “You know I don’t want to be here with anyone else, Mira. Just you. But I want all of you. The daytime hours, too. I’m tired of pretending you don’t exist when …” He exhaled hard, staring out over the water. “When I’m thinking about you all the fucking time.”
It was just what she wanted to hear, but the way he said it—defeated and mad—made her feelterrible.
“You know how complicated this is for me.”
“I get it. You’ve been through shit I can’t even imagine. But—”
“I know. Hiding isn’t going to make everything magically better.”
“Look, what if you just start with your dad?”
She sputtered a laugh, imagining Will coming to meet her dad before a date, like some old TV show from the fifties. Her dad would be thehardestplace to start. “You’re ready to face my dad? Really?”
“Yeah, I’m ready.” He paused, looking at her uncertainly. “Unless you’re not? If you don’t think—”
“No.” She grabbed at his forearms. “It’s not just my dad, Will. It’s everyone. A lot of ugly stuff is going to get stirred upagain the minute my name is attached to yours. Are you ready for that?”
He scoffed. “Ugly press is my specialty, remember?”
She squeezed his hand with hers. “But you shouldn’t have to deal with it. It’s not fair to you.”
“Hey.” He took her face in his hands, heedless of who might see them. “It’s not fair to you that you ever had to deal with it at all, especially when you were just sixteen. I’m a grown-up. I can handle it. For you, I want to.”
