Page 65 of Salvation
“Because it’s—”
“Complicated,” Willow finishes for me. “Yeah, I got that. Look, don’t treat me like a child who can’t possibly understand big emotions. I know what I see.”
“Oh, yeah?” I ask, quirking a brow. “And what’s that?”
There once was a time when I was her age, and people tried to act like I didn’t know things either. They told me I was too young to know I wanted to marry Ivy. Too young to know what love was. Too naïve to understand my feelings. But they were wrong. Maybe life didn’t turn out how I planned, but I always knew what I felt. So, it’s the least I can do to listen to what she has to say.
Willow shrugs as if this is all so simple. “You love her. And she loves you, too.”
She at least got the first part right. I love Ivy. I always have, but love doesn’t always mean you get the girl.
“She’s engaged.” The words burn so badly it’s like acid on my tongue. I don’t know what I walked into the other night. All I know is that I opened the door, and he was crowding her with anger in his eyes, and in my book, that should mean that he doesn’t get her, either. But that’s not how this works. I don’t get a say in Ivy’s life just because we share the girl in front of me.
“No, she isn’t.” Willow’s voice pierces through my thoughts, and it takes a second for me to process what she said.
“What?”
Willow’s sigh is as dramatic as only a teenage girl can be. She puts her hands on her hips, staring me down, and I won’t lie—she terrifies me. She’s still dressed in black from head to toe with the only color on her being from flecks of paint, but that’s not why she scares me. She scares me because she’s a perfect reminder of everything I’ve always wanted.
“That man from the other night was her ex-fiancé. She told me that herself. Looks like you have no more excuses.” She punctuates her sentence with a shrug of her shoulder as if the news she just delivered didn’t rock into me with the power of an explosion.
“Are you sure?” I asked breathlessly.
Willow looks as if she might be ready to hit me. “I’m starting to think my brains came from Ivy.”
Her voice is so unimpressed that I probably would’ve laughed if I weren’t currently trying to wrap my head around the fact that Ivy is no longer engaged.
Ivy isn’t engaged.
IVY IS NOT ENGAGED.
I don’t know what I’m supposed to do with that information because there is still so much unresolved between us. But I know what I want to do because once upon a time, I promised myselfthat if there were ever a chance to get Ivy back, I’d take it. No hesitation. And without even realizing I’ve made the decision, I know that’s what I’ll do now. A foreign feeling of hope sparks in my chest.
“I love her,” I say, suddenly unable to keep that fact to myself.
“No-duh.”
I narrow my eyes. “Your attitude is bigger than you are.”
Willow narrows her eyes back at me. “That I must get from you.”
This time I do laugh. It sounds rusty, like my vocal chords don’t quite remember how to do it, but that feeling of hope spreads further with the sound.
“No, that would be my brother, Isaiah.”
“You have a brother?”
“Yeah. He’s older than me,” I say, feeling a knot tighten in my throat because it makes me sad whenever I think about Isaiah. He’s become a topic I’ve started to avoid. I had a hero-worship for him growing up. What younger brother doesn’t look at their older brother that way? But he’s not the same guy I grew up with.
“Do you have any other siblings?”
Willow is so hot and cold, it surprises me that she’s asking about my life, but I’m glad she is. I want her to know about my family, just like I want to know about her.
“I do. A younger sister, Ali.”
“Do I get my sparkling personality from her because I don’t think that’s from you, either?” Her quip might have hurt if I didn’t recognize the glimmer in her eyes. She’s goading me, andthatshe really does get from me.
“I don’t know. Does yours sparkle?” I ask with a pointed look at her clothes.
