Page 71 of Love Me Steadfast
Garett slinks down the hall, still holding his nose.
Breathing fast, William spins to me, the planes of his face sharp in the darkness, his chest heaving. If I didn’t know him better, I’d be frightened.
“Are you okay?” I ask him.
But it’s like he didn’t hear me. “Sweetheart, did he hurt you?” The tenderness in his tone shatters the last of my panic. In its place comes a confusing mess of feelings. Anger. Shame. A sense of vulnerability I’m desperate to smother.
But he called me sweetheart. “No,” I finally manage.
“Does that guy work at The Limelight?” William asks.
“He’s a bartender.”
William glances down the hall, but the party’s rolling on, unaffected. Did anyone even notice Garett leaving with a bloodied nose?
The relief that I’m safe makes my knees wobble. I lean closer to Will, my fingers bracing on his waist.
“Hey,” he says in a soft voice, those eyes filling with compassion.
“I’m okay,” I say, blinking back tears.
With a heavy sigh, he draws me to his chest.
I don’t think, I just curl into him. That initial relief feels even more powerful inside his embrace. I let it wash over me. I’m safe. With William, I always feel safe.
He wraps his arms gently around my shoulders, and we stand there breathing. His wildly beating heart slows against my chest, like holding me is calming for him too.
I soak in one more slow inhale, drawing his scent all the way into my lungs, then step back. “We should get back to the party.“
William’s eyes turn pained, but before he can say anything, Theo slips into the hallway, his gaze locking with mine.
I brace for his reaction to the lingering tension between Will and me or questions about Garett fleeing the party, but my worries take a backseat when Theo beckons me close. “I think Morgan’s drunk,” he says in my ear.
Chapter Twenty-One
WILLIAM (AGE 16)
I parkon the street at Charlotte’s house and step down, my boots sinking into the crusty snow plowed from the roads after last night’s storm. Everything is covered in white. White roofs, white pine boughs, white lawns, white cars. Even with the low clouds obscuring the jagged mountains, it’s seriously pretty. Clean, almost peaceful.
And totally opposite of the chaos going on inside me.
Because of the holiday break, I haven’t seen Charlotte since the Christmas party two weeks ago. I know from Theo that he and Morgan got into a raging fight after the party, and he feels like shit now. But he has a right to be worried given that their mom is a drunk.
But he hasn’t mentioned anything about Garett. I was prepared for the story about the fight to make it to Ray and for him to tip off Zach, but so far nothing’s come of it. I should be relieved. Instead, it’s eating at me.
That and my mistake. Calling her sweetheart.
In my defense, I was out of my mind. Afraid I’d been too late.
Charlotte slips from her house dressed in stone-colored chinos rolled up, boots, and her blue puffy jacket. A knitted woolhat with a white pompom covers her head and her silky hair is tied back in a loose braid.
“Morning,” I say, meeting her in the driveway, stuffing my cold hands into my pockets to keep from reaching for her.
“Morning.” She flashes me the hint of a smile.
It’s like being hit by an electrical current. I fucking live for her smiles.
“Wow, it really dumped last night, didn’t it?” She high-steps through a corner of her yard to reach the passenger side of the truck.
