Page 27 of The Fangirl and the Playboy

But that darkness is finally clearing. Willow wants to be friends again, and I’ll take whatever I can get of her. I don’t know if it’ll be the same as it was over a decade ago. We’re both different people now.

But the important thing is that now, I’ll finallyknowif we still connect the way we did when we met, became instant friends, and slowly fell in love. We both will.

Hopping up the front porch steps, I pause to take a few deep breaths before lifting a fist to knock on the door. Footsteps echo from the other side, and when the door swings open, I’m greeted with a wicked smile from Keegan.

Giving me a nod in greeting, she turns her head to loudly call out, “Willow, your date is here.”

“Oh, we’re just friends,” I blurt, and the feisty blonde arches a single brow.

“Mm-hmm. Come on in.”

I follow Keegan, pausing only to close the door behind me, and when we walk into the kitchen, I spot Willow and Trace with their heads together. She sees me and hisses something I can’t hear, then Trace looks my way and frowns.

Shit. Did she tell him the truth about us already? I thought we’d ease our way into it. If we decided to tell him at all, that is.

“Don’t worry. I’ve got this,” Keegan whispers from the corner of her mouth.

Striding toward them, she pulls Trace into a hug, nuzzling her face against his chest. His frown flips into a contented smile, and I can tell I’ve been forgotten as he enjoys the moment with his woman.

Willow glides my way with a half-smile, stopping beside me before murmuring, “Sorry about that. Keegan’s little joke about you being my date got his feathers all ruffled. I swear that man sometimes acts like I’m still fifteen years old.”

“You were almost that young when we met,” I whisper back, cringing internally at the wistfulness in my voice.

We’re friends, Gavin. That’s all.

“I remember,” she breathes, cutting off my silent self-directed pep talk, exhibiting no small amount of nostalgia, herself. Then she seems to shake it off, asking, “So, how does it feel to be back here after all these years?”

“Here, at the house? Or in Evening Shade?”

“Both, I guess,” she says, motioning for me to follow her deeper into the kitchen.

“Strange,” I admit. “I noticed when we filmed here the other day that it looks exactly the same as it did back then. Nothing has changed.”

And yet, everything has changed.

“Trace just moved back in here with Keegan,” Willow says as she guides me through another door and into the dining room. “The place has been empty pretty much since Grandpa passed away, and he was never inclined to redecorate.”

“I’m sorry for your loss,” I offer, and she shakes her head with a smile.

“Thank you. We had a great life with him, and he’s been gone a few years, now, so we can remember him with joy and love and not sadness.”

“Now that we’re not working like the last time you were here,” Keegan says as she and Trace follow us into the room, “I just have to say…it’s really weird seeing a grown-up Lucas Lumin inside Aria’s house. Can we take a selfie?”

Trace groans audibly, and Keegan shoots me a devilish smile that tells me that whole comment was for his benefit. Like she enjoys getting under his skin. Willow chuckles under her breath, so I play along and offer Keegan my bright, Hollywood smile.

“Of course! Anything for the lady of the house.”

She lets out a celebratory yip and scurries toward me with her phone. Holding it up, she frowns when she can’t get us both in the shot. She’s too short and her arms aren’t long enough. But before I can offer to take it, she shoves the phone in Trace’s direction.

“Hey, babe, can you take the picture?”

Her expression is innocent enough, but I can feel her practically vibrating next to me with excited energy. It dawns on me that she’s not just teasing him in good fun, that this is some calculated move on her part. Like she’stryingto antagonize him, in hopes of…what?

I don’t think I want to know.

“We’ll be discussing this later,” he mumbles as he takes the phone from her hand.

Her cheeks go pink as she smiles for the picture, and after he snaps the shot and hands her phone back, she whispers, “I can’t wait.”

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