Page 51 of Willow Vale

My fingers played with the button of his white shirt. “I wanted to apply for college again. At least try, but with River and the lack of money…I don’t see a point. I can’t be everywhere at once without failing somewhere. Ever since she’s started calling again, all I can hear is her saying that I’m just like her. What if that’s true? What if by failing, I give up and lose everything that matters? I can’t risk that.”

He was quiet, letting me talk it all out more for myself than for him. Still, he waited until I was done before asking, “Do you want to go to college?”

“I just said?—”

“Forget the fears. Forget about your mother. What do you want right now, in this moment? Because there isn’t anyone stopping you right now, and if there is tell me who they are, and I’ll set them straight. What do you want, Delilah?”

What do you want?

Did he know what that question meant to me? That someone was finally asking me what I wanted for a change? It was a seemingly insignificant question, but to me it meant the world.

“I want to go back to school. I don’t want to be scared anymore.” I meant it. There was no fear this time when I said it even if I had my doubts. The fear came with admitting that what I wanted was purely selfish. It had nothing to do with protecting anyone or doing the right thing. Now that I said it out loud to him, it felt a little less scary. Because he wasn’t judging me for wanting more than being just River’s guardian—something I would always be grateful for—but I wanted more for myself.

“There she is.” A smile touched his lips, and he tilted his head. “What else do you want?”

“I want to be able to sleep through the night without having my mother calling me constantly. Maybe change my phone number. I don’t know.” I tried to play that last part off as a joke, but Travis merely nodded.

“We can do that, how about we go tomorrow morning?” When I nodded, he leaned in and kissed the top of my head again. “Then that’s what we’ll do.”

We.

I realized he’d been on his knees in front of me while I sat on the chair all this time. But having him so close and allowing myself to take comfort in him even if for a few minutes, felt good. Better than good.

We stood together and once he was sure I was okay, he said he’d be out on the main floor until I felt comfortable going back out there.

“Thank you, Travis.”

“Anything for you, Delilah,” he said, meaning every word.

He turned and made to head for the door. I watched him, and something screamed at me in the back of my mind. So desperate and powerful that I couldn’t ignore it.

What do you want?

What I wanted was simple yet terrifying. It felt terrifying even as I reached for his hand to stop him from leaving.

“What’s wrong?” he asked me when he turned to face me.

I licked my lips, feeling my blood heat when his eyes went to my mouth.

“I thought of something else that I want.” He could easilyreject me. God knows I did the same to him in the past. Still, I said, “I want you to kiss me.”

His face became an unreadable mask and the second the words left my mouth I knew I’d made a huge mistake. Oh god, I was such an idiot. I tried to fix what I just saidquicklyand started to walk around him. “Forget I said anything. You know what, let’s just forget we even know each other, how about that? I should really get back to work.”

His hand slammed on the door before I could open it, startling me. I grimaced, slowly looking up at him. His face was still void of any emotion but his eyes were sharp, focused solely on me. “Forget. You think I can ever forget what you just said?” My breath caught in my throat as he slowly captured my face in his hands. “I couldn’t forget it even if I tried.”

Before I could say another word, he closed the space between us and leaned down to kiss me. The moment our lips brushed, I felt my whole world shift. My heart start back to life. As if I hadn’t been living up until this very moment.

His lips were soft against mine as we kissed, slow and short at first. Gentle pecks that gave me time to relish in the fact that Travis Adler was kissing me again. I lost all track of time. Kissing him was like having a first sip of hot coffee in the morning, rich and strong. Addicting. When we stopped for a brief second, we stared into each other’s eyes. Searching and curious, both in awe of each other. As if neither of us could believe this was happening. I felt him smile against my lips as he kissed me again.

Our short kisses turned longer when I went up on my tiptoes and wound my arms behind his neck. He took that as an invitation to deepen the kiss as his hand dug into my hair, tugging me back just enough.

I sighed when his tongue traced my lips. A silent request I was more than happy to grant.

The sound of the band starting to play reverberated through the walls. The music might as well have been a breeze because neither of us reacted to it as we consumed every sigh and whisper shared between each other.

Travis pushed us away from the door. He walked me backward, never once letting me come up to catch my breath. When my back hit another surface, I pulled my lips away from his to see that he’d backed me up against the counter along the wall which was home to an old coffee machine and a stainless-steel sink on the far left.

He lifted me off the ground and placed me onto the counter, making me gasp.

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