Page 27 of The Run Option

A smile pulls at my lips. “We should probably talk about how we met first, though I guess that’s easy. We met on your first day, when you introduced yourself to the team. I still remember thesassy remark you made about how egotistical I was for thinking you knew my name already.”

She doesn’t laugh like I thought she would. Instead, something like hurt flashes across her expression. She’s quick to smooth it away, but I know I saw it. Did I get something wrong? Maybe I misremembered our first interaction and I was more of a jerk than I realized.

“Yeah, I remember that too,” she says, her voice sounding off. “It’s going to be hard to convince everyone that we were falling in love all that time instead of…”

“Me flirting with you while you got annoyed?” I fill in and she lets out a little laugh.

“You don’t always flirt with me. Sometimes you tease me.”

I raise a brow. “That’s flirting. I’ve been trying to make you smile since the day we met.”

There’s that dark expression again. I must be missing something.

“Is everything okay?” I ask.

She scrunches her nose. “Of course. I mean besides the fact that I have to marry a guy I barely know.” She takes a sip of water. My brow furrows. She’s hiding something, but I don’t want to push too much. Tonight is already a lot.

“We’ll need to get to know each other better too. But before that, the story,” I remind her.

She draws in a deep breath. “Right, our love story.”

I chuckle when she cringes. “You’re going to have to be able to say the word love without looking like you ate a lemon.”

“It’s not easy. This isn’t how I thought my life would go.”

I laugh. “Do you think this was what I imagined?”

She waves me off. “You’ve had a girl hanging off your arm at every event you’ve been to. I’m not convinced you’ve thought past the next party you’re going to.”

I clench my jaw. There’s my past, following me again. I can’t escape it. It’s moments like these where I wonder why I bother trying. I could give up and embrace what everyone thinks of me. I’ll go to club openings and accept all the alcohol sponsorships that come my way. Maybe one day after I retire, they’ll make some mildly funny commercial about me still partying in my fifties. It would be easier. I think of my brother, Shepherd, and it grounds me. He needs a role model. He deserves better than a brother whose only accomplishment in life is on a field.

“I guess we do need to get to know each other better,” I say, trying to keep my tone light. Judging by the way Willow’s face falls, I failed.

“I shouldn’t judge you so harshly. It’s none of my business if you date every girl in the country.”

The knife in my chest twists. If I could go back in time and beat my younger self over the head until I stopped being an idiot, I would. But I can’t, so I guess this is the consequence for all that time wasted on booze and women.

“Actually, it kind of is your business,” I say with a forced laugh, hoping to change the subject.

Our waiter comes over before she can respond. He sets down our bread and olive oil, then refills each of our waters before leaving once more.

“I think we should keep our story simple,” I say once he’s gone. “We fell in love the more time we spent together. I liked your sass, you thought I was funny.” She rolls her eyes. I shake my head, a smile on my lips. “Soon enough I asked you out because I couldn’t take another minute of not being with you, and then we kept everything quiet because we wanted privacy.”

Willow nods. “Sounds believable enough. What do we say to the people who know us? I doubt Aaliyah will believe we were in love this whole time and I didn’t say a word.”

“They might be skeptical, but I think they’ll be happy for us, and the ring and wedding will wash away any doubts on their part.”

She tears off a piece of bread and dabs it in the oil, a contemplative look on her face.

“And our families?” Her question is laced with anxiety.

I shrug. “My parents are likely to take everything in stride. My brother might be harder to convince. He’ll probably be offended I didn’t tell him sooner, but I think it’ll be fine. I’m guessing you’re worried about yours?”

She bites her lip. I avert my gaze, heat spreading through my chest. She’s too beautiful. Like some kind of siren designed for my demise.

“I tell Granny Mae everything. I highly doubt she’ll believe our story. My parents…I hope I don’t disappoint them too much.” Her dejected tone makes me raise my eyes again. She’s abandoned the bread, as if she can’t even stomach a bite.

Without thinking, I reach across the table and take her hand in mine. Willow stiffens, but doesn’t pull away.

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