Page 23 of When You Wish Upon a Wideout

“Did too much football affect your hearing?” Sienna asked. “I said get out.”

“Sienna—”

“Leave, Beau.”

“Sienna—”

She groaned, spinning back around. “You know what? This place doesn’t take handouts.Idon’t take handouts. Especially from you.”

Rubbing a hand over his face, Beau watched Sienna as she stomped around the bar and lifted chairs, placing them on top of tables. He stood to do the same.

“Beau—”

“Can we justtalk?” Beau took a chair from her hands, lifting it. “I’m sorry about the money, alright?” Silently he added,I just want to be doing something.“That’s great you own the place. What happened to Mr. Maloney? Did he finally realize he was a drunk and probably shouldn’t be running a bar?”

“He died. Cirrhosis.” Sienna placed her hands on her hips. “What do you want to talk about?”

Beau glanced around, suddenly unsure and overwhelmed. “How have you been?”

Sienna scoffed and lowered her hands, moving to the next chair.

“Alright, look, I know I’ve been gone awhile—”

“Sixteen years,” Sienna corrected him.

Beau nodded. “I know I’ve been gone forever.”

“And what are you doing here now exactly? You dropped a hundred dollars on milkshakes the other day and would’ve done the same thing here tonight. You could clearly pay someone to take care of your parents’ house,” Sienna paused in thought and sighed. “I’m not sure why you haven’t already.”

Beau tongued his cheek. When it came to the house, he told his parents not to worry after buying them a home in Florida years ago. But he never could bring himself to sell it, to sever what little connected him to Brookwood, to Sienna. But judging by her dark, angry glare piercing him, Beau wondered if it would have been better if he had sold it years ago and erased any and all connection to the place. He could have hired someone to deal with everything in his childhood home Beau didn’t have the courage to face—like his brother Greg’s room, where he hadn’t stepped foot in since the day he died.

“Look,” Sienna began, placing her hands on her hips. “Thank you for the time you spent with Grace after the game. And for the milkshakes. But if you’re here because you feel guilty about leaving and never looking back, don’t. Most people here would jump if an opportunity ever came up. But those of us who stay, we’re doing alright.” She took a deep breath. “I’m doing alright.”

But I want you doing better than alright, Beau wanted to say, because there was a dullness in Sienna’s eyes, dark circles enveloping them. He didn’t need Grace’s letter to know the truth that made his gut clench and his chest ache—Sienna had been on her own for a long time.

“I didn’t sell the house because I’m a pussy, alright? I didn’t want to deal with what’s in there.” Beau swallowed heavily, and when Sienna looked up, the smallest flash of sympathy washed across her face. Because of all people, Sienna understood what it was like to tackle grief head-on. “And I didn’t want to face this. You. Hating me.”

Sienna tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. “You never came back.”

I did, he wanted to shout, but regardless whether he came back, he left again without her. “I’m here now,” was the best Beau could offer.

“And what do you want now that you’re here?”

Beau stepped forward, unable to stand the distance, and the closer he got, the lower Sienna’s eyes went, focusing on the floor. He tipped her chin up. “Another chance. To make things right.”

Sienna’s eyes pierced his before she stepped back out of reach. “What makes you think you deserve a second chance?”

“I don’t,” Beau said. “But you do.”Because I used to make you happy. And you deserve to be happy.

“Maybe I’m seeing someone.”

“What makes you think I’m talking about you and me likethat?”

I am. Kind of. Shit. I don’t know. Alright, I am. I’m wondering if you still taste like the first lick of a lollipop. I’m wondering if you’ll do that nervous, breathy half laugh right before I kiss you. I’m thinking about being a teenager on your roof and in your bed, wondering if you’ll still feel exactly like you did back then beneath me—damn near perfect.

Sienna didn’t give him an answer.

Beau swallowed. “Are you?”Please say no.

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