Chapter 328
THERON
With nothing to do with myself, I arrived early at the café almost an hour before the time I was to meet with Willa.
At seven on the dot, she walked in. There were dark circles under her eyes. She looked tired.
Seemed like someone else apart from me hadn't slept well last night.
Still she looked beautiful. Didn't even matter that she hadn't bothered to dress up today.
"Willa," I said, raising my hand.
But she had already spotted me. I stood up as she approached, pulled out a chair for her.
She hesitated, then took the chair across from me.
"Thank you for meeting me," I said and leaned forward to touch her arm.
She drew her arm back, started fiddling with the zipper of her jacket. The gesture was not lost on me. She was still really mad at me.
"I said I would come," she said shortly, addressing the zipper.
"Still... thank you." I looked around for an available Waiter. "Do you want anything? It's my treat."
"No," she said, still without looking at me.
There was a tense awkward silence. It felt odd talking to Willa like this, like we were two total strangers. I supposed I had myself to blame for that.
I cleared my throat.
"I didn't mean to hurt you," I said, choosing my words carefully. Couldn't risk saying the wrong thing again. "Or maybe I did... but not like that. For what I did, I'm sorry. I was angry. Jealous, if I'm being honest. Watching you pick Lucian. After everything..."
I shook my head slowly. It was surprising to me still. That Lucian could behave like a jerk over and over again. Yet Willa would still pick him.
"Does that justify humiliating him, then dragging me into it?" she said and the rest of her words came in a rush. "Seriously, Theron. You couldn't even pick a better spot for your confrontation? What if someone heard what happened and decides to make it the next topic of hot gossip around the school? Did you think of that? Or were you too focused on getting even with Lucian to even stop and think?"
I hung my head, grimacing. I definitely deserved that.
"You're right," I said humbly. "There was no justification for what I did."
When I looked up, I found Willa glaring at me. She looked away, focused on a spot on the table.
"You should know that I loved Sylvia," I said, leaning forward. "And yes, Lucian slept with her... but I should have been mad at her. Not him. After all it was she who made the decision to cheat while she was in a relationship with me. I guess I held on to my hate for Lucian because it was easier than admitting to myself that I lost Sylvia."
A frown creased Willa's brow. "So what was I then? A distraction? A pawn in your game for revenge?"
"No," I said quickly, my voice thick with suppressed emotion. "No. Please don't ever think that. You, Willa, are the only thing in months that felt real to me..."
Willa started, looked sharply at me.
I supposed my feelings were written plainly on my face because the several emotions chased themselves across Willa's; surprise, disbelief, guilt, but mainly surprise.
Honestly I didn't blame her. I had hardly been able to believe it too when I had finally realized the depth of my feelings for her.
I had always thought I would fall for someone else completely different from her but somehow without even trying, Willa had captured my heart in a way I couldn't explain.
"You- you should have told me you felt something," Willa said in a small voice and stared down at her hands. "So we wouldn't have kept on pretending. I had no idea. I don't want you think I was leading you on."
"It's not your fault," I assured her. "I didn't know I felt this way too until I knew how it felt to lose you to... him."
Willa started to say something, shook her head and remained silent.
"Please say something," I begged. "Anything."
"I- honestly, I don't know what to say. Lucian has already claimed me. I love him."
I reared back, stunned. How had things between them gotten so serious so fast?
"You love him?" I echoed in disbelief.
"It's not surprising," she said. "We've been friends for a while now and if you've been paying attention, you'll know I've always wanted Lucian." She spread her hands. "Why else do you think I went to such lengths to get him to admit his feelings for me?"
"I thought- I thought-"
I gave my head a little shake. It didn't matter what I thought about her and Lucian now. What mattered was my relationship with Willa.
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
