Hearts & Minds | WATTY Winner

Chapter 25 | Sheet Music | Part 3

     Will followed. "Don't do this."

She stopped, turned on him. He took a step back.

"You've got some fucking nerve, asshole."

"I know. I know." He held up his hands as if she were pointing a gun at his chest. "But please. I just want to tell you what happened and then I won't bother you again."

She considered. Curiosity got the best of her. "Fine."

They walked to a parklet on 24th Street in front of a gift shop, Scribbledoodles, and sat found an unoccupied table. It was rickety on the cobblestones, and the metal chairs made awkward scraping noises. Will would not take his eyes off her—she could feel the heat of his gaze like kisses all over her face, hair, and body—yet she refused to look at him. In fact, she kept her arms firmly crossed over her chest, her back straight, and stayed slightly turned away from him. She watched the cars move slowly down the street, jockeying for spots in the Whole Foods parking lot next door.

"You hate me, don't you?" His voice was pleading. How pathetic.

"What do you think?"

"I can't stand the thought of you hating me. Please, please don't hate me."

She felt herself softening a little. What if he wanted her to take him back? What would she do? Technically, she and Sam had not yet slept together, although there had been plenty of foreplay. But Sam always stopped it, wanting to be sure she was ready. Mr. Chivalry! No. No way would she give in to the charms of Will Fucking Jones. She would simply make him suffer a little then be all Nora about it, all stoic and forgiving.

"I don't hate you. But how could you do what you did to me?"

"Believe me. I never meant to." He was quiet for a while. "Look. At first, I thought you and I weren't a serious thing, that we were just having a little fun. I mean, I really liked you, spending time with you. We're so alike, right?"

She didn't answer yes or no. Silently, she agreed.

"And as I got to know you better, I realized I had never felt this way about anyone in my entire life. Ever. And I knew."

"Knew what?"

"That I was in trouble."

Without thinking, she turned to him. He was studying the tabletop, running a little invisible pattern over it with his fingers, but met her gaze quickly, a hungry dog given a teensy scrap.

"I knew I loved you," he said. "I loved you. I still love you."

He paused again. Rainey waited.

"But I had no choice."

"There's always a choice, Will."

He shook his head and looked away, his hand clenching into a fist. He put it in his lap. "No. Not always. You probably know about my gambling from...from him."

Rainey tilted her head. "Sam Brandon did not have to say anything about your loser addiction. I figured it out all on my own. You and those damn lotto tickets. By the way, you owe me twelve dollars."

Befuddled, Will reached into his pocket for his wallet.

"Put that goddamned thing away! Jesus." He did. "The mistake I made is deciding to ignore the signs. I never said to myself, 'Ignore them.' It just happened. I was an idiot about you. Because I loved you, too." She stopped herself from saying more.

They sat there for a while. Will started to speak several times until Rainey thought she would scream at him. Finally, he spit it out.

"Iris has a lot of money."