Nemesis

by Skye McDonald

  We talked for a long while. When the tabs were settled, Will leaned over and said in my ear, “Come home with me?”

  I turned my head to whisper back and brought us nearly mouth-to-mouth. “Do you even have to ask?”

  Nick and Ben fell into step on either side of Will in the time it took for me to grab my purse. He glanced over his shoulder with a raised eyebrow. I started to follow, but Celeste linked our arms.

  “Walk with me, Liv. Tell me about Will. What does he do? How do you know him? How long have you been together?”

  “I guess you could say we go way back. Why? And what are the guys up to?”

  “They’re just introducing themselves. Your friends love you.”

  I stopped walking and faced her, hand on my heart. “I love them. What’s the point?”

  Celeste pursed her lips, but her eyes smiled. “You’re different. When did you become so mellow?”

  I laughed. “Oh, please. I can still kick ass.”

  “No doubt.” She threaded our arms again, but I nudged her shoulder as we walked to let her know the question still stood.

  “Ben and Nick wanted Will to know how much you mean to us, just in case you decide to fall in love with him,” she said.

  The laugh that welled up came out like a nervous whinny. “Ease up, guys. We’ve barely been together a month.”

  Celeste snorted. “I’d known Benjamin for a month before you said to me… what was it? ‘You mean you don’t know he’s crazy about you?’”

  I smiled at the memory. “I know Will’s crazy about me.”

  “Mm-mm. You two are clearly crazy about each other. I didn’t know what you thought you saw that night we met, but I understand when I see you—and Nick—these days.”

  “You are way ahead of yourself,” I muttered over my heart in my throat. Celeste just hummed.

  We stopped at my car and said goodbye, promised to get together for a girls’ night soon, and then laughed at how different that would be. When she’d gone to join Ben, I coasted over to where Will idled down the row and followed him to the Gulch.

  I met him at his front door since I had to park in the guest lot. He pulled me in for a kiss and said, “How about wine on the terrace?”

  “Perfect.”

  We walked in, and I hung my purse on the hook by the door he’d reserved for me. While he uncorked a bottle, I went to the bathroom and pulled my hair into a ponytail, then stashed the brush in “my” drawer and pulled out the bottle of makeup remover that sat there, too. It made me smile every time I was here to notice the little ways he’d made space for me in his home. I wanted to be cool about it, but oh, my god, did it feel good.

  He handed me a glass when I floated out to the terrace. I sat down and propped my feet on his thigh. Will chuckled as he slipped my shoe off and massaged my arch, like a fucking perfect boyfriend would.

  “Is everyone you know in the music business?”

  I laughed. “It feels that way sometimes. What can I say? I grew up in Music City USA. Nashville earned her nickname.”

  “What’s your favorite song of all time?”

  “‘The Rainbow Connection.’ My grandma used to sing it to me. It’s so beautiful.” I smiled, suddenly choked with nostalgia. “What’s yours?”

  Will shrugged. “I’ve been deep into Jason Isbell lately. ‘Cover Me Up’ is a favorite.”

  “Go you, picking a local artist! That’s a love song to his wife, right?”

  “Mm-hm. Talk about beautiful.”

  I knotted my fingers and blurted the question on my mind. “Hey, so, what did the guys say to you?”

  He swirled the wine, an amused smirk on his lips. “Oh, just your basic vetting of the new guy. Nothing of note.”

  My frown made him smile deeper.

  “It’s fine. I’m glad to know your friends look out for you. It’s a bit ironic, though, considering I’ve known you longer than all of them.”

  “Celeste said they wanted to get to know you in case we decided to fall in love.”

  Wow, good work, genius. Yet again, a rewind button on life would be useful. Couldn’t keep that train in the station at all, could you? Next stop, awkward town.

  But the awkwardness was the least of my problems. The worst part of my free-falling stomach was the reason behind it. Deep, deep in the places of myself I never let show, I desperately wanted him to confirm that we were, in fact, already in love. I wanted to hear I wasn’t crazy for thinking my feels were real. I wanted to hear that he got the early flight because he wanted to come home to the person he loved.

  Will’s hand froze on my foot, his face shuttered in that famously guarded expression. “Olivia,” he said softly.

  Damage control. Play it off. No big deal, nothing to see here.

  Before he could say more, I dropped my feet, drained the wine, and gave him a saucy eyebrow. “But that would be absurd, wouldn’t it? My friends are great, but dial it down guys, right?”

  He leaned too, tracing my jaw. “Liv, maybe we should talk about—”

  “Shh.” I pressed my finger to his lips. “You’ve forgotten something, Langer. Your games got you in trouble last weekend. I suggest you stop while you’re only this far behind.”

  His brows lifted, and my stomach tentatively began to find its rightful place again. I stood, hands on hips. “I’ve had a whole week to plot my revenge. Where do you keep all those pretty ties of yours?”

  Will hissed in a breath and loomed over me, fingers sliding into my hair. “Dammit, Olivia, I spent six hours in an airport, almost half of them in lines and on the phone, just to get a flight home. Do you honestly think I endured all that bullshit so you could exact revenge for a little teasing over dinner?”

  His voice was dark and deep, but definitely not annoyed. I licked my lips and fisted his shirt. “Yeah, I do, actually.”

  He tilted my face up with a jerk on my hair. “Damn right. So do your worst. I dare you.”

  The sun had barely slashed a few streaks of orange across the sky when I shuffled back out to the patio to breathe in the fresh air. Snuggled into the blanket wrapped around my shoulders, I leaned on the rail and gazed at the city.

  “I love you, Will Langer,” I whispered to the morning.

  Alone, it was such an easy thing to say, so delightful to hear. And besides, if these swollen lips and bite marks don’t scream love, what does? I laughed.

  The swoosh of the sliding door made me glance over my shoulder. Will yawned and scratched the back of his disheveled head. Even with those curls standing out at every conceivable angle, he defined sexy. He grinned and came to stand behind me, arms hugged around my ribs.

  His wrists in the pale light made me hiss. I caressed the red ring of raw skin. “Holy shit, that has to hurt. You shouldn’t have strained so hard on that bind.”

  “Couldn’t be helped. You drove me completely wild.” He kissed my ear but eased away from my touch.

  “Do you have aloe? I’ll dress it for you.”

  “After how filthy you were last night, I’m surprised you’d be so sweet.”

  His tease made me laugh and turn my gaze up to him.

  “Aren’t you exhausted?” he asked when I didn’t reply. “We haven’t slept.”

  I nodded, but neither of us cared. His lips got closer, and I leaned in. Then it was just us again, drunk on this need to taste each other and completely unable to stop.

  Maybe it was that moment. Maybe it was the cooling weather that made body contact more cozy than sweaty. Possibly it had something to do with how happy every other couple we knew seemed to be. Whatever the reason, after that weekend, Will and I got decidedly greedier about time together. I created a work routine that kept me prepared for each day, and Will’s project in Chicago had reached a milestone that meant he would stay in town for now. I started texting him to come over when Tom worked the night shift and endured my brother’s teases when I’d announce I was out for the night before skipping off to CrossFit. Things were kind of beautiful
, easy and fun, for a good run of time.

  But “all good things must come to an end” is a cliché for a reason.

  29

  Liv

  “You’re killer at those pull-ups now. How many can you do in a row?” Will said as he escorted me into the restaurant after a Monday CrossFit session. A few paces ahead, Megan spotted Adam waiting for us at a table and hurried on while we followed.

  “Eight,” I said proudly. “I want to hit ten before Thanksgiving.”

  He removed my coat and hung it on the peg beside our booth, skimming my shoulders and arms. “CrossFit isn’t the only place I’ve noticed you have more stamina.”

  I smirked. “Amazing how many benefits exercise has, isn’t it?”

  “Come on you geeks, you can make out later,” Megan called from where she sat snuggled under Adam’s arm. I laughed and flipped her off, but her answering grin summed up a shared thought. Double dates were awesome.

  In the month since I took Will to the You & I show and officially introduced him to Megan, dinner after CrossFit had become a regular event. They got along far better than I’d have ever predicted. Adam’s home remodeling business had begun to take off, which meant he’d cut back on working at the restaurant and was thus freer in the evenings. He still had his Wednesday shift, so the three of us had started going to CrossFit on Monday just to double date.

  The guys spent the meal deep in a conversation about hockey while Megs and I discussed our friends. Ben and Celeste were throwing a party on Halloween this coming Saturday, David and Kira were off in L.A. competing on a talent contest, and Nick and Mel were shacked up and too adorable for words. On top of that, Ben and his brother, James, were designing an app that could make them a lot of money. There was plenty to discuss. We chattered until the table was cleared, then traded another smile while our guys split the bill.

  “This is so corny,” she said.

  “Super lame.” I grinned back at her. A glance at Will made him cut his eyes my way. He winked, and god did my silly heart swell.

  We were at the exit when the chilly rush of air made me remember my coat. I insisted Meg and Adam head on. When they left, Will guided me back to the booth. He grabbed the jacket and held it out for me.

  I got one arm through before I stopped dead.

  “Liv?”

  “Um.” I swallowed hard. “Will… Erin’s here.”

  I saw his head snap up in my periphery, but my gaze was on her growing smile across the room. We were both statues as she set her martini glass down and scurried over.

  “Well, well.” She giggled.

  I tried to think of something, anything, to explain this, but got nowhere.

  She clapped and hopped up and down. “I knew it! Oh, my goodness, I knew it!”

  “You knew what?” Will rumbled in a pretty damn scary pitch.

  Erin laughed at him. “I’ve thought all along that there was something between you two with the way you’re always play-fighting. Both of you are so great, there’s no way you’d really hate each other. I’ve wondered since the beer festival if y’all had something going on.”

  “Since the beer festival? How did you—”

  But Will cut me off. He held one palm up as if she were a feral animal. This time, his voice was cautious and soothing. “Erin, Tom doesn’t—”

  “Have the first clue,” she agreed. “It doesn’t occur to him. I don’t know why. Y’all are so cute together!”

  I couldn’t appreciate her genuine delight, couldn’t accept her compliment. All I could whisper was, “Erin, please, please don’t tell him.”

  Her nose wrinkled. “Liv, I’d never meddle like that.”

  I took a deep breath and nodded in thanks.

  She glanced between us. “Could I ask why you haven’t told him, though?”

  “We only—”

  “We’ve been foolish.” Will’s sigh killed my attempt to explain. He rubbed his eyes and sighed again. “Incredibly foolish.”

  Erin’s brows knitted. “Well, whatever your reason, it won’t be me who says anything. I should get back to my colleagues. They’ll wonder where I ran off to.”

  She tried to smile, but the way she looked at Will made me follow her gaze across the room. A table of professionally dressed women sipped colorful cocktails by the bar. Not a hair was out of place among them, even at the end of the workday. They talked and laughed, but my attention hung for a moment on a stylish blonde whose gaze didn’t waver from us.

  Erin touched our arms. “I’ll see y’all soon.”

  I watched her go and noticed the blonde again, but there was no room in my head to consider anything more at the moment. Will took my hand and hustled us out to his car at top speed. The cool leather seat helped quiet my pulse. I stared out at the night and refused to be the first to speak.

  Will finally broke the silence. “We have to tell Tom. It’s not fair to ask Erin to keep our secret. God, I can’t believe I’ve been so—”

  “Foolish?”

  “Yes.” He drew a long breath.

  “That’s what we are? A pair of fools?”

  I tried to resist when his fingers cupped my jaw, but Will demanded my gaze. “Never. I’m the fool for having avoided this for so long. Tom’s not going to like us together, Liv.”

  My heart twisted. “You don’t know that.”

  His humorless smile knotted me up even more. “I do, actually. I’m not good enough for his sister. Too much baggage, too many emotional scars, too withdrawn.”

  I gripped his jacket. “He didn’t say that.”

  “He didn’t have to.”

  “He never thought that! He’d say it was me, I was too—”

  Will pressed one finger against my lips. “Not you, me. He did think it… When I told him I was interested in you.”

  My heart was ready to leap out of my mouth. “When?”

  “Eight years ago.”

  Check that. My heart stopped. “What?”

  He exhaled hard. “Liv, I kissed you that night. And we—”

  “I remember.”

  I turned away as the rest of that night crashed through the barricades my memory had built around it. I’d made myself forget that kiss. How could I bear to remember if I was to protect myself against the humiliation that came after? Talk about foolish.

  We’d kissed when I wound up sitting too close to him. I remember leaning against his arm and feeling more turned on from staring into those black-brown eyes than I had in all my short life. I hardly knew what I was doing, but I parted my lips. When he leaned in, I nearly passed out. It wasn’t more than a kiss, but good god was it hot. Possibly even more amazing was the fact that he was so sweet to me after. He’d wanted to keep talking to me, had made me feel so interesting as we chatted through that night.

  I had gone to bed thinking of nothing but him and the connection I was sure had formed between us. I’d dumped my current boyfriend and floated through the summer, so excited for his and Tom’s next visit home that I bought a new dress.

  It had red flowers on a white background. I remember staring at it after he walked in, flicked that flat expression on me, and muttered, “Hello, Olivia,” before walking past.

  Foolish girl.

  Tears stung as I looked at my fingers. “I remember, Will.”

  “What’s wrong?” he asked, voice now full of the exact kind of affection I’d wanted so long ago.

  I shook my head, sniffling.

  “Liv, what?”

  “I remember.” My voice cracked. “God, I was naïve. I thought… fuck. This is why it’s better not to care.” I balled my hands into fists. You’re That Girl who doesn’t give a damn, remember? Hold onto that.

  I huffed. “Whatever. If Tom likes it, if he doesn’t, does it matter? The biggest danger at this point is the fallout when we’re over.”

  Will didn’t move or speak, but the air in the car froze over and left no doubt about his reaction. “When we’re what?” he asked finally.

  “W
ill, face it. When we end, it’ll be messy. You and I aren’t the type to hug and agree to be friends. We came together rough and wild, and I’m sure the end will be something similar. I hate to think of putting Tom in the middle of that.”

  “But what if we don’t end?”

  I shook my head. “That’s a fairytale, and I’m no princess.”

  “You don’t have to be a princess to find a good match. We’re a good match.”

  I tried my best to tip my lips into a smile. “We are. But everything ends, and eventually you’ll…”

  The table of ladies flashed into my mind, their crisp suits and perfect hair and skeptical eyebrows mocking me.

  “I’ll what, Olivia?”

  “You’ll decide that you need…”

  Before I could say the ugly truth aloud, my phone went off. The ringtone was garish in the dense quiet of the car. Worse, it was Tom. He’d been called in early, so could I get home now? Like, five minutes ago now? He was stressed, and all this talk made me even guiltier than usual about leaving him hanging.

  By the time I ended the call, I’d lost my nerve and all desire to hash this out. I took Will’s hand. “We’re not over. I didn’t mean we were, and I don’t want to be.”

  His shoulders eased a fraction with a heavy exhale. “Good.”

  He squeezed my fingers, and all I wanted was to cling to him until everything else went away. I swallowed hard and seared a kiss on his lips before stepping out and going to my car.

  His door slammed just as I fired the engine. Will flung my door open and practically hauled me out. My back pressed against the car as he leaned close.

  “I love you, Liv,” he breathed. “Fuck it, I love you. This is the worst moment to tell you, but I don’t give a damn. I need to know you know.”

  For no logical reason, I shoved him. Tears pooled in my eyes as I wailed. “You douche! I have to leave. I can’t hear that now.”

  He twisted his lips. “I know. Maybe that’s why I said it now.”

  “I hate you, Langer,” I said, but my face split with a goofy grin that made him chuckle.