Unexpected (12 page)

“
You work two
jobs?” I ask.

Willa nods. “Yep.
I've got the part-time gig at the diner, plus I do housekeeping at
a Palace Inn up the road.”

“
Wow. How do
you handle it?”

She shrugs, adding
more sugar to her coffee. “I'm doing it for my son.”

I blink at her.
“Your son? You never told me you had a son.”

Her cheeks flush.
“Ah, well... I would've told you about Linus eventually. I've made
the mistake of talking about him with the wrong people and they
started treating me differently.”

“
Why would
they do that? Lots of people your age have children.”

“
Because my
son is five, and I'm twenty-one.”

I make a face. “And
that's a reason to treat you differently?”

Willa starts
laughing. “If everyone were as sweet as pie like you, the world
would be a better place.” She sighs. “There are some people out
there with certain moral values who don't take too kindly to a
sixteen-year-old getting knocked up. Especially one who has no idea
who the father is. I'll be the first to admit that when I was in
high school, I was wild.
Way
wild. I
slept around like it was going out of style. I had no sense of
direction and not a care in the world...until I got
pregnant.”

“
What did you
do when you found out?”

“
Instant
panic. My parents are very religious and I was sure they would
disown me. Luckily for me, they actually embraced becoming
grandparents. Not at first, of course, but after a spell they
realized how much of a blessing a grandchild would be, regardless
of how they got him. They helped me take care of Linus so I could
complete high school, and allowed me to remain at home until I
saved up enough money to live on my own. It took me three years,
but I have my own place now.”

“
That's
great.” Our
server
brings
our food then. After she leaves, I turn to Willa. “It sounds like
good things are happening for you right now. What makes you think
you're not on a good streak?”

“
Oh, that.”
She sprinkles some pepper on her salad. “Well, for one, I'm working
at that god-awful diner still. And I haven't been on a date in a
year.”

“
A
year?”

“
Most guys
aren't too keen on a chick with a kid. When a guy asks me out, I'll
tell him right away that I have a kid and I'm not a one-night
stand. They usually don't want to go out anymore.”

I point at her with
my fork. “You're a beautiful woman who is charming as hell. I say
it's their loss.”

“
Damn right
it's their loss! Now tell me,” she says, leaning forward. “What's
going on with you and Ryan?”

I nearly choke on
the bite of chicken sandwich I have in my mouth. I take a long sip
of my pop and ask, “What are you talking about?”

“
I sense
there's more to your friendship than you're letting on.”

I groan. “It's
complicated.”

“
He's a boy,
you're a girl. He likes girls, you like boys. It's fairly
uncomplicated.”

I laugh. “No,
I mean...okay, yes, there is something that
could
be there, but...”

“
He's your
friend,” she finishes for me.

“
Exactly.” I
absently stir my drink with my straw. “I feel something more for
him, but I'm afraid if we cross that line we're going to break the
bond we've formed. I don't want to lose that. It's nice to have him
as a friend. Being friends isn't complicated. Possibly being
roommates isn't complicated. I'd like to leave it that
way.”

Willa sits quietly,
pondering what I said for a moment. She asks, “Will leaving it that
way be enough for you?”

Will it? I'm
trying so hard to keep our relationship in the friend zone because
it protects us both. It saves us from losing what appears to be a
solid friendship in the early stages. I like where I'm at with Ryan
right now. But the fluttery feeling that comes over me when he's
near
or when he touches me is undeniable.
Once we step over to the other side, we're going to
be in over our heads. What if I decide to officially be his
roommate, we date, and then break up? I'll be right back at square
one and looking at a half hour commute to work because I'll be
living with my parents again.

It wouldn't be
logical to let it happen, no matter how much my traitorous body
seems to desire him.

~*~

Later that night,
I'm pulling out bowls for dinner when Ryan gets home. He comes into
the kitchen and stands next to the table. “Did you make macaroni
and cheese?” he asks.

“
Yes.”

“
Did you add
extra cheese?”

“
Of course.
It isn't mac and cheese without extra cheese.” I scoop it out of
the pan in large spoonfuls, filling both bowls. I look at him and
notice he's holding a gift bag with tissue paper sticking out of
the top. “What's that?”

“
It's for
you.” He sets it down on the kitchen table.

I make a face. “You
got me something?” I walk over to peek inside.

“
More like
got something back.”

I gasp as I lift
out my teddy bear. “You...you got him back? How?”

“
I have my
ways.” He gives me a lopsided grin and a wink.

I hold the bear up
to my nose and breathe in the familiar scent of my childhood. Tears
well in my eyes. “Ryan...you...you're amazing.” I set the bear back
in the bag, then fling myself at Ryan, cupping his cheeks and
pressing my lips to his. The second I kiss him, I freeze, pulling
away immediately. “Sorry. I was just caught up in the moment.”

Ryan
appears
barely ruffled by my spontaneous kiss.
“I wasn't complaining.”

I smack his chest
playfully, then wrap my arms around his waist. “You have no idea
how much it means to get my bear back.”

“
Trust me, I
understand.”

As we stand there
holding each other, I realize it's not going to be enough to be
just friends with Ryan. I can feel my body reacting to his
closeness in a way similar to our moment in the shower.
Unfortunately for my libido, it will have to be enough for now.
Enough until we can get everything else sorted out.

Chapter
Fourteen

–
Ryan
–

It's a long day at
work on Wednesday, and I can't wait to get home to find out if
Alina got the job at the bakery. I'm hoping for good news on that
front because she needs the job.

Phil calls me on my
way home. “We're gonna have to cancel band practice tonight.”

My shoulders slump. We rarely call off band
practice since there are few opportunities for us to meet.
“
Why's that?”

“
Brent picked
up an extra shift at the factory so we could have our anniversary
night off.”

“
Ah. Not a
problem. I'm sure I can find something else to do.”

“
Like
Alina?”

“
Hey!” I say
as I pull into my parking lot. “It's not like that.”

“
But you want
it to be.”

I heave a
heavy sigh. When she kissed me last night, it triggered something
deep within me. Something warm, full of life, primal. No matter how
hard I try to hold myself back, every moment I spend with her is
shattering my resolve piece by piece. For the sake of preserving
the sanctity of our friendship, I don't
want
to want her, but my desire for her is starting to win out.
“It doesn't matter what I want.”

He lets out a groan. “
Ryan, can I be blunt with you?”

“
Have I ever
stopped you before?”

“
True.” Phil
laughs. “But seriously. There's something there between the two of
you, something that can be felt by every person within a
twenty-
foot
radius. I know
you're trying to be the good guy, the responsible and respectful
one, but don't let her slip away. You deserve true happiness. Maybe
you feel like you have to wait, and by all means
wait if you
have to.
I understand the timing
probably feels wrong given what has happened in such a short period
of time. But please, don't wait too long.”

Phil's right, on
all counts. “I promise I won't,” I tell him.

I go inside and
find Alina chilling out on the couch, watching TV. When she looks
up at me, I ask, “Did you hear back from the bakery?”

She shakes her
head. “Nothing yet. Hey, do you want to grab something for dinner
before band practice?”

“
No need.
Practice
is canceled tonight.
Brent's working.”

“
Oh, okay. So
what do you want to do? I'm starving.”

“
Me, too.” An
idea comes to mind. “What do you think about going out for a little
bit? I have somewhere I'd like to take you.”

“
As long as
food is involved, I'm game.”

She jumps up and
follows me out the door. I take her to Burger Barn and we order a
little bit of everything to go. Then I drive to a spot I haven't
been to in a while—the park. I grab a blanket from under the seat
and spread it out in the back of the truck. We both get in and
start eating.

Alina looks around.
“This is nice. I don't think I've ventured into this section of the
park before.”

“
My family
used to take Phil and me here when we were younger. We'd run around
and burn off our energy during the summer on the playground over
there.” I point behind her. “I almost broke my arm falling off the
monkey bars.”

“
I broke my
wrist when I was three.”

“
Really?”

She nods.
“Apparently I was goofing off and chasing my brother around the
house. I ended up tripping and falling on my wrist. I have this
faint memory of being in the hospital and my brother sitting in the
chair in front of me. My mom says it had to be when I broke my
wrist because I wasn't in the hospital for anything else.”

“
That's a
very early memory.” I lean back on one hand. “I'm not sure what my
earliest memory is...” I think it over for a moment, scrunching my
nose. “Maybe when Phil was born. I remember the chaos and everyone
piling into the station wagon. Then we were driving quickly through
town. And I think there was a hallway.”

She smiles. “That's
kind of sweet. I wish I had a memory like that.”

I gather all the
trash from our meal and shove it into the paper bag. Alina gets up
to get out of the truck, but I stop her with a hand on her arm.
“Our night isn't over yet.”

“
It isn't?”
she asks as she sits back down.

I shake my head.
“Not even close.” I point over to the sunset. “This is why I
brought you here.”

The second her eyes
fall on the orange and pink sky, her mouth falls open. “Oh,
Ryan...that's so beautiful.”

“
It is.” I
scoot closer to her, placing my arm over her shoulder. “'We're so
busy watching out for what's ahead of us that we don't take time to
enjoy where we are.'”

She peeks up at me.
“Who said that?”

“
Bill
Watterson.”

She smiles. “Calvin
and Hobbes.”

I grin, pleased
that she knows who created my favorite childhood comic. “It's
something I like to remind myself of whenever I feel like I'm
letting the craziness of life pull me under.”

She snuggles in
closer. “Thank you for bringing me here.”

We spend the
next half hour staring ahead as the colors change—sharpening and
deepening until they fade into the dark blue and the stars begin
shining above us. There's something about sharing a sunset with
someone you care about. It's profoundly spiritual,
as if
it connects you to that person in a
way nothing else can. It may have only lasted a brief moment in the
entire span of our lives, but it's something I'll always carry with
me no matter what happens tomorrow.

~*~

While I'm at
work on Thursday, I feel my phone vibrating in my pocket. As soon
as I finish hammering my section, I pull it out to read the
message. It's from Alina.
I got the job!

I grin, then
immediately ask the
supervisor
if I can take my break early. As soon as I'm back to my
truck, I call Alina. She answers with, “You didn't have to call
me.”

I chuckle. “Maybe
not, but I wanted to. Congratulations.”

“
Thanks.”

I can almost
picture the grin on her face and it makes me happy.
“
When do you start?”

“
Since I'm
currently jobless and don't have to put in two weeks notice, I told
them I could start on Monday.”

“
Well, that's
even better news. We need to celebrate.”

She chuckles. “My
mom's making a cake to go with the dinner this Saturday. You don't
need to do anything. It's just a silly job.”

“
Maybe so,
but I still want to do something.”

“
Okay, fine,”
she says. “But let's wait until after I've been in the job. I don't
feel like going out anywhere right now.”

“
That's okay.
It feels more like a stay-at-home night to me, too.” I look at the
time. “Well, I have to get back to work.”