“This is my real world,” he said. “They can wait.”

“Keane,” Marco Delgado, a longtime client, called out with a smile. “Good to see you, my man.”

“It’s okay,” Willa said as she moved farther away.

Kind of the story of his life really.

“You understood this morning when I needed to get to work,” she said, “and I understand this.”

And then she was gone.

Shit. Whelp, he was happy to know she understood. He just wished he knew exactly what she understood and if she would explain it to him.

 

 

Chapter 23

 

#SquadGoals

Willa went to the shop. The shop had always been her escape, her joy, her first and only love.

But as she walked in with all the Christmas lights sparkling and a customer’s dog barking at her stuffed Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer sitting on the kitty-litter display, and Rory smiling and handling customers from two different corners of the place, she didn’t feel the usual calm wash over her.

She hadn’t felt calm since she’d woken up that morning but especially not after overhearing the conversation between Keane and his mom. Because now she knew an uncomfortable truth about herself. She’d been cruising along with Keane, secure in the knowledge that he wasn’t interested in love, but there was a fatal flaw with that.

It was all on her. She was the one with the issues.

She hadn’t seen that coming.

Luckily her day was long, not allowing her much time to think or dwell. And at the end of it, she looked around for more to do but there wasn’t anything. And yet she didn’t want to go home. Going home alone would remind her that she was . . .

Well, alone.

So she went to the pub, where Finn immediately caught her eye and gestured her over. “Try this,” he said, handing her a mug. “Homemade whipped cream over the best, most amazing hot chocolate ever invented.”

“How many ways are there to make hot chocolate?”

“Only one way,” he said. “My way.” He gestured to the mug. “It’s a new recipe, a surprise for Pru. Tell me what you think.”

She sipped and he was right. It was the most amazing hot chocolate ever invented. “Oh my God.”

He smiled. “Yeah?”

“Oh yeah. It’s orgasmic.”

He grimaced and took the mug away from her. “Not in my pub.”

She could see Spence and Archer in the back arguing over the darts and knew she could go back there and join them. Knew too that Finn would make her his famous chicken wings if she wanted. But for the first time in as long as she could remember, she didn’t want to be here either.

Finn’s smile vanished. “Hey. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“Willa.” He leaned in. “Don’t bullshit a bullshitter. I know you better than just about anyone. Something’s wrong.” He studied her a minute. “Is it Keane? Do I need to beat the shit out of him?”

She choked out a laugh. “You think you could?”

“No, but I could get Archer to do it. Archer could make him disappear and no one’d ever be the wiser. Just say the word.”

“No!” She laughed again, but it faded fast. “No,” she repeated firmly and shook her head. “This one’s on me.”

“Fine. We’ll help you bury the body. Just name the time and place.”

“You’re not even going to ask me why?”

“I don’t need to know why.”

That was the thing about Finn, and the others as well. They loved her like family should. Unconditionally. Without question. No doubt. No hesitation.

No qualifiers.

And even though Finn was just teasing, she knew if she ever needed something, anything at all, he’d be there for her.

Always.

Her throat tightened because she loved knowing that, but at the moment it wasn’t what she needed.

He caught her hand as she slid off the barstool. “Seriously, what can I do?” he asked quietly.

“You’ve already done it.” She brushed a kiss over his jaw. “Thanks.”

She took herself to the rooftop. She climbed the fire escape and then stilled as she was bombarded with flashes of the last time she’d been here. Keane’s hands holding her over him, his mouth at her ear whispering dirty sweet nothings, his hard body driving hers . . .

The breath escaped her lungs and her knees wobbled.

She’d come here to be alone to wallow, but now all she could do was ache . . .

When the stairwell door opened and a pair of obviously women’s heels clicked their way across the rubber composite, she sighed. “Unless you have food with you, go away.”

“Who do you think I am?” Elle, of course. “I’ve got food and wine,” she said. Always prepared, she stopped next to where Willa sat right on the rooftop without anything to protect her clothing and shook her head. “Clothes deserve respect, honey. Serious respect.”

“I’m in Levi’s,” Willa pointed out.

“Levi’s deserve respect right along with Tory Burch.” Elle searched her bag and came up with a Cosmo magazine. She tossed this to the ground and then carefully sat on it. “This is how much I love you. I’m sitting on the ground in a dress and heels.” She handed over a box of Finn’s wings.

“What’s this?” Willa asked.

“A bribe.”

And that’s when Pru popped her head up over the ledge from the fire escape. “Is the coast clear?”

Elle waved her over. Willa knew Elle hadn’t used the fire escape herself because one, climbing it in heels was a death sentence, and two, she only did things where she could look cool and gorgeous, and no one looked cool or gorgeous climbing the fire escape.

Pru climbed over the ledge, followed by Haley.

“I’m not in the mood to talk,” Willa warned them.

“I remember a time when I said the exact same thing to you,” Pru said and sat on Willa’s other side.

“And I respected your wishes and left you alone.”

Pru laughed good and long over that. “Hell, no, you didn’t. You sat right next to me and held my hand while we marathoned Say Yes to The Dress. Elle got drunk.”

“I did not,” Elle said.

“Right,” Pru said. “That was me. My point is, we’re not leaving you alone.”