Lex and Lu (25 page)

“Regret what?” Willa and Pete said, simultaneously as they picked that moment to reappear.

“Just being drunk the night before I graduate,” Lu covered sweetly.

Buying it, Pete suggested that they head out. “Speaking of, it’s late. We should probably get you home.”

Pete pulled his phone out of his pocket and looked down at it, reading an incoming text.

Make sure she gets home safely.

Shaking his head, Pete walked over to Lu and helped her stand. “Let’s go, lover girl,” he said, close enough so that no one heard him. “I have orders to make sure you get home safely.”

Pete was curious but weary of going down the Lex-and-Lu slope. His mission tonight had nothing to do with the two of them. The moment Willa walked with him to the bar, his whole focus shifted. Originally, he had planned to talk to Lu about her relationship with Lex. He’d tried the opposite approach and had taken too many knocks from his brother for comfort. Right now, Lex needed him more than anyone else. He could see Lex withdrawing from everything around him. He could even see it in his play—something he’d never seen diminish. He knew that Lex hardly talked to their mom, and with the death of their father, his knowledge of his brother’s loneliness troubled him. So he’d decided to appeal to Lu—to beg her to reach out to him. The rarity of seeing Lu drunk weighed on his mind, though. And the text from Lex—where had that come from? His thoughts all scattered with one look into Willa’s eyes. She actually smiled at him. So now, he needed to take care of Willa.

“Let’s go, Sunshine,” Pete said as the cab came to a stop outside of Sky’s three-bedroom bungalow and he pulled Lu up from the seat. It had once been Lu and Nina’s home too, so he was familiar with it and its layout.

Willa stepped out of his way and let him follow Sky into the house.

“Where’s Bit?” he asked as he led Lu into her old room.

“At her friend’s,” Lu managed to get out before falling backward onto the bed. “I am so going to pay for this tomorrow,” she murmured to the wall.

“I will leave this to you,” Pete said, looking at Sky.

“I got her,” she said, smiling at Pete. “Go take care of your business.”

He turned to do just that, but stopped. “Was she texting with Lex?” he asked, his curiosity getting the best of him.

“Yup. She’s going to regret that in the morning,” Sky said ruefully.

“I didn’t realize they were talking,” he commented, more to himself than to Sky. But she caught it.

“Oh, so you haven’t heard about your niece, huh?”

He cocked his head, a watered-down version of Lex.

Sky laughed. “Ask Willa,” she said and nodded her head, trying to tell him to take advantage of his opportunity.

He smiled and left the room. No one had to tell him twice.

Pete thought about asking Willa to relay the tale of Nina, but he knew that would put them exactly where they didn’t need to be—in the middle of his brother’s family—and he needed them to be in the middle of their family. So he didn’t say a word. He walked to the door of the room where Willa had disappeared and knocked softly.

“Come in,” she said, just as softly, as if the tenuous spell between them would be shattered by any loud noise or sudden movement.

Pete slowly turned the knob, briefly resting his head on the door before pushing it gently open. He prayed silently, Don’t let me fuck this up, before, he stepped over the threshold. He walked into the room, breathing a sigh of relief. He could hear the sink running. He sank into the decorative chair in the corner of the room, next to the table that held the TV. He tried to collect his thoughts, wondering what he might do to blow this. He couldn’t help it. Suddenly with all of the turmoil of the last several months, he’d become a pessimist. He felt the bulk of everyone’s expectations grinding his natural optimism into little smatterings of dirt that could hardly fill a dustpan. His father’s death, his brother’s withdrawal, Lu’s departure to London, his mother’s grief, Willa’s rejection. It had all beaten him down.

Now, on the threshold of a breakthrough with Willa, he felt fear. And it pulled at the fabric of his confidence. How could he make it OK with her? Because he knew if he made it work with Willa, the rest of it would fade to the screensaver of his life, there but not forever present. Before he could form a plan or calculate what to say, the door to the bathroom opened.

Willa walked out, face scrubbed, shorts and tank top on. She knew he was there, so she took a few steps into the room and sat on the edge of the bed, perpendicular to him. Not facing him but not looking away.

“Lu OK?” she asked.

“I don’t know. I left her in Sky’s care.”

She nodded her head, acknowledging that. “Can I be nosy?”

He glanced at her. “O … K,” he said, slowly.

Willa didn’t fluster—ever. So to see her seem nervous, even embarrassed, intrigued him.

“What was the text you got at the bar?”

Looking confused, Pete pulled his phone out his back pocket. Looking at his messages, he balked. He so didn’t want to talk about this now. Knowing where this was going to go, he put his phone on the table next to him and got up to put himself directly in front of her.

“I don’t want to talk about the text,” he said, then he took her hands gently and pulled her up. With their hands interlocked, he stepped closer to her so that the tips of their toes were touching. Easing his hands out of hers, he placed them on her hip bones, fingers on her back and thumbs in front. He pulled her closer. “I don’t want to talk about the text, Will, because I’ve been waiting virtually my whole life to be with you.” He kissed her briefly but hard, so she’d know he’d been there. Then he released her hips and brought both of his hands up to her face. Her blue eyes stared at him, the inner battle reflected there. Ugh, he thought, she wants to know.

Gently laying his forehead against hers, he closed his eyes. “It was Lex. He wanted me to make sure that Lu got home OK.”

He felt her eyes fly open and her draw back, not away, but back. “How did Lex know that Lu needed to get home OK?”

Dropping his hands, Pete stepped all the way back. “Best guess? Lu was drunk texting him.”

“What?!” she said, shattering the gentle din of the conversation.

Pete rubbed his hands over his face. “It’s always going to be like this, isn’t it?” he said, resigned.

Willa had never been a fairy-tale kind of girl. If she let herself remember, she’d note that Lu hadn’t been one either. They’d both kind of scoffed at the princess-waiting-to-be-rescued-by-her-prince genre. And that attitude had everything to do with their mother. You’d have thought their mother was a radical lesbian rather than a married mother of two girls. Her views on feminism and women’s roles didn’t include mothers’ sacrificing their careers for their children. As an adult, knowing Amber’s views, Willa had to admit that she was sometimes surprised that she and her sister had been born. Standing in front of Pete, Willa thought of all of this and knew that she had been throwing Lex and Lu’s situation in between her and Pete. Perhaps she could blame it on fear of giving up any piece of herself for a man. Or maybe, after twenty-eight years, she wasn’t sure how to give up anything for anyone.

Willa had always been the eat-’em-up-and-spit-’em-out girl. She’d spent some time thinking about what Lu had said to her during her visit. She could admit that Lu’s experience had dictated her course, because at nineteen Willa knew there was no way any man was going to leave her loving him more than he loved her. At the funeral, she’d imagined spending a couple of nights with Pete and moving forward. Maybe if she had simply explained that she just wanted to fuck him, this would have all been so much easier.

When Willa overheard his conversation with Lu, though, she felt herself fall. There was no other way to describe it. It was as if the earth all around her had crumbled away, but she managed to remain right where she was in this more amazing place. And that had scared the shit out of her.

Looking at Pete now, she could see the exasperation in his eyes. In all her memories of Pete, she didn’t have any with him wearing the expression currently adhered to his face. He was all patience, understanding, and optimism. He saw the fertile ground under the dog shit she saw. For Pete, this wouldn’t be quick and easy—it would be long, passionate, and easy. And although she didn’t want to think about the consequences, she didn’t think their families could handle any more trauma. But she was tired of thinking about things. His hands drifted to his side, and while he studied her he started to slowly shake his head as if he was trying to talk himself out of something. All Willa could think was Fuck it.

Her hands crossed in front of her. Grabbing the bottom of her tank top, she pulled it over her head. Pete tried—she could tell he was trying to keep his eyes glued to hers—but they slipped and took in the view. While he did that, she pushed her shorts down and let them pool at her ankles. Stepping over them, she walked over to Pete and placed her arms around his neck, clasping her hands in back. She left some space between them. She needed him to give.

“I don’t think we have anything else to talk about,” she said.

Pulling her to him, he smiled—one of those smiles that lit the room and she felt down to her toes. “I don’t think I can do much talking with you naked,” he quipped.

“Moaning?” she asked impishly.

“Hmm, yes, let’s see about moaning,” he said as he kissed his way down her neck and pulled her more snugly against him.

Her giggle quickly turned into a moan as he nipped at her neck.

“I think I won that round,” he teased, pushing her back toward the bed until she hit it.

“You know you should never throw down the gauntlet with me, Petey Boy, and right now you have way too much clothing on,” she said as she sat on the bed, and pulled him between her legs. She quickly unbuttoned his shirt, then moved to his belt and jeans.

When he stood naked in front of her, she paused, maybe for dramatic effect. Then she moved up the bed and he followed, coming down on top of her, between her legs. “I didn’t think we’d ever get here,” he remarked as he bent to kiss her. She wanted to respond to the comment, wanted to tell him that she never had any doubt that she’d get him into her bed, but she knew that wasn’t what he meant. She tried to hold on to the thought, but his soul-searing kisses were making it difficult to sustain them. As his hands moved reverently over her body, Willa got lost in him. For the first time, she didn’t dictate what happened. She surrendered completely. When she absorbed his body into hers, she came so quickly she almost laughed and he smiled, obviously proud of himself. It was at the moment when she gazed up at his smiling face in the aftermath of her climax that she realized there was nowhere else for her to go. Pete Pellitteri was home. Then she couldn’t do much more than wrap herself around him as he quickly found his release.

Jo walked wearily toward the front door, dragging her suitcase behind her, wishing for a valet or porter—someone to lighten the load. The ride back from Tallahassee had been long and arduous, much like her weekend, much like the last eight months. She’d known that attending Lu’s graduation would be difficult, but she couldn’t pass on the opportunity to see Lu, Nina, and Pete. Even so, spending time with Chris and Amber now took a lot of effort on all of their parts. Gone was the easy friendship built over the lifetimes of their children, during those trying years. She’d never thought about what her life would be without Mike. But she’d imagined that she would draw upon the strength of their friends. Instead, she felt herself withdraw from all of them. It was easier for her to not participate in their rituals, allowing her the free reign to not draw upon memories of him. Perhaps in time, basking in those memories would bring her comfort, but for now they only brought pain and resentment.

Unlocking the front door, she turned back to lug her bag over the threshold. She felt rather than heard someone behind her. Slowly and as inconspicuously as possible, she reached into her purse for an old can of Mace that she had buried in the bottom of the main pocket. Getting her hand around it, she turned around, ready to do battle.