Page 83 of The P*ssy Next Door
I laid it all out—our love, our fears, the impossible choice we faced. Willa's need for adventure, my ties to Denver. The room was silent, everyone processing the weight of our dilemma.
“Why doesn't Willa just stay in Denver?” Mr. Rosemount suggested, his brow furrowed. “And you two can travel wherever you want in the off-season, right?”
I shook my head, my jaw tight. “No. I won't ask Willa to compromise her dreams, her needs. That's not fair to her.”
“Then what about you, Hayes?” my dad asked, his eyes soft with understanding. “Are you willing to give up football, your career, for love?”
A roll of murmurs whipped through the room. No one expected my dad to suggest that. But it was bullshit that they would think I wouldn't.
I looked at Willa, at the tears shining in her eyes, the love and fear warring on her face. I took her hand, my decision crystallizing with perfect clarity.
“Yes,” I said simply. “I would. I love football, but I love Willa more. I'd give it all up in a heartbeat if it meant we could be together.”
Willa's breath hitched, her fingers tightening around mine. “Nope. Absolutely not, Hayes, no. I can't and won't ask you to do that. You've worked your whole life to achieve this goal, and there is no way I'd ask you to give it up. There has to be another way.”
The room erupted into a flurry of voices, everyone offering opinions, solutions. But through the chaos, one voice rang out, clear and calm.
“What if,” Liam said, his eyes twinkling with a hint of mischief, “George and I just gave you the shop, Willa?”
George took Liam's hand and kissed it. “If Willa and Hayes aren't willing to compromise on their dreams, I can't let you either. You love this shop.”
“I know. But spending the last couple of months with you meant more to me than anything else ever has. I love the shop because I love you.” Liam motioned his hand around the room. “And it's not like it would be going anywhere. Obviously Willa is better at running it than I ever was.”
George looked at the two of us and winked. “Yes, she is. I saw the bank account. She's actually gotten the place profitable.”
Liam gave George a playful smack, but George smiled and looked back at us. “What do you say, sweet wild child? Can we make this a wedding present?”
The room exploded again. Lots of 'whoa-whoa-whoas' and 'when did this happens' and one 'yes, my first sister-in-law.' We waited until they calmed down. Willa explained, “No one is getting married. Yet. So, thank you Uncle George, but no. While I appreciate the offer more than you know, and I've had fun basically turning your shop into a cat café, I was never really interested in the coffee shop business. I hope that doesn't hurt your feelings.”
“Of course not. We just want to see you happy,” Liam said.
Back to square one.
Chris looked over at Trixie, gave her a quick kiss and wrapped his arm around her before focusing his attention back on me and Willa. “Look, bro. Someone is going to have to make a sacrifice here. You guys choose stability, and career now, set yourselves up for the future, and then you can go flitting around the globe all you want in a few years. It’s being handed to you on a silver platter. You play football, Willa runs the coffee shop, you can even travel in the off season like the rest of us do. It won’t kill you to do the responsible thing for a little while.”
It won’t kill you.
It won’t fucking kill you?
“Won’t it?” They didn’t fucking understand and the tightness building in my chest exploded. “Do you not see how dead I already was? I was a god damned robot. Family, football, school. That was it, that was my entire life, and I’m telling you right the fuck now, that’s not living.”
Willa stared up at me, shocked, but also with an intrinsic understanding in her eyes.
“So when you want Willa to sacrifice who she is, for me, which is exactly what the hell you’re asking, you’re taking, depriving us all of the joy, the color, the excitement, the part of life that makes it actually worth living, not just existing.”
Everyone should fucking know it.
And if they didn’t understand? They could all go shove their responsibilities up their asses.
Chris stood up so fast that the screech of his chair just about broke the sound barrier. He marched up to me and clenched my fists. I was going to have to punch my older brother. But if kicking his ass was the only way to make him understand, that’s what I’d have to do.
Even as he charged toward me, I was going to make him understand. “I’m not going back to an existence without the technicolor that Willa brought to my black and white life. I’m not ever going back to Kansas, when Willa is my Oz. Even if the rest of the world thinks that’s the responsible thing to do. She’s my yellow brick road, and I’m fucking lost without her.”
But instead of wanting a fight, Chris grabbed me into a hard bear hug. “Fuck, man. I’m sorry. Sorry I didn’t see any of that.”
He glanced over at Willa and clapped her on the arm. “Sorry for being a judgy ass.”
“Don’t worry,” Trixie called. “I’ll punish him for that later.”