Craving Molly(59)

My eyes were glued to Will as Mel jumped into the car, taking in the easy way he set his hand on the woman’s hip as she messed with the front of her shirt, the way his head tilted toward her like maybe he couldn’t hear her or he just wanted to be a little closer. My throat grew tight as I watched his fingers squeeze for a second and pull her toward him.

“Molly,” Mel said quietly. “Let’s go.”

I jolted out of the weird space I’d been in, and turned the key, breathing a small huff of relief when Will’s head didn’t move in our direction.

But then I heard something in the back seat. A tentative word. Rebel said it again a little louder, like she was getting used to it, like she was making sure it sounded right. Then she was yelling it at the top of her lungs, and it was flying out her open window and across the parking lot.

“Will!” Reb yelled excitedly, kicking her legs and pulling at her seat buckle. “Will!”

I watched in horror as Will’s eyes jerked to my car, his jaw dropping as he pulled the sunglasses off his face.
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“Will!”

His smile was the widest I’d ever seen it in the entire seventeen years I’d known him.

He took a step forward and I frantically slammed the car into drive.

Our eyes met just as the woman he was with said something to him, laughing, and the smile dropped off his face.

“Holy shit,” I mumbled as I jerked away from the pump, my hands shaking as I flipped on my blinker and sped back onto the road. “Holy shit. Holy shit.”

“No!” Rebel yelled in the back seat. I looked in the rearview mirror to find her twisting toward the back window of the car. “No, Mama!”

“Calm down,” Mel said, putting her hand on my thigh. “You’re okay. It’s over. You’re fine.”

I whipped into a parking lot less than a mile down the road and threw the car into park, covering my face with my hands.

“No!” Rebel was throwing a full-on tantrum in the back seat, ripping at her seat belt and arching her back against the restraints as I tried to get my breathing under control. “Will! No!”

“Jesus Christ!” I blurted, tears coming to my eyes as I frantically pushed myself out of the car. I wanted to go get her, hold her in my arms and tell her that everything was okay, but I couldn’t.

Rebel couldn’t stand for me to touch her when she was having a fit. It was too much stimulation. It had taken me a long time to get used to my baby not wanting me to comfort her, but I’d managed, even though it still killed me to leave her alone when she was having such a hard time. She was safe in her seat. She couldn’t accidentally hurt herself. I needed to remember that.

“Goddammit!” I yelled, lifting my hands to my hair. “Motherfucking son of a bitch!”

“You’re going to get us arrested,” Mel commented as she followed me out of the car. “You about done?”

“Why does he still get to me? It’s so fucking irritating!”

“Maybe because you haven’t dated anyone else?”

“I don’t want to date anyone. I like my life how it is!”

“Well, then, I don’t know!” she yelled back. “Maybe it’s because he did you dirty! Maybe it’s because you have a kid that’s reminded you of his existence every day for the past year and a half! Maybe it’s because he was good in bed! How the fuck am I supposed to know why you can’t forget him? Don’t yell at me!”

“I’m sorry,” I ground out. “I was yelling at the universe, not you.”

“I don’t think the universe is listening,” she said simply, leaning against the hood of my car. “It’s over. You saw him. He saw you. Reb saw him. It’s over.”

“Did you see her face?” I hissed, bursting into tears. “Jesus Christ, did you see Reb’s face?”

“Yeah, girl. I did,” she replied softly. “But listen, she’s not yelling anymore.”

We both looked in the front windshield to find Reb sitting silently, looking out her window.

“I probably freaked her out,” I said in defeat, wiping at my face as I moved around the car.

“Nah, she’s tough. She’s heard me scream obscenities plenty of times,” Mel said jokingly, turning to watch me.

I opened Reb’s door and reached in, unbuckling her and pulling her into my arms. For a second, she held her body rigid against me then with a sigh, she relaxed, dropping her head onto my shoulder.

“Will?” she whispered.

“You ready to go to the river?” I asked, swaying slowly from side to side as I ignored her question. “Rocky’s waiting for us there.”#p#分页标题#e#