Willa, Pete, Lex, Lu, Caroline, and Miguel were all that was left of the crowd. The talk of the table turned to soccer when Willa and Pete went to get drinks. Lu excused herself and headed to the bar to join them. Walking up to Pete, she grabbed his hand, squeezed it, and leaned in to him. “You doing OK?” she asked.
“Yup, Harvard, I’m doing OK,” he said with a sad smile.
“So many people were there today. Must have made your mother feel good.”
“More humbling than anything,” Pete responded. “But, yeah, I think it made a difference.”
Willa looked at her watch. “I think we should call it a night. I’ll get their drinks, then can we leave?” she asked Lu.
Lu didn’t hesitate. “Absolutely.”
“I’ll come with you,” Pete said. “Lex can swing by and get me when he’s ready. I think they’re talking business.”
“I got lost about two minutes into the conversation,” Lu said.
They each grabbed a drink from the bar and headed back to the table. Placing the drinks in front of their respective owners, Pete said, “We’re gonna walk to Will’s. Just swing by and get me when you’re ready.”
Lex looked at his brother, then at Lu. She was across from him, out of his reach. “You too?” he asked her.
“Yeah. I’m beat.” Lex nodded his head, seemingly accepting of her decision. Surprised, but relieved, Lu walked over and wrapped her arms around his neck. “I’ll see you in the morning,” she said.
Lex merely turned his head, which was right next to her ear and whispered, “Before that.” With the din of the music and the swirling conversation, no one heard him but Lu.
Quickly withdrawing, she looked uneasily toward Pete and Willa. “Ready?”
They said their good nights and walked the half mile to Willa’s condo. Lu dropped back, lost in thought and trying to give Willa some space to operate. When they made it to the apartment, she quickly withdrew to her room, leaving Pete and Willa alone.
Willa was still debating, wondering if she should really try to seduce Pete. He interrupted her thoughts.
“I’m surprised Lex didn’t put up a fight when Lu left.”
“I’m not,” Willa responded. “He’ll end up here. He’s just biding his time.” Pete opened her sliding glass door and walked out on the balcony.
“Do you love hearing the water when you go to sleep and wake up?” he asked.
Standing a heartbeat away, Willa moved to his left and leaned on the railing, mimicking his stance. “You know I do.” She wanted to talk to him about Lu’s plan, but she wasn’t sure how to broach the subject. Over the last eight years, Willa and Pete had, by mutual, silent agreement, avoided the subject of their siblings. It just seemed simpler not to talk about it. Willa had always been afraid that Pete secretly hated what Lu had done, what she agreed to, and she didn’t want to have to defend her sister. But suddenly she needed to talk to him about it.
“What do you think Lex is going to do when he finds out about Nina?”
Dropping his head in his hands, he looked completely distraught. Rolling his head to the side, he caught her eye. “I feel like I am waiting for Armageddon to occur.”
Willa didn’t mean to, but she smiled. “Nice.”
“Fuck, Willa. We’re burying my father tomorrow. The people I’m closest to are going to come apart at the seams when this all gets revealed.” He sighed and looked back to the water. “There’s a good chance Lex will absolutely hate me, but I’m so relieved. I want him to know Nina.”
Willa knew there was more, so she stayed quiet—which was damn hard.
“Can we fast-forward past tomorrow and just get to the aftermath?” Pete asked.
Willa couldn’t resist any longer. She pulled his hand out of its clasp and locked her hand with his. She pulled him close, into a hug. She felt him stiffen, then relax into her. “Damn, Willa. What the hell are we going to do?”
“We’ll figure it out,” she murmured.
They didn’t talk for a while, just held each other. Pete’s hand started to move up and down her back and she willed herself to let him dictate this.
“Will,” he whispered, close to her ear, making her shiver with desire, “would it feel at all incestuous to you if I tried to kiss you?” He drew back and smiled at her.
And she burst into rippling laughter. “Ah, Petey, you really know how to get a girl hot.”
He laughed too. Then, he grabbed her gently by the back of her neck, pulled her forward and kissed her. And it was good. Very good. Not at all incestuous and not at all the little Petey that she had grown up with. When he ended the kiss, she grabbed his hand and led him to her room.