I could tell that William wasn’t with me anymore; he was in the past, with Chris. “We were only ten. Still young enough to not understand the depths of the evil in the world, but old enough not to trust everyone. But for some reason, he left the park, and he hadn’t gone alone.”
I had so many questions I wanted to ask, so many things I wanted to say, but words escaped me. William’s story was terrifying and unbelievable, yet it had happened. We were lying only an inch apart but I felt the need to connect with him, to let him know I was there and I wasn’t going anywhere. My hand landed on his chest, just over his heart, and he sucked in a breath.
“They didn’t find him right away. We looked for him for nine months. Do you know how long that is when someone you love is missing?” William’s hand covered mine. “They never caught the man that killed him.”
“I’m so sorry, William.” I don’t know how anyone recovers from a tragedy like that in their childhood. Losing my parents had been hard enough, but William had lost a sibling in a horrifying way.
“The worst part was the guilt. It could just as easily have been me.” William’s voice was thick with emotion as he blinked at me. He was trying hard to keep tears from his eyes. “It should’ve been me, Olivia.”
“Don’t say that.” I grabbed his hand and gave it a tight squeeze. “It shouldn’t have happened at all.”
William closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, letting it out slowly. When he opened them again, their pure blueness had returned and he was back in the present. “Stop looking at me like that,” he said with an embarrassed smile.
“I can’t help it.” I shook my head in disbelief. “We just had a moment.”
“We did. And you’re still here.” William kissed my forehead.
“What can I say, I like guys that are emotionally unbalanced. With a hint of being totally fucked up.”
William poked me in the side and I squealed. “And I like my women damaged. With just a touch of crazy.”
“Guess that makes us a perfect fit then.” I got on my knees and stretched. Dinner must have already started by now.
“I think we’ve proven that on more than one occasion.” He grabbed for the hem of his shirt that I was wearing but I squirmed away. I recognized his playful smile and if I gave into him now, I would miss dinner completely. And I was starting to get hungry. “That shirt looks a million times better on you.”
“I disagree.”
“You may be right. It would probably look even better crumpled up on the floor right now.” William reached for me again and this time I slapped his hand. “Ow.”
“We have to go downstairs. Your mother will stab me with a steak knife if we don’t make an appearance.”
William groaned. “Five more minutes. I promise. Just give me five more minutes and then we can face the firing squad.”
He opened his arms and tilted his head, making it impossible for me to resist him. “Fine. You win.” I curled up in his arms and closed my eyes. This was where I belonged.
Downstairs was were only masochists belonged. We were ten minutes late to dinner which meant everyone was almost done eating by the time we arrived. Jean took one look at me and almost threw up everything she had just eaten. I was still wearing William’s t-shirt, at his insistence, albeit this time with pants on. But nothing else. We had decided to make good on our promise to wear less clothes.
“Nice of you to join us,” Jean said, her face about ready to crack from how hard she frowned at me. William’s father, Bill, gave his wife a pointed look that she chose to ignore. “Did you lose your watch, William?”
William pulled out a chair for me and gave my shoulders a squeeze as I slouched into it. It was a weird sensation to be sitting at the dinner table with William’s family wearing his shirt and feeling my jeans rub unobstructed against my most sensitive area.
Jean was still staring daggers at me, but now she turned her anger to William. “Of all days, how could you behave this way today?”
“Mother, don’t start.” William reached for his water glass and I could see that his hand was shaking.
“Bob took the kids out of school to be here. Cessily left work to be here.” Jean shrugged away Bill’s attempt to place a calming hand on her shoulder. “I will not calm down. Not today. I don’t think it was too much to ask for you to spend the day with your family instead of screwing a stranger in your bedroom all afternoon.”
“Mother. You’re out of line.” William stood up, knocking over his water in the process. No one made an attempt to clean up the mess. “Olivia isn’t a stranger. She’s the most important person in my life right now and I needed to be with her today. You think this day is only hard for you, but you’re wrong. You aren’t the only one that misses him and feels guilty about what happened.”