When he finished, she scooped up another handful of sand and let it trickle through her fingers, feeling tired again. “What am I going to do?”
“You mean about today?”
“I mean about everything.”
She felt him lay a gentle hand on her back. “I think maybe your first step should be to go talk to him.”
“Who?”
“Will,” he said. “Do you remember when you walked past the house yesterday? When I was standing on the porch? I was watching you, thinking how natural the two of you seemed together.”
“You don’t even know him,” Ronnie said, her voice a mixture of wonder and surprise.
“No,” he said. He smiled, his expression tender. “But I know you. And you were happy yesterday.”
“What if he won’t talk to me?” she fretted.
“He will.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I was watching, and he was happy, too.”
* * *
Standing outside the lobby of Blakelee Brakes, she could only think, I don’t want to do this. She didn’t want to face him, except she also sort of wanted to and knew she had no other choice. She knew she hadn’t been fair to him, and at the very least, he deserved to know what Ashley had said to her. He’d waited outside her house for hours, right?
Besides, she had to admit her father was right. She’d had a lot of fun with Will, or at least as much fun as she could have in a place like this. And there was something about him that set him apart from any of the guys she’d known. Not so much that he played volleyball and had the body of an athlete, or even that he was smarter than he let on. He wasn’t afraid of her. Too many guys simply rolled over these days, thinking that being nice was all that mattered. And it did matter, but not if the guy equated being nice with being a doormat. She liked the fact that he’d taken her fishing, even though she hadn’t been enthusiastic about it. It was his way of telling her, This is who I am, and this is what I enjoy, and of all the people I know right now, I want to enjoy this experience with you. Too often, when a guy asked her out, he picked her up without the slightest idea of what to do or where to go, eventually forcing her to come up with the plan. There was something so wishy-washy and clueless about that. Will was anything but wishy-washy, and she couldn’t help liking him for that.
Which meant, of course, that she had to fix things. Steeling herself in case he was still angry, she entered the lobby. In the bay, Will and Scott were working beneath a lifted car. Scott said something to Will, who turned and saw her, but he didn’t smile. Instead, he wiped his hands on a rag and started toward her.
He stopped a few feet away. Up close, his expression was unreadable. “What do you want?”
Not exactly the opening she’d hoped for, but it wasn’t entirely unexpected, either.
“You were right,” she said. “Yesterday, I left the game because Ashley said that I was just your latest project. She also implied that I wasn’t the first, that our day together—all the things we did and places you took me—were tricks you use with every new girl.”
Will continued to stare at her. “She lied.”
“I know.”
“Then why did you leave me sitting outside for hours? And why didn’t you say anything yesterday?”
She tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear, feeling shame well up in her chest but trying not to let it show. “I was angry and upset. And I was going to tell you, but you left before I had the chance.”
“You’re saying it was my fault?”
“No, not at all. There’s a lot of stuff that was going on that doesn’t have anything to do with you. It’s been… difficult for the past few days.” She ran a nervous hand through her hair. It felt so hot in the garage.
Will took a moment to absorb what she’d said. “Why would you believe her in the first place? You don’t even know her.”
She closed her eyes. Why? she wondered. Because I’m an idiot.Because I should have trusted my instincts about her. But she didn’t say those things. She simply shook her head. “I don’t know.”
When she didn’t seem willing to add anything else, he tucked his thumbs into his pockets. “Is that all you came to say? Because I’ve got to get back to work.”
“I also wanted to apologize,” she said, her voice subdued. “I’m sorry. I overreacted.”
“Yeah, you did,” Will shot back. “You were completely irrational. Anything else?”
“And I also wanted you to know that I had a really good time yesterday. Well, up until the end, anyway.”