Page 56 of Lance

“Come on,” Nia says, grabbing Willa’s arm. “We don’t have muchtime.”

“We have threehours!”

“Does this mean we’re not going swimming?” Simon asks, lookingcrestfallen.

“I did promise him,” Willa says and her friend lookshorrified.

“You can’t spend hours in chlorine water before you go out! Your hair will look like straw.” Nia shoots me a pointed glance before jutting her chin in Simon’s direction. “Maybesomeone elsecan takehim.”

I look down into his hopeful face. “Sure, let’s swim for a bit,” I tell him, winking. “I have a feeling we don’t want to be in the house anyhow. They’re going to be doinggirlythings.”

Simon hoots with laughter while Willa shoots me a look that could rival her brother’s best deathglare.

Swimming with Simon isn’t nearly as awkward as I feared it would be. His good mood from the recording studio seems to have stuck. I don’t feel like I have to search fruitlessly for topics to talk about for once. Instead, he keeps up a steady stream of conversation while he splashes around in the pool—most of it about Willa and all the things they’ve donetogether.

This, of course, doesn’t help me very much. I’m already having trouble keeping my mind off of Willa. It was probably really, really stupid to invite her to this party. Spending time with her in a dark club with pulsing music and plenty of liquor is a recipe fordisaster.

I’m just giving her a night off,I tell myself.To thank her for all her help. She’ll probably talk to Haylee and Layla the whole time anyhow.But then I wonder what kind of dress Nia might have brought her to wear and I have to dunk under the water to cooloff.

“We should probably head in,” I tell Simon after he manages to retrieve all the diving hoops in under a minute for the third straighttime.

“Do we haveto?”

“You’ve already beaten your record twice,” I point out, giving him a boost out of the pool. “Save some glory for next time,man.”

He laughs. “I am getting prettyhungry.”

“I’ll order a pizza for you and Nia,” I tell him and we dry off, debating the merits of pineapple as a pizza topping—he’s in favor, I’m vehementlyopposed.

“Willa likes pineapple,” he tells me, as if that settles the matter. “And ranch dressing. She always puts ranch dressing on herpizza.”

I rub the towel through his hair before plopping it down on the top his head so it drapes across his face, blinding him. “Well, if Willa likes ranch dressing I guess it must be prettygood.”

He laughs, pulling the towel away, and I’m suddenly struck with the realization that I’m related to this little person. He looks a lot like my mom when he’s laughing, something about the way his eyes scrunch up. It gives me a funny feeling in my chest so I stand a little too quickly, nearly stumbling. “Let’sgo.”

Simon doesn’t notice anything weird about my behavior. He chatters happily as we head into the house. “I wonder if Nia will let me watchStar Warstonight. She doesn’t really likeStar Wars—isn’t that crazy? She says I should watchStar Trekinsteadbut—”

Whatever he says next doesn’t register. Because Willa is standing in the middle of the room and suddenly I can’t hear anything anymore. Can’t move, can’t speak. Can’tbreathe.

This is bad,a panicked part of my brain is shouting. Really, reallybad.

She’s dressed in a simple tank top and denim skirt. The outfit hugs her curves and shows off her legs and it doesn’t look like oxygen is going to be making a comeback to my brain anytime soon. Her hair is hanging straight and shiny down her back and whatever Nia did to her face makes her look just a little bit older, her eyes a little bit wider, a shade more blue. She’s not wearing as much makeup as she did at the party in Hollywood and her outfit is nowhere near as fancy as the getup that made me lose my mind that night. Somehow that makes it all so much worse, though, because she doesn’t look like some hot random stranger. She looks like Willa—gorgeous, funny, sweetWilla.

“Wow!” Simon says, stopping next to me. “You look really pretty,Willa!”

Her face breaks into a perfect, breathtaking grin, her eyes bright and wide and absolutely fucking gorgeous.So bad, my brain repeats.So, so bad.“Thanks, buddy!” she says, rustling his wet hair. “You’re very sweet. How wasswimming?”

I tear my eyes away from her to see Nia standing at the dining table, packing some makeup into a case. And she’s watching me with narrowed eyes.Get it together,I tell myself, still fighting that panickingfeeling.

“Simon, we’re dripping on the tile,” I say, realizing belatedly that I’ve cut him off in the middle of him telling Willa about the new diving record. She shoots me a concerned look. Shit. “Come on,” I say, nudging him toward the hall. “Go get into your dryclothes.”

“I’m ready whenever you are,” Willa says as I pass her. I force myself not to meet hereyes.

“Great,” I say, knowing my voice sounds gruff but unable to do much about it at the moment. I have to get out of this room. “I’m just gonna grab a shower and I’ll be good togo.”

Safely alone in my bathroom, I blast the hot water and climb into the shower. I stand under the spray for a solid minute, not moving. What am I going to do? I can think of a million reasons to stay away from Willa Nathans. Her brother is one of my best friends and insanely protective. She’s too young. She’s in a mixed up place in her life right now and the last thing she needs is me complicating things for her. The last thing she needs is me, period. I’m not good for a girl like Willa. That’s not going to change no matter how much time we spendtogether.

And then there’s Simon. I might not know a whole lot about taking care of a kid, but I do know that Willa is the best thing he has going for him right now. He clearly adores her and she takes good care of him. She’s just about the only stable figure in his life—his entire world is messed up at the moment. I can’t risk him losing Willa just because I can’t control mylibido.