“I’m not ready for that” was her response, worried. “I’m not ready to lose you.”
“Who says you’ll lose me?”
“I know Cam. I know how he’ll react.”
“But the longer we keep this from him—”
“I’d keep it from him forever if it means I get to keep you.”
Will stood his ground. “He needs to know. I’m tired of lying to him and keeping you a secret. I want the world to know I’m with the best girlfriend anyone could want.”
Her pout turned into a sunshine smile. “Flattering me won’t work.”
“Yeah?” He poked her side and she squirmed.
Stella forced herself to focus on the conversation. “What changed?”
“I’m serious about you.”
“Will? What are you saying?”
“There’s no cure for loving you.” He breathed her in. “I can’t bring myself to think about being with anyone else. Look, I get it. You need time. I can wait as long as you want. But I want you to know that this—you—are it for me. My heart is about to be published for the world to see, and I want you by my side when that finally happens.”
There was too much to process all at once. Stella found herself blinking and speechless. For a long moment, all she could hear was the rhythmic beating of her heart. And if she concentrated hard enough, she was sure she could hear Will’s heart calling to hers too.
What was stopping her from responding? She had liked him long before he had started liking her. What was she afraid of? This was it. All she wanted.
Yet the question “Are you sure?” still came out of her lips. But before Will could speak, she clarified, “I’m serious about you too.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
“Are you sure you’re willing to lose Cam? Because we both know he’s not going to like this.”
“Who says he will go ballistic? You never know. If we come clean, maybe he’ll support us.”
“There you go, being Mr. Positive again.” It was what she liked about him. To Will, even a rainy day was a good thing.
“Cam will just have to understand my feelings for you. I’m not going anywhere.”
The declaration shouldn’t have caught Stella off guard, but it did. Her stomach flipped like a pancake. Is this really happening? she asked herself, burying her hot face against Will’s chest. She inhaled his scent. Soap on skin. Clean and slightly salty. No aftershave this time.
“What’s wrong?” Will rubbed circles down her back.
“I’m so happy right now, I don’t know how I’m going to get any sleep.”
Will chuckled. She felt the vibrations against her cheek. “So we’re telling him.”
She eased back to look up at his face. “We’re telling him.”
They shared a smile. Then a kiss. Then they were full-on making out. But it didn’t last long. They must have been more tired than Stella first thought because soon enough, they were fast asleep in each other’s arms.
* * *
“WHAT THE FUCK is going on here?!”
Will startled awake at the thundering bellow. Vision still blurred from sleep. Will swallowed, his mouth dry and sour. Dread—cold and unforgiving—coated his lungs. Breathing became a chore.
“Holy crap!” Stella said, also awake.
“You asshole,” Cam growled through his teeth.
“Whoa! Whoa! Cam!” Will raised both his hands in surrender, jumping over Stella and shoving her to the farthest corner of the bed. “It’s not what you think.”
“Really?” Cam’s gaze landed on the wings sticking out of Stella’s closet and pointed. “Isn’t that the costume the girl you left with wore on Halloween?”
Stepping forward, Cam grabbed the front of Will’s shirt and pulled him out of the bed.
“That’s my sister!” His eyes were wild.
“Cam, let me explain.”
But Will wasn’t given a chance. With brute strength, Cam shoved Will out of Stella’s room and into the hallway. Will looked back. Stella sat frozen, clearly in shock. His heart lurched. He wanted to comfort her more than anything else.
“It’s okay,” Will managed to say before Cam dragged him off.
“What is going on here, Camron?” their mother asked, face pale. She’d clearly heard Cam’s outburst and had come to investigate.
“Nothing, Nanay, just taking out the trash,” Cam said. He only referred to his mother by the Filipino term when his temper had gone off the rails. The great menace in his tone sent chills down Will’s back.
Hearing his best friend call him trash struck Will harder than any physical blow could have. He stumbled on the stairs. Cam didn’t stop. He was a freight train. All Will could do was try to keep up.
At the bottom of the stairs, Cam headed straight for the door and yanked it open. The entire time he kept one hand on Will’s shirt, his grip like a vice. With a great heave, Cam threw Will forward. Will barely kept his balance as he staggered away.
“Get out of here!” Cam said. “And don’t come back. If I ever see you near my sister again, I’ll make you wish you were never born!”
Stumbling away from his former best friend, Will couldn’t wrap his mind around how quickly everything had gone wrong. All he wanted was to turn back and confront his friend. But Will also knew Cam. There was no talking to him in a temper. And part of him couldn’t stop hearing the word trash echoing through his mind again and again. So, knowing he left his heart behind with Stella, Will took the coward’s way out and left.
* * *
ONCE THE SHOCK of waking up to her brother going berserk on his best friend in some misguided attempt to protect her honor wore off, Stella scrambled out of bed. She raced past her mom, who said something as Stella passed, but she was too focused on stopping Cam from murdering Will on her behalf to pay attention.
Tearing out of the house, she found Cam standing on the lawn, breathing hard, fists at his sides. No Will. Stella breathed a sigh of relief. She’d been worried she’d find her boyfriend sprawled on the ground, bloody. Surely Cam hadn’t had time to do too much damage. He loved Will like a brother and would have regretted hurting him. Then her anger sparked.
“What were you thinking?” she screamed at him, not caring if the neighbors heard. She was too angry.
Cam turned around and faced her. “I should be asking you that question.”
“Nothing happened!”
“You were in bed together.”
“And nothing happened!” Stella pulled at her hair. “You’re the worst!”
“Why Will? You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“Why not?”
“He’s my best friend.”
“Exactly! You should trust him.”
“Of all the guys, Stella! Why him?”
“I like him.”
Cam’s face darkened. “Like all the other guys?”
“This is different.” She hated how petulant she sounded, but her truth needed to be heard. “Will is perfect. I’ve liked him forever.”
“Don’t tell me that. He’s not as perfect as you think.”
To Stella, it felt like they were having two different conversations. “Why? Because he’s your friend?”
“You don’t understand!” Cam’s eyes grew wide. “I know him better than you. He’s a player. I’ve seen him in action. He hooks up with girls faster than a fisherman catches fish.”
Stella pushed away the image of Will and any other girl. He wasn’t like that. Not with her.
“You sound like a total jerk,” she accused. “Ratting on Will? To what end? To turn me off? Well, all it proves is you were never his friend.”
“Low blow.” Cam actually looked hurt.
“And dragging him out of the house wasn’t?”
“He deserved it! You’re never seeing him again. Do you understand?”
“Who’s stopping me?”
“Do you understand me?” The coldness of Cam’s tone was final.
Stella sucke
d in a breath, trying to hold back the tears that flooded her eyes.
Cam softened his expression. “I’m just trying to—”
“Protect me.” Stella choked out a laugh. “Yeah, sure. Tell yourself that.”
“Stella…”
“No! You don’t get to control my life.” She shook her head, backing away. “I will like who I want, and you have no say in it.”
“We’ll see about that.”
She put her foot down. “I can’t take this anymore. I’m done.”
With all the dignity she could muster, Stella squared her shoulders and stomped back into the house. She managed to hold back the flood of tears until she shut the door to her room.
SEVENTEEN
BREAKUPS ARE HARD
Will sat at his desk, waiting for Cam to get back from spring break. Six days might have been enough to cool his friend down so they could talk rationally about this. Will had driven back to UCLA a day early to make sure he beat Cam to school and that all baseball equipment and other paraphernalia that were possibly hazardous to Will’s health—pens, books, shoes—were safely tucked away and out of immediate reach.
Will’s feet bounced in anticipation. He rested his elbows on his knees and clasped his hands together. His big speech was ready. The key was to get Cam to listen. Will believed if he could accomplish that, then Cam would see reason. He believed his friend wanted Stella’s happiness. Will needed Cam to see that all he wanted was to make Stella happy.
He jumped to his feet the second the door opened. Cam burst into the room with a box in his hands, not sparing Will a glance. He marched straight to the closet and shoved clothes inside without caring if everything wrinkled.
“What are you doing?” Will blurted out, his speech forgotten.
“What does it look like?”
“Let’s talk about this.”
Dropping the box, Cam rounded on Will and grabbed him by his shirt collar. Then he shoved him up against a wall. Will might have been taller, but Cam had superior upper-body strength.
“You wanna talk?” Cam growled into Will’s face. “Let’s talk.”
Will gritted his teeth through the pain of his head banging on the wall. He didn’t resist. Instead, he kept his hands at his sides and looked Cam in the eye.
“I love her.”
“Wrong answer.”
A fist came flying by to land on the wall by Will’s head. Cam still had some sort of restraint. But the message was clear in the damnation in his eyes.
“How long?”
It was a question, but from Cam it sounded more like a threat. Will shoved aside all his insecurities about being with Stella. He wasn’t running away this time. He was owning his feelings for her in front of the guy he loved as a brother.
“We became official the night of the Halloween party.”
Cam’s face paled. “God! I thought you were leaving the party to hook up. You were lying to me all this time!”
“Nothing happened. Then or when you caught us in bed together. I respect her too much to pressure her into anything she’s not ready for. Please, Cam, you have to understand.” Will swallowed. “Stella is important to me. I would never dream of hurting her.”
“But she’s like a sister to you.”
Will shook his head. “She was never like that to me. She was annoying at first. Then she was this geeky girl with braids, braces, and glasses. Then … she was more.”
His friend’s face soured. “Are you telling me you’ve liked her for longer? Is that why you were in on chasing all those idiots away?”
“Since we were juniors. And yes. I was afraid that if I didn’t help, then she’d find someone and I’d lose my chance.”
“She was a sophomore,” Cam said with disgust. “You’re sick!”
“I never did anything about it,” Will promised.
“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” Cam backed away. “And when you suggested you be her date to homecoming?”
“Don’t ever think that I wanted to deceive you in any way.”
“You were lying to me. All this time.” Cam shoved his fingers through his hair. His expression went from enraged to betrayed. “But you know what was worse? That I counted on you to back me up. At the holiday party. You promised nothing was going to happen. I trusted you. You were my bro. You broke that. All because you thought to sneak around my back with my sister.”
“I love her, Cam. You have to believe me.” Every breath Will inhaled felt like needles in his lungs. “And I know she loves me too.”
“Like hell that’s true.” Cam raised his fist again. Will braced for the blow. It never came. Instead, Cam pointed at him and said, “You and me, we’re done.”
Cam picked up the box full of his stuff.
“Wait!” Will reached out. “Don’t do this. Please.”
“You know all those guys that I thought weren’t good for her?” he asked, pausing by the door. Will waited with bated breath. Cam turned and faced him, a stone-cold expression on his face. “You are worse than all of them combined.”
Will staggered back as if Cam really had hit him. “Why? Why am I not enough? All I want is for her to be happy!”
“All of those hookups,” Cam said, voice going eerily calm. “You used all those girls as what? Replacements for my sister?”
“Of course not. Damn it, Cam! Is that how low you think I am?”
“Yes.” Cam opened the door. “That’s why you’re not worthy of her.”
More than hurt by Cam’s condemnation, Will snapped, “I don’t think even Jesus himself would be worthy of her to you.”
“I’m done talking,” Cam spat at Will. “And I better not see you around my sister, or the punches I’m holding back will land.”
The sound of the door closing rang out in Will. When Stella had asked him if he was prepared, his answer had been all wrong. He’d had no idea losing his friend would be so devastating.
The small dorm room felt infinitely emptier as Will sank to the floor and leaned back against the wall. Maybe he really was not good enough. He couldn’t even get Cam to stop and listen to him, much less believe how he felt. He cradled his head in his hands. Maybe it was better to let Stella go. For her own good.
EIGHTEEN
FASHION ON THE BRAIN
Stella hadn’t known she could cry and sew at the same time. She cried for Will and her broken heart. She cried for herself and her dreams that hung in the balance. And she cried for her brother. She hated him. Oh, how she hated him. But he was still her brother. Family. And that meant she still loved him.
Not that she was speaking to him. Oh no! Despite her mother’s guilt trips, she still wasn’t speaking to him.
The only bright spot in Stella’s life came from the fact that her dress was done. The massive thing took up most of her room. All the beads had been sewn on. All with the tireless help of Franklin. She couldn’t have done it without him.
As if her thoughts had called to him, a knock sounded at her door. Tears still streaming down her face, she turned and sniffed. Franklin, eyebrow raised, handed her a tissue.
She took the tissue gratefully and blew into it. “What do you think?”
“I can’t believe you’re still crying” was Franklin’s clipped response while he studied the dress.
His words triggered more tears, but tired of crying and eyes sore, Stella inhaled the biggest breath her lungs could hold. Then she exhaled it slowly. It helped settle her. A bit.
“Cut me some slack.” She shifted. “Will hasn’t been answering any of my texts. I’m icing my brother out. And I need this dress perfect before the model fitting tomorrow.”
“Pain is really working for you.”
“You think?” She tilted her head, studying the dress. “I can’t see the taffeta for the chiffon anymore.”
Franklin snorted. “You got that right.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Her hackles rose. Her eyes were suddenly very dry.
“The sk
irt is magnificent and the corset is on point.” He cradled his elbow in one hand. “And you know how I love teal, but—and I mean this with love—are you sure about the sleeves?”
Stella’s defenses magnified. “What about the sleeves?”
Franklin rubbed the fabric between his fingers. “They remind me of a bad eighties prom dress. You already have the exposed shoulders. The fluffy drop sleeve is way too much.”
The rubber band of her patience snapped. “You know what? I’m not going to take this from you right now.”
Incredulous, Franklin said, “What? Some constructive criticism?”
“The dress is good. There’s nothing wrong with it.”
“But it’s not great yet.”
“Thank you for your help, but I think you should go. Focus on your own dress. You don’t see me giving you ‘constructive criticism.’” Stella sandwiched her last words in air quotes.
Franklin’s face turned a bright shade of red that clashed with his hair completely. “Actually, I’d welcome the input if you ever bothered to ask about my dress. Here I am helping you, and not once have you asked if I needed any help.”
“Well, excuse me for not caring while my life is slowly imploding.” Stella threw her hands up in the air. “I’m not the one who got into Parsons.”
“That’s the problem.” Franklin pointed at her. “It’s always been about you, you, you. It’s the Stella show twenty-four seven around here. You’ll fit right in on Project Runway.”
“I’m supportive!”
“What does my dress look like? What materials did I use?”
Stella opened her mouth to respond, but her mind drew a blank. She crossed her arms instead.
“See!” Franklin slapped his sides. “Not even famous yet, and already you’re forgetting who your friends are.”
“Don’t be such a diva!”
He gasped. “How dare you!”
She pointed at the door. “Leave!”
“I will!” He turned and stomped away, but when he reached the door, he stopped and said over his shoulder, “Congratulations. Your life really has imploded.”
“We’ll see about that,” Stella challenged. “My dress will kick your dress’s ass.”
The Boyfriend Bracket Page 15