Willow's clothes match her serious personality. But then sometimes she'll wear something totally different that takes me by surprise, like when she bought those red cowboy boots years ago. Or when she wears cutoff jean shorts. When she does that, it's like that other side of her is peeking through again.
"I'd like a navel piercing," Willow says to the guy.
"That's it? Just a navel piercing?"
She thinks for a moment, then says, "Yes."
"Let me get the form." He goes behind the desk and brings back a clipboard with a piece of paper on it.
She takes it and we sit down on the chairs that line the back wall. As she's filling out whatever form he gave her, I say, "Why did you hesitate when he asked you if that was all? Were you going to change your mind? Because if you don't want to do this—"
"I want to do it. When he asked, I was just thinking if I wanted anything else done. Like another piercing. Or a tattoo." She continues filling out the form.
"A tattoo?" I pick her hand up from the clipboard. "Who are you, and what the hell did you do with Willow?"
She smiles and takes her hand back and signs her name. Then she hops up from her chair and hands the clipboard to the guy.
"Follow me." He motions her to a hallway.
I catch up to them in the hall. "I'm coming with."
"I'm afraid it'll hurt," Willow says to the guy. "So I brought a friend with to hold my hand."
So now I'm just a friend? An hour ago I was her boyfriend. Clearly that was just to keep Alex away from me. Willow was so jealous, especially when Alex kept putting her breasts in front of my face. She couldn't exactly help it. The height of the chair put her breasts at eye level. She had nice breasts.
"I'll need you to unbutton your shorts," the guy says, and my attention swings back to Willow, who is now lying down on a table in this tiny room the guy led us to. Willow has her shirt pulled up but still covering her bra, and the guy is wiping the skin around her belly button with a cotton ball that's soaked with some kind of antibacterial solution. He's wearing gloves but I still don't like seeing his hands on her.
Willow unbuttons her shorts and my blood starts pumping harder. Now I'm the jealous one. Actually, I'm more angry than jealous. I don't like this guy seeing her exposed like this.
"You need to unzip them and fold them down a little," he tells her.
I grit my teeth, trying to keep calm, but I'm about ready to bolt up from the stool I'm sitting on and cover her up. Instead, I hold her hand and move closer to her, close enough to signal to the guy that Willow and I are more than friends.
Willow's nervous. She's breathing fast and her hand is ice cold. The guy turns to get something from the table.
"You okay?" I ask her.
She nods. "Yeah."
I lean down and whisper, "We can leave if you're not ready to do this."
"I'm fine." She fakes a smile. "Just a little worried about the pain."
I kiss her to take her mind off it, and also to remind tattoo guy that she's off limits. As I back away, he's sitting across from me on the stool, waiting.
"Which one do you want?" he asks Willow. He's holding a plastic tray displaying an assortment of navel rings.
"Hmm. I'm not sure. Silas, you pick."
I look them over. Some of them look cheap or trashy, but there's a sparkling fake diamond one that's both classy and simple. It'd be perfect for Willow.
"Let's go with that one." I point to it.
"That one costs an additional five dollars," the guy says. "The other ones are free with the piercing."
"That's fine. I'll pay for it."
"Silas, you're not—"
"Willow." I smile at her. "That's the one I like. It's going to look great on you."
She bites her lip, in a sexy, suggestive way. I get the feeling she wants to show off this piercing to me later, without any clothes on. And damn, that's a sight I would like to see. I'm getting aroused just imagining it. I never thought she'd get a navel ring, but now that she is, I can't wait to see it. It's going to be sexy as hell, that shimmering stud decorating her flat tan stomach.
The guy has the piercing tool ready to go. Willow squeezes my hand and closes her eyes. The piercing takes just seconds, then he maneuvers the stud in place and it's done. Her skin is a little pink where it went in, but the sparkling stud already looks really good.
"Is it in?" Willow asks, her eyes still closed.
"Yes," I tell her as I rub her hand. "You're all done."
The guy tells her how to take care of it, then hands her an instruction sheet to take home and we go out front to pay.
When we're back outside she says, "You didn't have to pay for that."
"It was worth it. I have a feeling I'll be getting more enjoyment out of it than you will."
She flashes that sexy smile again. "And why is that?"
I shrug a shoulder. "I just do." I grab her hand and walk to my truck. "Does it hurt?"
"Not at all. It stung when he did it, but I don't feel anything now."
She's swinging our arms, grinning like she's both happy and proud of herself for doing that.
"Look at you, all badass with your navel pierced."
She laughs. "I'm not a badass."
"You went into a tattoo place and got a piercing. Without even planning it. That's badass. And I went and cut my hair short. Guess I'm the conservative one now and you're the wild one."
"I'm not wild."
We're at the truck and I open her door for her. "Can I see it?"
There's no one around so she lifts her shirt up to just under her bra. I softly run my finger around her belly button.
Her breath catches and her stomach muscles tense.
"Does that hurt?" I ask.
"No," she breathes out.
I knew it didn't. I could tell by her reaction that she was aroused, not in pain. I touched her in a very sensitive area and it turned her on. I love turning her on. Now I'll always have an excuse to touch her there or look at her there. I think it's safe to say I'll be getting enjoyment out of this. That was money well spent.
We stop for a slice of pizza, then go back to my house. My mom comes up to us as we walk in. She's staring at my hair.
"Who is this strange man?" she jokes.
"I know. It's a lot shorter."
"I like it. It looks good on you."
"And Willow got her navel pierced," I say.
She hits my arm. "Silas! You weren't supposed to tell her! Now she's going to tell my parents."
"Your parents won't care."
"He's right," my mom says to Willow. "That's not something they'd be upset about. Oh, I talked to your mother. She was excited about having a booth at the vendor fair next week but she can't get off work. You'll have to set it up and manage it yourself."
"That's fine. Sign me up. Can we ride together?"
"We might need to borrow Silas' truck. I don't think everything will fit in my car."
"It's all yours," I say walking around her to the kitchen to get some water.
I like that my mom and Willow get along so well. And it's good my mom set her up with this opportunity to sell stuff. Willow's family could use any amount of cash they could get right now. That's why Willow's mom agreed to do this. Normally, she doesn't sell her soaps and lotions. She likes to stick to selling food.
Willow finds me in the kitchen. "Silas, it's getting late. I'm going home."
"I'll walk you back."
We go outside and she walks backward down the sidewalk, smiling at me. "Can you believe I got my navel pierced?"
"It was a little surprising."
"A little? I never do stuff like that."
"No, but I think you want to." I grab her around the waist and tug her against me. "You have a wild side that you need to let come out more."
She laughs and looks up at me. "I don't think so."
I set my eyes on hers. "You also have a sexy cowgirl side. A sexy school girl side. And now a badass side. You need
to let those sides come out and play."
"I did." She bites her lip.
"Not just now and then. I want to see those sides of you more often." I tilt my head and put my mouth over hers, gently sucking her lip from her teeth. She exhales sharply and I kiss her, hard, while pulling her against me. Then I soften the kiss, and she parts her lips, and I slide my tongue over hers.
There's no space between our bodies and I feel her chest moving in and out as she breathes. She grips my shirt and kisses me back, her tongue tangling with mine. I move my hand to behind her neck, my fingers threading through her hair.
I'm so turned on right now. That navel piercing started it and it's been building all night.
She breaks from my lips, breathless, and whispers, "God, I want you so bad."
Shit. As if it wasn't hard enough. Now it's starting to ache. If I'd known she was going to say that, I would've taken her somewhere instead of coming home.
"Let's go," I say, still kissing her.
"Where?"
"To the farm. The sleeping bag's still in my truck."
I take her hand and we start walking back to my house.
"Willow?" It's her mom, yelling from the driveway. "Honey, are you going to be home soon?"
Willow turns back. "I'm not sure. Why?"
"Diane told me about the booth. I thought we could start planning it. But if you're leaving, we could work on it tomorrow."
Willow turns to me. "I should probably go. I haven't had much time with her since I've been back."
"Yeah, go ahead."
She yells back to her mom, "I'll be home in a minute."
"No rush." Candace goes back in the house.
"Sorry," Willow says. "I really wanted to."
I smile. "Raincheck?"
"Yeah." She reaches up and kisses me. "Goodnight."
I hug her. "See ya tomorrow. And since you're working in the fields, I'll expect to see the sexy farm girl side of you."
She laughs as she walks to the door. I wait for her to get safely inside, then walk back to my house, and once again, take a long, very cold shower.
The next morning, I stop by Willow's house to take her to work. She comes out the door wearing a white tank top and denim overall shorts.
"What do you think?" she asks as she hops in the truck. "Do I look like a farm girl?"
"A sexy farm girl." I back out of the driveway.
"This isn't sexy." She pulls her hair up in a ponytail, securing it with a band.
"It's sexy." I smile at her. "Makes me think of having sex in the back of a pickup."
She laughs. "Yeah. I wonder what that's like."
"Maybe we should try it and see." I raise my brows. "Like tonight?"
She shakes her head. "I can't tonight. I'm helping my mom make lotions. She's really excited about the vendor fair, which is weird because she's never wanted to sell this stuff before."
"Can't you work on that this weekend?"
"My parents won't be here. They're going to see one of my dad's friends from college. He lives in San Jose. They're staying overnight on Saturday. They should be back by Sunday afternoon."
So she'll have the house to herself. We can finally get some privacy.
My phone rings and I pick it up. It's Trent.
"Hey, you at work?" I push the button to put it on hands-free mode.
"Yeah." His voice fills the car. "How was—"
"Willow's here," I interrupt before he says something he shouldn't. Every time we talk he asks if I've had sex with her again and I don't want her hearing that.
"Hi, Trent," she says. "How's the golf course job?"
"Good. Hey, I don't have much time to talk. I was just wondering what you guys are doing this weekend."
I glance at Willow. "Why do you ask?"
"I'm having a party over at the house. It's a cookout around the pool. It'll start around six-thirty and end whenever people go home."
"It sounds fun," Willow says. "Am I invited or just Silas?"
I give her a look, wondering why she asked.
"Of course you're invited," he says. "So can you guys make it?"
"Yeah, we'll be there," I tell him. "Do you want us to bring anything?"
"Only if you plan to eat that vegan shit. I'm cooking burgers and steaks, not tofu."
"Willow and I are good with burgers. We'll see you Saturday." I end the call.
"Now we have something to do this weekend," Willow says.
I was hoping to spend Saturday night alone with her, but I'm sure we'll only spend a couple hours at the party. Then we can go home and have alone time.
"Why did you ask if you were invited?" I say.
"Because Trent doesn't like me."
"He likes you."
"No, he doesn't. He keeps setting you up with other girls, twice that I know of. Maybe more than that. He doesn't want me with you."
"It's not his decision."
"So you agree he doesn't want me to be with you?"
I sigh. "He just doesn't want a repeat of the past. But I told him to mind his own business."
"He thinks I'll hurt you again." She looks out the side window.
"Willow." I put my hand on her knee. "The past is the past. It just wasn't the right time for us back then."
I want her to say that now is the right time, but she doesn't. I knew she wouldn't, but I had to give her a chance to.
When we arrive at the farm, the other guys are already in the fields. Usually I would be too, but I didn't want to make Willow get here that early. She has no idea how many hours I normally work.
"Why is my mom still here?" she asks, noticing their car. "She should be on her way to the office by now."
"Maybe she's going in late today."
"Yeah, maybe." Willow gets out of the truck and starts walking to the trailer. I'm worried about what she'll find in there. Her parents might have gotten here early so they could meet privately without her overhearing.
"Willow, wait up." I catch her hand, stopping her. I need an excuse to keep her outside. I spot the sunscreen bottle sitting on the picnic table. "Could you put sunscreen on me? I forgot to get my neck, and it might burn now that my hair's not covering it."
We go over to one of the picnic tables and I sit down so she can reach. She squirts some lotion in her hand and rubs it on the back of my neck.
When she's done, she hands me the bottle. "Could you put some on mine too?"
"Sure." I rub it on her neck, extra slow, trying to kill time.
"That should be good." She pops up from the bench. "Thanks."
I motion to the fields. "We need to get out there before it gets too hot."
"I'm just going to say hi to my mom quick. She and my dad left before I got up so I didn't see her."
Before I can stop her, she goes in the trailer. I follow her in there.
"What are you guys doing?" she asks when she sees paperwork scattered all over the table her parents are sitting at.
"Willow." Carl stands up, sporting a big wide smile. "You're early."
"It's almost eight. I'm not that early."
Candace gathers the papers and stuffs them in a folder. "Is it that late? I need to get to work."
"What's all that paperwork for?" Willow asks.
"Your father and I were just looking at the schedules for the farmers' markets this summer." Candace stuffs the folder in the giant bag she calls a purse and walks over to Willow, kissing her cheek. "Bye, honey."
"Why don't you give that to me?" She points to the folder. "I'll make a calendar of all the farmers' markets for the summer and a spreadsheet that will track sales."
"We don't need that," Carl says to Willow. "But thank you for offering." He goes over to Candace and gives her a kiss. "Bye, honey. See you tonight."
"Carl can ride home with us if you need to work late," I say to Candace.
"I won't be late tonight. Willow and I are making lotions." She smiles. "You could come help if you want."
"Okay," I say, willi
ng to do most anything to help them make money.
Willow laughs. "Silas, she was joking."
"I don't mind helping. It's just mixing stuff up, right?"
"Yeah, smelly girly stuff."
I grin. "I love smelly girly stuff."
"Especially when it's on a pretty girl," Carl says, giving Willow a wink.
Candace heads to the door. "Great! I'll see you both tonight. Oh, and Silas, come over early. You can have dinner with us."
When she's gone, Carl says, "I'll order a pizza."
I smile. "Thanks."
He knows how bad his wife's cooking is and yet he still eats whatever she makes. Now that's love. But at least he doesn't make Willow and me eat it.
"Well, we better get to work," Carl says. He takes his hat from the hook and goes outside.
That was a close call. If Willow had overheard her parents talking, their secret would be out.
I'm so sick of this secret. They just need to tell her. They can't keep hiding it from her. I can't either. It's getting harder and harder to not tell her the truth.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Willow
"I'll be shocked if Silas shows up," I say to my mom. She got home a few minutes ago and we're gathering the supplies we need for the soaps. We decided to make soaps tonight and lotions tomorrow.
"I'm sure he'll show up." She smiles at me. "Any excuse to see you."
"That's not why he's doing it."
"Willow, stop denying how much that boy likes you." She nudges me as she goes by. "And how much you like him."
I don't bother denying it. She can read me like a book.
"Are you two going out this weekend?"
"Yeah. To a party at Trent's house. I might need a few dollars for the weekend. Just for food and stuff. I noticed the cash jar was empty."
"I'll give you some money before we leave."
"The jar's been empty all week. Any reason why?"
"Your father had to buy some tools for the farm and he didn't want to charge it. And I had to buy the supplies for the soaps and lotions."
She takes out a box that contains the scraps of paper that her homemade soap recipes are scribbled on. She spreads them out on the kitchen table.
Still Love You Page 14