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A few minutes later, after getting into the truck, Will jingled his keys before starting his engine.
“Sorry about all that. My dad sometimes says the craziest things.”
“Don’t be sorry. I like him.”
“And I wasn’t that shy, by the way. My cheeks never turned bright red.”
“Of course they didn’t.”
“I’m serious. I was always smooth.”
“I’m sure you were,” she said, reaching over to pat his knee. “But listen. About tonight. My family has this weird tradition.”
“You’re lying!” Will shouted. “You’ve been lying all night and I’m sick and tired of it.”
“Don’t even go there!” Ro
The dishes from di
“You’re both lying,” Jonah added. “Neither of you knows how to tell the truth.”
Will offered Jonah his game face and reached into his pile of change. “A quarter says you don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Her dad started shaking his head. “Bad move, young man. It’s over. I’m going to have to raise you fifty cents.”
“I’ll see that!” Ro
They paused, all of them eying one another before slapping their cards down on the table. Ro
“You’re all liars!” he said. His wi
As soon as they stepped inside, however, she had a good feeling. For starters, the house was picked up, Jonah was obviously under orders not to cling to their sides or question Will like a prosecutor, and her dad met Will with a simple handshake and an easygoing, “It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Will was on his best behavior, of course, answering questions with “Yes, sir” and “No, sir,” which struck her as endearing in a southern kind of way. The di
As for Will, he was just the kind of guy her mom wanted Ro
Which was really weird, considering he was only just starting to get to know her again, and also kind of sad at the same time, because she was begi
All in all, she was glad she’d invited Will over. It certainly was easier for him to meet her dad than it had been for Ro
Normally, she wouldn’t have cared what someone’s parent thought of her, and she wouldn’t have given a second thought to the way she’d been dressed. She was who she was, after all… This was the first time in what seemed like forever that she’d felt she didn’t measure up, and it had bothered her far more than she’d thought it would.
As darkness fell and the game of liar’s poker began to wind down, she sensed Will watching her. She returned his gaze with a smile.
“I’m almost out,” he a
“I know. I am, too.”
He glanced toward the window. “Do you think it would be okay if we went for a walk?”
This time, she knew with certainty that he was asking because he wanted to spend some time alone with her-because he cared about her, even if he was unsure whether she felt the same way.
She met his eyes directly. “I’d love to go for a walk.”
20 Will
The beach stretched for miles, separated from Wilmington by the bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway. It had changed, of course, since Will was a kid-growing more congested in the summers, small bungalows like the one where Ro
Tonight, the place was deserted, and as he and Ro
He knew he was too young for such thoughts and was under no illusion that he was even considering marriage, but somehow he felt that if he met Ro