My heart hammers in my chest. I blink and look around my bedroom. “What time is it?”
“Not sure. The power is still out.”
“Did your mom stop by?”
“My mom?” She frowns. “What for?”
“Fucking hell.” I sit up in bed. Wylla Mae has on her graduation dress. The one she had on last night. White and tight, hugging her curves. Damn that dream felt so fucking real. Fucking Alexa invading my dreams.
I rub a palm to my eyes. My chest squeezes tight. Guilt consumes me.
“Are you okay? You’re acting kind of strange. You aren’t all weirded out about us, are you?”
“There is no us.”
Her face falls. “Yeah, I mean it’s not like I think you’re my boyfriend, East. We agreed that it’d only be last night…and well what we did earlier before you fell asleep. I don’t expect anything from you or anything. I get it. You’ve got your life, and I’m going away to college soon.”
I can’t believe it. Wylla Mae is giving me the why we can’t be together speech I should be giving her. I don’t know how to fuckin’ deal with it. That damn dream is still too raw and fresh in my mind. It felt so real.
“Give me a minute to get awake.”
A weird expression crosses her face. Her lips curve down, knitted tight. That look breaks me. I’m already hurting her. “Okay. I’ll just wait for you downstairs.”
“Wait. C’mere.” I yank her back down on the bed and wrap my arms around her, hating the distance already spreading between us. Here I was worried about Wylla Mae when I should have been worried about my damn self apparently. I’m the one having trouble letting go.
I want to keep her.
I want to claim.
Make her my Old Lady.
Chapter 13
Wylla Mae
“East...” I shake my head. “This is way too much. I mean, this is five thousand dollars.” I stare at the check that was in the card he gave me for graduation.
“I don’t want you to worry while you’re at school about a job or asking your mom or me for money. I was planning to take you to the bank to open an account, but you can do that yourself and I can wire you money if you need more.”
“Are you crazy?”
“Only a little.” He chuckles.
“I can’t accept this.”
“You haven’t even opened the box yet,” he points out.
“I’m afraid to. I don’t know what to say.”
“Say thank you.”
“Thank you.” I lean across the table at Waffle House and kiss the corner of his mouth. We’re at a table in the corner where no one can actually see us, but I know we need to be careful. The last thing either of us need is for someone to tell my mom they saw me making out over pancakes with one of her exes.
“Open the box.”
“Okay.” I pull the red ribbon wrapped around it off and then the lid. My hand flies to my mouth. It’s a car key. “Mom is going to kill you.”
“You need dependable transportation so you can come see me sometimes on the weekend.”