Chapter 4: Will
1326 Words
Six years earlier...
"I swear to God, if you make me drop this pie, I’ll end you," I threatened, pointing a firm finger right into David’s face, trying my best to sound serious.
Mrs. Mitch had invited me over for Thanksgiving, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to show up empty-handed. So, I brought an apple pie—partly because I knew Cora hated pumpkin pie, and partly because it was the only thing I knew how to make without completely screwing it up. But, if I was being honest, it was probably the worst thing I could have chosen. What kind of i***t brings a pie to a dinner where there’s an actual cook and a baker present? Sure, Cora wasn’t a professional baker yet, but after all the pies, cakes, muffins, and every other sweet treat she had practically shoved down my throat over the years, I chose to believe she was.
David smirked, stepping closer with mischief in his eyes. "Oh, little mister do-goody just wants to be appreciated." He shoved me again, though I barely moved. Come on, David had nothing on me. Still, it was enough to piss me off.
Before I could respond, a familiar voice, teasing and light, cut through the air.
"It’s because he’s such a good boy."
My eyes snapped up toward the porch, and there she was—leaning casually against the railing, looking like she owned the damn place. The future baker. Miss I’ll-take-over-the-world, party of one.
Something had changed.
Maybe it was because I hadn’t seen her in almost six months, but she looked different.
She was wearing a skirt—a black one—paired with those sheer stockings that never seemed to make sense to me. If they weren’t actually going to keep her warm, what was the point? But that thought barely even stuck in my head, because my gaze traveled up, taking in the way the soft, cream-colored sweater hung on her frame. It wasn’t tight, but it still managed to show off the curves that had started setting in over the past few years.
I swallowed, suddenly aware of how dry my mouth felt.
I was staring.
Get it together, Will!
Forcing a grin, I finally found my voice. "You know I am."
And just like that, heat crept into her cheeks, just as it had for the past eight years whenever I smiled at her like that.
David let out a bark of laughter, stepping forward and tugging his sister down a step to envelop her in a bear hug.
"Hey, Bubblegummy," he grinned.
Cora groaned, pushing at his chest. "Stop calling me that," she muttered through gritted teeth, making me grin even wider.
Some things never changed.
David finally let her go, mumbling something under his breath as he started up the stairs, leaving the two of us alone. It had never been a problem before—being alone with Cora. But something about the way she looked up at me through those dark lashes, her hazel eyes locking onto mine, made my stomach do something weird.
I ignored it.
"Hey, Cora," I said, forcing my usual easy smile as I opened one arm, offering a hug if she wanted it.
Her lips curved into a soft smile, her arms wrapping around my waist as she leaned into my chest—just like she always had. But this time, I noticed something I hadn’t before.
Her scent.
She smelled like strawberries and vanilla—sweet, familiar, and yet somehow… intoxicating.
"I brought you an apple pie," I said, hoping to dissolve the strange tension creeping over me. Was she feeling it too?
"Oh yeah?" she asked, leaning back slightly, her arms slipping away from me. And with them, the warmth of her body pressing against my chest vanished, making it suddenly easier to breathe—too easy, like I had been holding my breath without realizing it.
What the hell was going on?
She smiled as she took in the box I was holding, her hands reaching out to grab it with a delicacy that made my fingers twitch. "It looks delicious. Thanks, Will."
I cleared my throat, shifting my weight as I struggled to shove down whatever the hell this was. "It probably doesn’t have a chance against yours, but I remembered you hating pumpkin pie, so I thought—" I gestured toward the box, letting it speak for itself.
Why did I suddenly feel like the most awkward human being in the entire world?
Never in my life had I looked at Cora and seen this. Never had she seemed so... confident. So effortlessly at ease, like she had finally settled into herself. She wasn’t the same girl I had known all my life, the one who had always followed David and me around, always trying to prove she could keep up. Now, she looked genuinely happy. Free of worry.
Was it because she had turned eighteen?
Had my subconscious just been screaming she’s underage, look the other way for years, and now that she had officially crossed that invisible line, I was finally seeing her? Because what I saw now was the most stunning young woman I had ever laid eyes on.
Cora grinned up at me, her hazel eyes shimmering with something mischievous, as if we were in on some kind of inside joke. "Well, you know me better than anyone."
And then I felt it.
Heat, rushing up into my cheeks. Not from the cold air. Not from embarrassment. No, it was something worse—something dangerous.
Because all I could think about, standing there on that porch, was what it would feel like to press my lips against hers.
What the actual hell, Will?!
I barely had time to process the horrifying thought before a cocky voice cut through the air, ruining everything.
"Even better than me?"
And just like that, the moment was gone.
James f*****g Jackson.
The worst guy in the entire world. The one person I wouldn’t lose a wink of sleep over if he got run over by a train. Or fell into a ditch. Or just vanished off the face of the earth.
He had been a thorn in my side since the day Cora came home, all wide-eyed and excited, announcing that she had been asked out by him.
I had wanted to punch him in the face then. But now? Now that I had just seen her, really seen her, and he was here—standing in front of me, existing—I wanted to obliterate him.
And I didn’t think that feeling could grow any stronger.
But then he threw his arm around her.
And she looked up at him with that look in her eyes.
That soft, adoring look.
Like he had hung the stars in the sky just for her.
My stomach twisted violently, a tight, sickening knot forming in my chest.
Because not only was Cora five years younger than me, not only was she my best friend’s little sister—she was also madly in love with her boyfriend of almost two years.
I forced a tight smile, shoving down the nausea clawing at my throat. "I’m pretty sure I do, actually," I muttered before I could stop myself, my gaze flickering over to James, barely able to look at him without wanting to break his nose.
But the bastard only grinned.
Smug. Completely oblivious.
He threw me a casual, whatever, man, before turning back to Cora, effortlessly leading her inside the house.
I stood there, frozen on the first step of the porch, watching helplessly as she disappeared through the door.
And that was the moment I realized something deep in my bones.
Something that made my hands clench into fists.
Something I shouldn’t have realized.
I wanted her for myself.
Because Cora wasn’t a child anymore.
- Writer
