After all these years, I should be over his betrayal. And, maybe, I could have gotten over it had he not married my girlfriend and had children with her. They live two houses down from me, for fuck’s sake. There’s no forgetting or moving past it. It’s a constant reminder every damn day. Every time I see Gemma—a spitting image of her mother. Every Sunday when I see Jamie as she flits about the kitchen, happy in her role of the beloved wife of Nathan Park.

But things are changing.

I have Willa now. She’s the distraction I’ve needed. The push in the right direction so I can heal my heart of all this hatred for my father and Jamie. Willa is innocent and sweet. Loving and kind. She doesn’t have a mean bone in her body.

Simply put, she’s not capable of hurting me.

She wouldn’t.

She just wouldn’t.

Relief floods through me because I know it to be true. Willa’s not like Jamie. It’s time to acknowledge that and believe in it. Hope curls around my heart and tugs.

With Willa, I can move past all this shit.

Finally be happy.

As Dad prattles on about how expensive his wife is, I find that I’m not boiling over with rage like usual. A wave of calm washes over me.

It doesn’t matter anymore. This thing with Willa is already so powerful. Life-changing. I can feel it from my head all the way down to my toes.

She’s quickly becoming my everything.

And my past, in comparison, is absolutely nothing.

Fucking nothing.

Chapter Twenty

Willa

“…and then he asked me out, but I told him no. I had to do it, right? Right?”

I blink away my Callum daze and meet Gemma’s questioning stare. She gnaws on her plump bottom lip as though she’s second-guessing everything.

“Um, right,” I say, though I have no idea if it’s the right thing to say or not.

She sighs heavily and relaxes. “Not only would Dempsey give him shit, but my dad wouldn’t allow it.”

“Your dad seems strict.”

“You have no idea. Mom is really cool and if it were up to her, she’d let me do more stuff. But it’s Dad who keeps me under his thumb. I hate it. It’s so unfair.”

I reach over and take her hand. “You got to come here and have a sleepover.”

“Freedom. Finally.” She grins in a slightly wicked way that reminds me of Callum.