I cleared my throat. “You don’t like it, do you?”

Will’s eyes went wide. “What do you mean?”

The slightly panicked expression on his face had all sorts of alarm bells going off in my mind, but I kept my voice even and casual. “You just never talk about it. If you loved the sport, you’d talk about it.”

Will returned his focus to the wall, rolling the pink hue in practiced, even strokes. “It’s not my favorite thing to do.”

“Then why do it?”

He shrugged. “I’m good at it. And if things keep progressing the way they are now, I might be able to get a scholarship. If I can even go.”

I kept my own roller moving across the wall, trying not to make Will feel as if he were on the spot. “Why wouldn’t you go to college?” From everything Caelyn had told me, Will was a prime candidate for a full-ride somewhere.

A muscle in his jaw worked. “Someone has to help Caelyn. I’m not going to leave her alone to handle everything herself. Maybe I can work for a few years and then go to school. Or take online classes or something.”

A burn started in the back of my throat. This kid. Mature beyond his years and so damn selfless. I wanted to fix it all for him in that moment. To promise that I’d be there for Caelyn and his younger sisters. I swallowed the words down. “Your sister, she knows what she’s doing. And she has an amazing support system. Bell and Ford, Kenna and Crosby. You know they’ll all step in if she needs them. I will, too.”

Will’s strokes on the wall became a bit more forceful. “She won’t tell them if she needs help. She never does.”

My grip on my roller tightened as I thought about Caelyn suffering in silence. I knew she was proud, wanted to do things on her own, but if Will could see her struggling, it had to have gotten bad in the past. But Will couldn’t take this on. He was too young, and he had a bright future in front of him—if he could only reach for it.

I paused my painting and turned to face him. “If you could do anything, what would it be? No rules, no holding yourself back, anything.”

Will kept his attention on the task at hand. “Maybe something with music. I’m honestly not sure.”

I adjusted the brush in my hand. I wanted Will to have whatever dream he settled on. And I’d do whatever I could to help him figure out what that might be.

20

Caelyn

“You didn’t have to do all of this, you know.”