Beyond Eighteen by Gretchen de la O Page B

a
kickball team after school. Wilson, on the other hand, looked over
at me and with twinkling eyes. I knew
it…she isn’t going to get up and we aren’t going to leave. So much
for my plan.
    I dropped my hand against
the top of her thigh, before I inched it inward. She always reacted
to my fingers as I pushed them up against the seam of her pants.
Her legs widened. Damn, I can feel the
heat radiating from her.
    I stood up abruptly and kissed the top of
Wilson’s head. “I’ll be right back. Save a bite for me,” I
whispered.
    “ Maybe,” she
teased.
    I shuffled past her,
following Dan and Calvin into the great room. This wasn’t my plan—not at all.

Chapter
Thirteen
    ~ Wilson ~
     
    I watched Max walk out, leaving me with his
mom and sister. Not my plan, but I didn’t mind too much either. I
really liked Nancy, and well, Camille wasn’t half bad herself. But
there was a part of me, a pretty huge part, that really wanted to
be alone with Max right then. Nancy stood up and grabbed the last
cluster of empty dinner plates.
    “Let me take these into the kitchen,” she
droned quietly.
    “Here, let me help you,” I said, shooting up
out of my chair.
    “No, absolutely not. It’s a one-woman job.
I’ll be right back with some pie and ice cream,” she insisted.
    “Oh, Wilson, just let her do it. That’s her
way,” Camille said as she motioned for me to sit down. She looked
at the kitchen before she repositioned herself to face me. I could
tell she had something on her mind, something she needed to talk to
me about. The minute Nancy disappeared, Camille’s chest heaved and
she looked down at her hands as she slid them across the table in
front of her. Camille’s eyes rose to meet mine and we sat there for
a measurable second, looking at each other in silence.
    “Camille, I wanted to apologize for the way
I acted when you came to me for help with Max. I should have—”
    “Do you want to know why I came to you? I
went to you because it’s what Max would have done for me. My
brothers have always been the ones to protect me. Even though they
are younger than me, they still take it upon themselves to take
care of me, like I’m this delicate, breakable thing . There
is nothing I wouldn’t do for my brothers. I just wish they would
stop thinking that I can’t handle anything.”
    I felt the muscles in the back of my neck
tighten and blood flush across my face, and without any warning, I
felt jealous. Not that she had Max’s attention, or even that she
held a protective space in his heart. I envied that she had
brothers who would protect her so vehemently. How different my life
may have been if I had a sibling to protect me. Thank God I had
Joanie. She was the closest thing I would ever have to a
sister.
    “It’s just their nature, I guess,” I
rebutted
    “Yeah, well, their nature is getting old
quickly. I mean, did they honestly think Dan wouldn’t tell me about
my father’s decision? Like he could keep that away from me. You
know, it’s Calvin everyone should be worrying about,” Camille
roared.
    I nodded. Though I didn’t really know how to
react to her rant. I truly didn’t know if she was aware that Max
was going to be named CEO of GP. God, this is the part of
knowing secrets that I hate.
    “Well, we will see how Cal does tomorrow
during the reading of the will. I mean, let’s face it, we all knew
my father wouldn’t name someone who wasn’t a Goldstein to run the
company; so, right there, Dan was out of the picture. And as much
as I loved my father, he still had that small piece of him that
believed where a woman’s place was.”
    Instantly my stomach twisted into an aching
mess. Frank never came across to me as believing that. He seemed
like the type of guy who believed in equal rights.
    “Your dad was that way?” I asked.
    “Yeah, but don’t get me wrong. If I would
have pushed working for the company, he would have caved and let
me. But he always felt that nothing could ever replace