Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
Cas
“Back up. I don’t understand.” I stared at my best friend. At least, the person sitting across from me looked like my best friend, but I was currently wondering if he’d been abducted by aliens. The things he was saying made no sense.
“You guys are perfect for each other. Cas, you have done so much for me, for us. You put your life on hold to help us and for that I will be forever grateful. But we’re all grown now. Even Polly, and you’re still putting your life on hold. You don’t date. You never bring anyone home. You spend all your free time running our house, and as much as I appreciate it, you can’t live like that.”
His heartfelt confession had me all choked up inside. I fought tears that were threatening and shrugged. “It’s fine, bro. I know… I know you would have done the same for me.”
Jared nodded. “I would have, but not to the extent you have. Not to the detriment of my own future. You’ve gone above and beyond, but it's starting to feel like you were living in limbo. Like you weren’t ever going to move on, and almost like for some reason you didn’t want to.” Jared’s brow furrowed as he looked between me and Polly. “It was almost like failure to launch. But that's not you and it didn't make sense, so I had to think about why. Why wouldn't you want to leave? Why were you still in no hurry to move on?”
I scoffed. “Because you wouldn't survive without me. You'd forget to buy toilet paper or pay the light bill.”
I was serious, but Jared rolled his eyes.
“Maybe, but I think there’s more to it than that.” His gaze cut to his baby sister pointedly.
I shook my head. “It's not like that. There was never anything inappropriate going on and…” I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. “I mean, okay there is now. But there never was before the trip. And certainly not when she was younger, if that's what you're implying.”
Jared laughed. “I wasn’t. Chill. I just meant…”
Polly looked up from the piece of pie she was demolishing with a low growl. “You two are ridiculous and all you're doing is talking in circles. Nothing is getting answered.” Her eyes narrowed on her brother. “Jared, I want to be with Cas. I want him as my Daddy and we’d love if you were happy with that, but we’re also grown-ass adults who don't really need your approval. So we’ll move out if we need to.”
I held my breath, waiting for Jared’s response. It felt like he’d basically given his approval back in the room, but it was surreal. I felt like I was waiting for the other shoe to drop still. I steeled for a fight.
Instead, my best friend tossed back his head and gave a full belly laugh. “God, the two of you… are really being dense today, aren’t you? I’m fine with you two. I’m on board. Heck, if I wasn’t, I wouldn’t have orchestrated it.”
Polly’s fork clattered to her plate, and my mouth dropped open. I quickly closed it. “I… I beg your pardon?”
“Say what?” Polly shrieked. “Explain.”
“You two are perfect for each other, but all you could see was the tension that probably came from holding back your true feelings. I watched you two for months, and I couldn’t see how you couldn’t see it. I knew you never would with me around, so I talked to Savi, and we planned this whole thing out, including the merger that would keep me from taking Polly on the trip.”
“Planned what whole thing out? What do you mean, including the merger? Are you saying…?” I shook my head. That couldn’t be right.
Jared grinned. “The merger’s not real. The company is doing great. Why would there all of a sudden be a random merger?”
“B-but… but you’ve been talking about it for months!”
“Smoke show.” Jared drew out the words, waving his hands in an arch in front of him.
I sat back in the booth, gobsmacked.
I glazed at Polly, but she was also looking pretty gobsmacked as she stared at her brother with her head cocked to one side.
Finally she spoke. “Back the fuck up. Did you say… Didn’t you say Savi? Like… I mean… surely you don’t mean my Savi… That… wouldn’t make any sense.”
Jared grinned again and I scowled. His arrogance was getting annoying. “I did, I do, and it does.” He glanced down at his plate of nearly untouched food. “But really… She's my Savi.”
This time it was Polly’s turn to be lost. “I beg your pardon?”
“Savi and I hooked up a few times. We went on a few dates. It was just casual because you guys are such good friends, and she had to go back home for the summer, but she’ll be back soon, and we’ve decided to make things official.”
“I’m sorry… What?”
“So see, I couldn’t be mad about you and Cas, even if I wanted to be, which I don’t. But if I did, well that would make me a pretty big hypocrite, wouldn't it?” Jared glanced down at his phone. “Speaking of which, she’s about to go on her break, and she’s gonna get all twisted up if I don't fill her in. I also need to get a room for the night because I'm not driving back home in this storm.” He motioned for the check and when it came, he paid and excused himself, leaving Polly and I alone in the booth.
Turning toward her, I took her hands in mine. “Well, babygirl, It sounds like we have your brother's blessing.”
She giggled and pressed her forehead against mine. “It certainly does. Way more than I could have ever imagined, on multiple levels.”
“Mmmhmm, I murmured, catching her lips in a soft kiss. “And it also sounds like he’s going home tomorrow. So what do you say we finish out this trip—the first of many adventures to come—and then we head home and get ready to start our lives together.” I took a deep breath and put it all on the line, more than I ever had before. “I meant what I said back at the hotel, babygirl. I love you and I'm all in. So what do you say?”
Her eyes sparkled with happiness. “I say… I love you too, Daddy, and… let’s do this thing!”
She threw her hands around my neck and crushed her lips against mine.
We were still kissing when Jared knocked on the diner window and the rain started again.