Chapter 26 #2
The condo overlooks the Gulf, the balcony walls made of glass, giving unimpeded floor-to-ceiling views of the striking blue waters from inside. But right now, the only thing you can see for miles is the inky night sky.
“The whole thing felt off…” Wolf meets my gaze, and a pit forms in my stomach, threatening to swallow me whole.
I’m not sure that I want to know what comes next.
“Without you there. Don’t get me wrong, it was a good time.
Crew and Amara were happy, and it was everything they wanted, but it still felt like something was missing. ”
That’s not what I was expecting, but I’m not sure it makes me feel any better, either.
Brody avoids my stare, his own falling from the waves sixty feet below to the bottle in his hands.
He picks at the label with his thumbnail.
Did something happen at the wedding? No, because Ari would’ve told me if it did… right?
I don’t know what I’m supposed to say next, if I’m supposed to say anything at all.
Do I admit that I wished I had been there, too?
Or do I ask if Savannah said something to make him feel that way?
No, I have to do something to ease the tension and circle back to the lighthearted conversation we’ve enjoyed most of the night.
It won’t be long before they have to leave, and I don’t want it to end on a sour note.
“You said you weren’t going to make it weird,” I say, taking a sip of my beer. That does the trick, making Brody laugh, followed by Wolf.
“Hey,” Brody starts. “I meant to ask you earlier…how’d that session go with your mom and Ari?”
Wolf all but chokes on the sip of beer he’d just taken. “I’m sorry, you went to therapy with your mom?”
“She was a bit reluctant, but ultimately decided to give it a try,” I say, taking a long drag of my beer.
“And?” Brody pushes.
I shrug. “And we’re working on things. She has to work on herself before we can truly talk and move past everything.”
“Do you blame her for Savannah leaving?” Wolf asks. Damn, he’s really hitting me with the hard shit tonight, isn’t he?
It’s my turn to pick at the bottle label, avoiding both of their stares.
I told Brody about the conversation I had with Mom the December before last, about how reluctant she was to hear what I had to say.
Then, a month later, my grandmother called to tell me Mom had decided to go to therapy, and about how the therapist wanted me and my sister to sit in on a few sessions.
But that was as much detail as I’d ever given him.
I don’t blame my mother for Savannah leaving.
Okay, maybe I blame her a little. She was never very welcoming, constantly nitpicking and complaining, but it wasn’t anything Savannah couldn’t look past. She was willing to put up with it—with her—because she loved me and my family.
It wasn’t until that day in therapy that I found out about some of the altercations between them because Savannah had never told me.
I hated that she felt like she couldn’t tell me.
But despite their differences, I know that ultimately, Mom wasn’t the reason Savannah decided to leave.
“No.” I sigh, lifting my gaze. “That’s all me.”
Wolf clears his throat. “You don’t have to answer this, but what happened? I thought you guys were talking marriage and kids.”
“We, uh…We were.” I clear my throat. “But things change.”
“Not that fast, they don’t.”
“Wolf—” Brody starts, but I interrupt him.
“Savannah left because she found out about a bet between me and Drake.”
It’s quiet for a moment, but this time when Wolf speaks, his normal tone is replaced with something far more dangerous. “What do you mean a bet between you and Drake?”
Brody shakes his head as I begin the story, filling our friend in on the truth about everything.
The whole time, Wolf glares at me from across the table, hands clenched so tight around the beer bottle I’m sure it’s going to crack at any moment.
I don’t think he blinks once, eyes narrowing further into slits with every piece of information he learns.
“You only dated Savannah based on a fucking bet with Miles Drake?” Wolf grits out before he glances over at Brody. “And you knew about this?”
“I was there,” Brody says. “Wolf, it’s not as bad as it sounds, but—”
“There is no but. Savannah was right to leave your ass. What the fuck, Brooks?”
I begin to argue, but I’m grateful when Brody steps in.
He explains the full situation, showing it from an outsider’s perspective, instead of just my own, and I watch as some of the fire fades from Wolf’s eyes.
I see the moment he begins to understand why I did it, even if he doesn’t agree with my decisions.
“Drake’s game is not the only reason I wanted to be with Savannah,” I add when Brody is finished. “We knew each other before she ever came to EWE, and—”
“You knew each other?” Wolf interrupts me.
“We met once, at a bar down in Texas. It was well before she ever joined the company. The only reason we never said anything was because she didn’t want anyone to think she got handed opportunities because of me.”
“And I was dating the one person who would’ve taken that information and done the most damage,” Wolf says, the heat in his tone fading. He sighs, taking a long drag of his beer. “Shit, I’m sorry. I should’ve listened to you guys, but—”
I shrug. “All good. What’s done is done, no taking it back. Now it’s time for everyone to pick up and try to move on.”
“Can you?” Wolf glances back up at me. “Move on?”
“I don’t know,” I say, drumming my fingers on the stone tabletop. “I’m working on it, and as long as I know she’s doing okay and she’s happy, then one day I know I can be, too.”
The almost-full moon reflects off the black waters below, the sky around it freckled with white stars. A small cluster catches my eye. Its unique pattern reminds me of one I’d come to know all too well. One that I’ve traced a thousand times.
I know I shouldn’t, but I can’t help myself. My eyes trace over the pattern, drawing the invisible lines to connect the dots, and when it’s complete, my heart stops as the five-pointed star stares back at me—identical to the one on Savannah’s left shoulder.
“John,” Brody’s voice pulls me back. John?
He must have been trying to get my attention for a while.
Meeting his stare, I notice the concern etched on his face even in the shadows.
He’s standing now, poised to walk back inside, holding three empty beer bottles between his fingers. “You want another beer?”
I nod. “Y-yeah. Thanks. Grab those cigars, too.”
“Hey, what time is it?” Wolf asks.
Flipping over my phone on the table, I tap the screen, and for the second time tonight, I feel my heart stop beating.
12:01 a.m.