Chapter 20 - Ivy
CHAPTER TWENTY
Ivy
What a perfect sight.
There she is… Olivia Quinn, strutting toward me with the kind of confidence that could stop traffic, wearing giant sunglasses that make her look like she’s hiding from the paparazzi and carrying a massive iced coffee like it's a trophy.
I freaking love my best friend. Always looking the part, even at a small town train station.
"Liv!"
I race towards her, arms open wide as if we’ve been apart for years rather than weeks… maybe months at this point.
But before I can even embrace her, her lips curve into that perfect ‘I’m about to make this weird’ smile.
"Ivy," she drawls, her voice smooth like butter and far too knowing. "You look like hell."
I skid to a halt in front of her, still catching my breath.
"Gee, thanks," I deadpan, my heart skipping at the sight of her.
"You do, though," she continues, scanning me with her ever critical eye. "Who did you sleep with? And can I high five them? Or slap them? Either works for me."
I freeze, my mouth hanging open.
"What? No! I didn’t… Liv!" I blink rapidly, because, wow, she just went there. "What is wrong with you?"
Her grin only widens. "Oh, c’mon, you’ve got that I just did something naughty and now I regret it glow. The kind of glow that says, I ran away from one mess, to make plenty more."
"Go away," I mutter, pressing my hand to my forehead. I’m suddenly very aware of the people around us, as if they could hear every single word.
They probably can.
This town’s small enough for someone to have already called their grandma by now to say, "You’ll never believe who’s back in town…"
Liv raises a perfectly arched brow. "So, who was it?"
I roll my eyes. "Shall we at least get back to the cabin first?"
She doesn’t let up, though, her eyes sparkling with mischief as she opens the car door and slides into the passenger’s seat. "Sure, let’s get back to the cabin. But I’m not letting you off the hook that easy. Nice wheels by the way."
"It’s Jesse’s car. Luckily he doesn’t need it today. He’s working."
"Being a fireman, right?"
I shoot her a side eyed look. "Don’t you start. I know you’ve always had a thing for men in uniform…"
"Speaking of which, I had a very hot date with a cop last week…"
It’s a relief when she starts talking about her life. It’s hectic, as always, so she has a lot to tell, giving me the space to get my head in order before I finally confess all.
"So," she finally says, glancing over at me with a look that suggests she’s ready to pounce. "Who’s the guy? Did you finally find a good one?"
I hesitate.
The question still feels like it’s just waiting for me to drop a bomb.
But if I want her advice, then I need to just let it out already…
"Liv…" I start, but then stop. What is it with me dodging the truth?
She glances over at me, her smile turning slightly teasing. "C’mon, spill it. You’ve been here for ages, and I don’t know a thing. Who’s the lucky guy making you look like hell today?"
I want to laugh, but the nerves are creeping in. The whole reason I haven’t talked to her about this is because I’m embarrassed. But she’s not going to let up.
I take a deep breath, then blurt, "Okay, so, there isn’t exactly one guy..."
She whips her head toward me so fast I’m surprised she doesn’t give herself whiplash. "You can’t just drop that and keep driving like it’s nothing, Ivy. Is one of them your one night stand? Hot tattoo guy?"
"Erm yes…" Oh no, this is so hard. "But there’s a bit of a complication with… his twin."
Olivia’s eyes almost pop out of her head. "What?"
I groan, sinking deeper into the seat as if it could swallow me whole. "It was a mistake, okay? I don't even know why I let it happen. It was one of those spur of the moment, I drank too much, I want to feel anything nights."
Except… it wasn’t, was it? Not really.
Liv raises an eyebrow, clearly not buying it. "Right. ‘Spur of the moment.’ Like when you eat a donut, but you don’t really mean to eat the whole box, but somehow it just happens. Sure. Keep telling yourself that."
"Okay, maybe it wasn't that casual," I mutter, feeling my cheeks heat as she sees right through me. "But it gets even more complex."
Hearing myself say it all aloud… it’s madness.
Liv’s grin fades just slightly, sensing the shift in my tone. "What do you mean, more complex? Ivy, you’re already telling me you slept with the twins. I’m not sure how you top that."
My mind races.
This is where it all gets really murky, where the shame and the heat and the guilt collide. If there’s anyone I can talk to about this mess, it’s Liv. She’s never judged me before. I just hope I can make sense of it all before she throws me into a full blown interrogation.
"Okay, so…" I say, shifting in my seat and looking out the window, trying to avoid her intense stare. "It’s not just them."
She raises an eyebrow. "Wait. You didn’t sleep with someone else while juggling both of them, right? Because at this point, I’m half expecting you to say you’ve been sleeping with all of Coyote Glen’s finest men."
I let out a strangled laugh, shaking my head. "Not all the men in this town, no…"
Liv’s eyes narrow. "Who else? Oh no, are you about to tell me you also hooked up with your boss or something? Because that would be crazy."
"I did sleep with Freddie," I cut her off, my face heating up. "My boss. And also my brother’s best friend."
She almost slams her hand on the dashboard in shock. "Wait, wait, wait... so you did hook up with your boss? This is a wild love… square."
I groan, rubbing my temples. "Yes, I know. And Freddie works at Ink & Iron. With Mitchell and Timothy. They all work together. And now… now it’s just a big mess."
Her jaw literally drops, and for a moment, she’s completely silent.
Then the words come spilling out, faster than I can process. "Ivy, honey, I thought you were just confused. But now? This is wild! How is this not an international scandal? Are they aware of this? Have you been doing this behind their backs or…?"
"They know," I whisper, staring at the road ahead, willing myself not to break under the weight of it all. "They all know."
Liv’s silence is deafening. I can feel her staring at me, waiting for some kind of explanation that will make sense of this absolute clusterfuck.
"I didn’t mean for any of this to happen," I continue, voice shaking now. "It wasn’t a game. I didn’t set out to hurt anyone." I sigh, trying to gather my thoughts. "But it’s caused issues between them. I don’t want them to fall out."
Olivia doesn't respond right away, letting my words hang in the air like a thick fog.
I can feel her processing it all, her mind racing a mile a minute.
It's silent for too long, and the tension between us is suffocating.
Finally, she turns to me, her eyes wide with a mix of disbelief and something I can't quite place.
"A bit of an issue?" she repeats, her voice low. "You think? Ivy, honey, you're juggling three men, and you're telling me that there's only a bit of tension between them?"
She lets out a low whistle, clearly struggling to process the enormity of what I'm saying.
"Ivy," she starts, her voice steady, but sharp with concern. "You know what you’re doing, right? You’re getting wrapped up in this whirlwind, and it’s getting harder and harder to figure out what’s real and what’s just... what’s just chaos."
I nod, biting my lip. I know.
"I’m not saying you shouldn’t have fun," she continues, her tone softening a little. "But you need to decide what you want, and who you want. Because from the outside looking in, all this back and forth? It’s just making things harder for everyone, including yourself."
"Right," I murmur, feeling the weight of her words. "I know."
And I do. Man, I do.
Because she's right, I've been spinning in circles, chasing something I can’t quite name. Wanting comfort, passion, control… all of it, and none of it. And somewhere in the middle, I’ve started to lose track of who I am, and what I really want.
Freddie makes me feel seen. Timothy makes me feel safe. Mitchell… Mitchell makes me feel like I’m standing on the edge of something I’ve never dared to leap into.
But how do I choose, when they all give me something I’ve been starving for? When each one makes the others feel like both too much and not enough?
The car comes to a stop in front of the cabin, and the silence that falls between us is heavy, but it feels different now. There’s a shift, like Liv has laid everything out on the table for me, and now it's up to me to figure out what to do with it.
I kill the engine, and the quiet hum of the cabin surroundings seeps in. I glance over at her, and she's not looking at me with judgment, but with understanding.
Like she's waiting for me to make my move, to say the thing I’m not ready to say.
Because maybe I do know what I want. Maybe I’ve always known. But saying it out loud? That would make it real. And if I say the wrong name… I don’t know if I can live with what I lose.
"Let’s get inside," I say, finally managing a small smile. "Before I start spilling more of my mess and make you regret coming here."
As soon as we’re inside the cabin, I kick off my boots and drop my bag by the door, my body still buzzing from the whirlwind of feelings I’ve been trying to ignore all day.
Olivia’s already in the kitchen, rifling through the cabinets like she’s preparing for a full on grocery heist, her phone tucked under her chin while she talks to someone… probably a guy she met at a coffee shop last week.
“Liv, you can’t just show up and start raiding Jesse’s kitchen like it's your personal snack bar,” I call out, leaning against the doorframe. “You know he might have something to say about that…”