Chapter 16
SAM
Avery kept her promise. She spoke to Kimberly and found out her new favorite restaurant in Chicago was an all-American steak house on Pierce Avenue.
Reese and I arrived at the same time. She whistled appreciatively, looking at the entrance. The place was elegant, with tinted windows and an all-wood interior.
“How do you know this is her favorite now?” Reese asked.
“Avery spoke to her.”
She winked. “You and Avery are getting close and cozy, huh?”
"Yes," I admitted.
"You’ll have to elaborate on that."
"I don't see why," I jabbed.
She pushed my shoulder. "You're being mean."
“Nah, just teasing you. Did you come from the hotel?”
“Yes, but I spent the past hour at The Happy Place with Gran.”
I was more than happy that they’d kept the bookstore running even after opening the hotel.
“Being there always takes me back in time,” Reese said.
“I know. Me too.”
“And Gran gives the best advice, I swear. Even when it comes to dating.”
“You’re seeing someone?” I asked a bit sharply.
“Ha! Think you can withhold information from me but can expect me to share everything?”
I cleared my throat. “No, I’m just surprised no one said anything.”
Reese burst out laughing. “I was just making fun of you. I’m not currently dating anyone. Hopefully I’ll go on a date soon—you know, sometime this century.”
My cousin deserved all the happiness in the world. She was one of the kindest people I knew. But dating didn’t come easy for her after the ordeal she went through with her ex-fiancé. Then again, if I found out my best friend slept with my partner, I’d probably give up on relationships altogether.
"Look, Kimberly is coming," I said, noticing her in the tinted window.
We turned around, waving at Kimberly as she got out of an Uber. My cousin definitely looked different since having moved to Paris, though I couldn't exactly say why. Has she colored her hair? Or cut it? I was clueless about these things.
"It's good to be back," she said when she was within earshot.
Reese and I each took one of her hands, pulling her closer. Reese kissed her left cheek and I her right.
Kimberly turned around, cocking a brow at me as we stepped inside.
"By the way, very smooth putting Avery on it. I deduced from our phone call that you’re sleeping with her."
My jaw dropped.
Reese straightened with a jump. "Wait, how did you deduce that?” Turning to me, she added, “And is it true?"
I glowered at Kimberly. "Did Avery tell you that?”
“Oh my God, you're confirming it," she said.
Reese just exhaled sharply. Clearly she was at loss for words.
As we approached the host, he greeted us. "Welcome. Do you have a reservation?"
"Yes," I said. "Maxwell, for three."
"Right this way." He led us inside to a table by the window.
The place was too crowded and too loud for my taste, though it was better when we reached our table. With a window on one side, we only had the cacophony of voices hitting us from the other side. At least we weren’t surrounded by it.
As we all sat down, I caught Kimberly grinning.
"What?" I asked.
"I like that we’re already bickering before we even manage to order. This is like old times, isn't it? It's like no time has passed at all."
"Except it has," Reese said, opening the menu. "You've both been gone for far too long, and I'm still not used to having you back."
"Now, Sam, care to bring us up-to-date?" Kimberly asked.
"Jesus, cousin, let's order first, what do you think?"
"I already know what I want," she said. "The steak with sweet potato fries."
As the waiter approached us, I decided I wanted the same. In the end, all three of us ordered the steak but I didn't want the sweet potato fries, so I got regular ones with shredded cheese on top.
After the waiter left, Kimberly crossed her legs and then laced her fingers over one knee. "So?"
"Oh come on," I complained.
"What? For so long I only caught up with all of you via phone or video chats. Now it's the first time I get to gossip in person, and let me tell you, it feels wonderful."
Reese was still suspiciously silent.
"Should I worry about you not saying anything?" I asked her.
She bit her lip. "Well, I just don't know if it's a good idea, you sleeping with Avery."
"And why not?” I asked.
"You do have history, and things can become muddled. You didn't break up with your previous girlfriend too long ago. What if you're still on the rebound?"
"First of all, I didn't break up with her. She cheated. That has a tendency to kill everyone's affection. You should know that."
She winced.
I hung my head. "Fuck, I'm sorry."
"It’s okay. And you do have a point. Our situations are similar, and it's because of that that I'm telling you this. Even when the other person wronged you, if you really were in love, it's not easy to erase them from your heart."
"Please tell me you’re not still hung up on that moron?" Kimberly asked, voicing exactly what I was thinking.
"Not anymore," Reese replied. "I wasn’t exactly hung up on him, but for so long, I kept wondering what she has that I don't. Why would he even need another woman? And my best friend, no less. I had some regrets that things didn’t work out. Don't you feel the same?" she asked me.
"Actually, no. I'm glad I found out who she really was before things got even more serious.
" But talking to Reese got me thinking. What did that say about my relationship with Olivia?
That it hadn't been as deep as I thought?
Come to think of it, after Avery and I broke up, I couldn't stop thinking about her for years.
I'd always chalked it up to the fact that I'd been young, and she'd been my first big love, but what if it ran deeper?
"Sam," Kimberly said, "not to be a party pooper, but I sort of agree with Reese. Unless, of course, you plan to get back together with Avery."
I shook my head. "Neither of us is planning that."
"Oh good. Because very bad things seem to happen to you when you make plans." Frowning, she added, "In fact, sometimes I feel like planning has the opposite effect. I don't know if it directly leads to self-sabotage, but things end up not happening anymore."
Reese and I exchanged a glance. "What are we talking about here, exactly?" Reese asked.
"Yeah, I'm not following," I admitted.
Kimberly shrugged. "My former boss wasn't who I thought he was."
"You told Travis you're not being appreciated there."
"Yeah, it was more than that. At one point he seemed to be into me. We were involved for a while."
Reese gasped. "Why didn't you tell me?"
Kimberly pointed at her. "Because I knew you'd look at me with that judgey expression."
"That's not what I'm doing. This is just my shell-shocked face," Reese said. "Okay, fine. I'm judging a bit. You know how things can turn out when you're sleeping with the boss."
"I thought things were good. We weren't super serious, but I thought it was going somewhere. Then he went on a vacation last year. And came back married."
I instantly saw red. "What the fuck?”
“What? How long was he on vacation?" Reese asked.
"One month. Apparently he found ‘the one’ and couldn't wait to even tell me things were over before marrying her. I obviously realized something was awry because he'd stopped texting me. But some people are like that. Out of sight, out of mind. Things were weird at the office afterward."
"I bet," I agreed.
"That sounds like a nightmare," Reese said.
"After a while, he left, and I had a new boss, but things simply lost their appeal for me,” Kimberly explained. “Before, I was excited to live in Paris, and I was enjoying my French life, and then suddenly I just wasn’t. And when I no longer enjoy something, I take a step back and reevaluate.”
"I always liked that about you, Kim," I said. I was, as far as I knew, the only person who called her that. My whole family made fun of me. Apparently, I couldn't say her whole name as a toddler, and the shortened version just stuck.
"I'm happy to be home and working with Reese and Travis. I'm glad the three of us are working together. It feels good to build something of our own."
"I feel the same," Reese said.
I always felt left out in conversations like these. Tyler was the only one who shared this sentiment because he'd also chosen to do something that was completely unrelated to the family businesses. I was always on the outskirts unless someone was a patient at the hospital.
We received our food shortly after, and all three of us dug in.
"This place is a great find," I said. The steak was probably one of the best I’d had.
"Yeah, it's a great mix between American comfort food and some French accents. If there’s one thing I do miss from France, it’s the food. And being so close to London and our sister.”
Growing up, their father, my uncle, wasn’t around them much.
He’d taken my aunt’s death very hard and was distant for years.
After he moved to London, they had even less contact with him.
It was a shock to Gran and everyone else that Uncle Harvey had recently gotten married and had a daughter without telling anyone.
Still, Reese and Kimberly had taken it in stride. My cousins were strong women.
I was happy Kimberly was back and that I was here too.
Luke had always been the closest to our cousins, and I knew he was also happier now that she was back home.
Obviously everyone was grown now, so protecting them didn't work the same way it had when we were kids.
But just knowing we could meet up at any time and that I could warn in person any asshole not to mess with them was giving me some peace of mind.
"Say, about Avery," Kimberly said suddenly. "She seems different than when we were in high school."
"We're all grown-ups, Kim," I replied.
"How is it, living with her?"
"Fucking torture," I admitted.
Reese started laughing, and Kim followed her lead a few seconds later. They weren't giggles either; they were loud, unrestrained laughs.
"Oh my God," Reese said between breathing in and out. "I was waiting for you to fess up about that ever since the guys helped you move in."
"Really? How come?"
"Travis snatched a picture of you when you weren’t looking. You looked very possessive. Like you were secretly thinking, 'Mine. Mine.'"
"You’re insane," I said.
"Yes, but I also have a sixth sense."
"I think you’re treading in dangerous territory just by living together," Kimberly said.
"Why are you so adamant about not getting back together?” Reese added.
"Doesn't seem to be what she wants," I replied carefully.
During our time-out, she’d repeatedly brought up what would happen afterward.
She'd set the boundary, and I was respecting it, even though I was walking around with a fucking hard-on every time I was at home.
This wasn't just about sexual attraction though.
Avery and I had a deep bond once, and living with her now had only reminded me of how strong it had been.
"Oh, but you want it," Kimberly said, correctly interpreting my expression.
Reese laughed. "The more things change, the more they stay the same, don't they?"
I shook my head, smiling to myself. They were both right. And it was high time I proved it to Avery.