Chapter Seventeen
. . .
If they wanted me, they can come and get me.
Izip my carry-on and let out a deep exhale just as Moon peeks her head into my bedroom. “Hey, your car’s here.”
With the best smile I’ve got, I turn around, opening my arms for one last hug.
“Get in here.”
She chuckles and walks to me before we squeeze each other tightly. I am really going to miss my sister. Our yoga sessions, which were really just us gossiping as we fake-stretched, were one of the top four highlights of my day.
“I’m gonna miss you,” I breathe out.
She squeezes me harder. “I’m gonna miss you.” She pulls away and wipes her eyes. “But I’ll see you in Hawaii in two months, right?”
I scoff. “As if I’d miss my niece’s birthday. Yeah, right. I love that little monster.”
Goodbyes are the worst.
I start to turn around to grab my bag, but she holds my waist and looks at me.
“What?” I question.
She’s debating her words. I can tell. Moon’s chewing on whether or not to say something I don’t want to hear.
Let’s be real, her mouth always wins out, so I press, “What?”
“Are you sure you don’t want to say goodbye to them?”
I think back to the group chat last night when I had to defend my decision to the Gang-Banger Sisters grand jury. It was as annoying then as it is now.
“As stated last night, we said all the goodbyes we needed to.” I shake my head and grin. “Plus, I’m pretty sure I wore them out, so they’ll need their beauty sleep.”
She lets me go and rolls her eyes. “Right. Because it couldn’t be that you like them and don’t want what’s going on to end.”
I stare at her as if I’m hooked up to a professional lie detector. And then I fib.
“Nope. Couldn’t be.”
Now she knows I’m lying, and I know that she knows I’m lying. But the truth is saying goodbye feels hard and inappropriately emotional on my part.
Which is not something I’m debating again with myself or her.
I’m putting my heart first. And that means they got a damn goodbye letter before I snuck out of their bedroom and slept in my own.
The memory of them asleep rocks me under the surface of my cool facade: Brooks starfished out with his hand down his pants, Wells curled around a pillow with one leg under the blanket and one out, and Brody, whose arm stayed outstretched even after I left an empty spot where he was hugging me.
It’s the empty spot that’s really fucking with me.
Because I stood there for ten minutes, and they never filled it. They existed around it, as if I was meant to be there.
Moon frowns before she begrudgingly kisses my cheek. “Fine. But let me say one more thing.”
“My car’s waiting,” I say, trying to cut her off.
But she ignores me. “All I’m saying is that if the new Margot wanted to make a fool of herself for love, I think that Brody, Brooks, and Wells wouldn’t be the worst guys to do that with.”
I let out a heavy exhale before I say, “Noted.”
It’s so stupid, but my eyes start to well up. The thing is…I’m not in love with them. We barely know each other. But the idea that I could be, or that I wish they wanted to see if they could fall for me, hits me in the gut.
But I get it together and swat her hip. “Help me with my bag. You’re young and yoga strong.”
She chuckles and grabs my carry-on. “You’re young too. Just lazy.”
I ignore her as I hold the door open, letting her go through first. I’m about to close it behind me, but I glance back.
My eyes shift to the window where I first saw Brody and Brooks. Then to the olive tree where I made a fool of myself in front of Wells.
I pass over the bed where I was caught in a delicate position before I stare straight out the windows.
There’s a tightness in my chest as I look at that damn beach. The one that will always hold our sunset.
“Thanks for the best week of my life,” I whisper to myself before I turn and close the door behind me.
New Margot never overstays her welcome. It was fun while it lasted, and to paraphrase Wells… “If they wanted me, they can come and get me.”