Chapter 32 Chloe
chloe
The diner Savannah and I regularly meet her dad and brother at is one of my favorite restaurants. It’s halfway between Linden Creek and Hartland where Leo goes to school.
Leo might be Savannah’s twin by birth, and sure, they share the same tan skin, dark eyes, and even darker hair, but their personalities couldn’t be more different. Where Savannah is all sharp tongue and faster comebacks, Leo is soft and gentle.
When we were younger, we used to joke about how I needed to marry him so that Savannah and I could be real sisters.
It wasn’t long after that when we realized a marriage couldn’t make us any closer than we already were.
Plus, even though Leo is undeniably handsome, I think we’ve always been a little too similar.
It’s worked out, though, because through Savannah, I got myself a built-in brother and friend.
“I thought Paige was coming to lunch today?” Savannah asks, looking over the menu.
She misses the way Leo twitches at the mention of his girlfriend, and I look down at the menu, pretending to do the same.
“She’s been busy lately,” he answers.
“Bummer. She hasn’t come to lunch in weeks.”
“Yeah.” His voice is right across from me, yet so distant, and I can’t help looking up. His gaze finds mine, and I know immediately that there’s more to the story, but I also see the pleading look on his face, asking me not to say anything.
“Where’s your dad?” I change the subject, and his lips turn up just enough, in a silent thank you.
“He should be—” Savannah turns in her seat. “Oh, there he is.”
I turn around, angling my head over the booth behind me until I find Mr. A outside with the front hood of his car propped up.
“I’ll go see if he needs any help,” Leo says. “If the waitress comes, order my usual, please.” He tosses his menu and stands from the booth before heading outside.
“Something's off with him, yeah?” Savannah asks when Leo reaches the door.
I twist my lips with a shrug. “You’re his twin. You should know him best.”
Savannah pushes her menu away, leans her forearms on the table, and stares me down. “So, should we be good women and talk about your interview, or bad women and talk about boys?”
I laugh, twisting the gemstone on my necklace. “There’s not really a lot to talk about regarding the interview—” I shrug. “It's just a waiting game now.”
“Bad women it is then.” She smiles, lifting her drink and bringing the straw to her mouth as she waits for me to spill the details.
“Honestly, Sav, I don’t really know what to say about that either,” I admit.
“You like him.” It’s not a question, so I shouldn’t feel the need to answer, but I find myself nodding anyway, because it’s true.
With Nathan, it always felt like I was trying to earn something, because on my own, I wasn’t enough.
I spent so much time waiting, hoping, and giving every single part of myself to him, but with Maverick, it’s never felt like that.
I get to keep the pieces of myself that make me, me, because he sees them. He sees me.
“Have you guys talked about it?”
“In literal words?” I pause, taking in her smile. “No.”
“That’s okay. Your bodies are talking enough for the both of you right now.”
“Oh my God,” I murmur, dropping my head into my hands and my elbows to the table.
“And Nathan?” There’s no hesitation in her voice when she asks about him and it steadies my own in return.
“A bump in my review mirror,” I say while looking up. “One that maybe I’ll eventually beat myself up over wasting so much time on, but right now, I’m too wrapped up in Maverick to care.”
“You took ‘get over him by getting under someone new,’ quite literally.”
I drop my head, letting out a laugh toward the ceiling. “Honestly, I can’t decide if I wish that’s all it was or not.”
That would definitely be the easy route, but if I’ve learned anything, it’s that while I’ve been riding down easy streets, nothing there is worth it.
I’ve spent years choosing things because they were foolproof—because they were safe, but they’ve never given me anything back.
Continuing with school is safe. Waiting quietly and hoping to be chosen was settling.
But trying something new is a risk. A messy, uncertain risk.
And while it might come with some setbacks along the way, it’ll be worth it in the end if it sets my soul on fire the way Maverick does.