Page 59 of We Can't Be Friends

There’s a pattering of my heart that reminds me of the way someone knocks on your door. A thump. Thump. Thump. Knocking on a door to the home and love I’ve always wanted.

Does she know she’s knocking? That she’s inviting herself in?

Our breathing syncs. Chloe twists, turning to face me. One hand still tight on her waist. I lift the other—everything happens in slow motion—to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. She wore it down, straight with one side slicked back.

“We should go.”

I drop my hand and step back, but we don’t move any further. We linger there, staring at each other.

Chloe shuts her eyes and rolls her shoulders back. “Ready?” she asks, reopening her eyes. A mask slipped back into place.

I hold the door open for her.

We walk side by side toward Samantha’s mom. Each step closer to the lion’s den, my muscles tighten. Shoulders pinch closer together and my throat goes dry.

How are we going to pull this off?

I should have never agreed to this idea.

You’re an idiot for pulling Chloe into this.

Chloe takes a step closer to me. Her hand finds mine, moving it discreetly around her, leaving it on her lower back. “If we are going to pull this off, you need to act like you are into me,” she whispers, as if she is a ventriloquist. Her mouth in a glowing smile.

“Mrs. Donaldson.”

“Callum, darling.” She kisses my cheeks, resting a hand on my shoulder. Pulling back, she turns her attention to Chloe. “And you, my beauty, are?”

“Chloe Henry, Callum’s girlfriend.”

Mrs. Donaldson’s head tilts. “Girlfriend. No wonder my Samantha is so brokenhearted.” Chloe gives her a tight smile. “I must know all the details.”To tell my mother.“How did you meet?”

Shit. We didn’t talk about this.

Before I have an opportunity to respond, Chloe jumps in. “Callum is friends with my best friend. We’ve been around each other all summer. Asked me out several times till I gave in.”

Of the three of us, I don’t know who would win the award for the fakest smile. “I see,” Mrs. Donaldson replies before returning her attention to me. “This place is brilliant, Callum. Exquisite.”

“It was Callum’s idea to open a location in the States,” Chloe adds.

“Is it?” she asks and I nod. “I’ve stayed in a few of your other properties. Your mother takes us to them on our girl’s trips.”

“I didn’t know that. Which locations have you been to?”

“Madrid. Edinburgh. Paris.”

My hand falls from Chloe’s back, but she catches it in her hand. Interlocking them, she squeezes precisely as my heart does.

Mother has never spoken about going to the hotels. She always seems disinterested in them. There’s a growing pride in me.

We chat with her for another twenty minutes about the hotels.

“Well, I must be going. Just wanted to peek in. I’m certain we’ll be staying here eventually. It was wonderful to see you, Callum, and a pleasure to meet you. . .Miss Henry.”

***

As I search around the lobby, I double-take when I see Chloe still here. She’s helping the staff clean. Chatting casually with them as she collects glasses from the tables surrounding the lobby bar.

Behind the bar, our bar manager, Flynn is doing his own cleanup.

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