Page 62 of Sugarlips
I didn’t point out the obvious fact that she also had her sister. Then again, I kind of knew what she meant. I have one know-it-all brother, and I can’t imagine the challenge that would have presented if he’d been my only sibling. It didn’t mean she didn’t love Elaina, but I could empathize with not wanting to talk about certain things with her. Look at me and Neil. It took me years to tell him about my food truck dream. And even then, I was strong-armed into it.
I glanced over at Chloe as the air conditioning blew cold air against my otherwise sweaty skin. Even this early in the morning, the humidity was high, and the day promised warmth and sunshine. “I’m really lucky to have you,” I admitted. It was risky, baring myself to her like that. Chloe wasn’t necessarily someone I would callskittish, but when it came to me, at least in a romantic sense, she seemed resolved to keep me at arm’s length. Even now—or maybe especially now—that we’d seen each other naked.
I didn’t hear her breath hitch, but I saw it in her tightened shoulders and the lift of her breasts as her ribcage expanded with the sharp inhalation. Her face shifted, taking on a jovial, almost cartoonish grin. “Well,” she said, her tone animated in that way she does when she’s trying hard not to be serious. “Anyone would be lucky to haveme.”
I stared at her, my heart pounding, ignoring her joke. That’s what she did when things got serious; she played them down as much as she could.
Even though her eyes were on the road, I felt her awareness of me, and despite the blasting AC, the temperature in the car rose a few degrees. “When you first said we were going to be best friends, I thought you were having some sort of mental break down. Honestly, whosaysthat to essentially a stranger?”
“We weren’t strangers. Strangers haven’t had their tongues down each other’s throats.” Her mouth kicked up into a small smirk.
“I’m serious, Chloe.”
“So am I. We weren’t strangers. We may not have been friends, but we weren’t nothing to each other, either.” She bit her lip and I watched as her teeth slid across her bottom lip, the curve of her mouth dipping into a frown. “At least, you weren’t nothing tome.”
“You weren’t nothing to me either.” Of course she wasn’t. I rarely let myself admit it, but I’d been in love with Chloe Dyker since I was fifteen years old.
There was so much more I wanted to say to her… how I had thought about her for years since high school. How I always watched from afar as she moved from boyfriend to boyfriend, or rather asshole to asshole. I watched her get her heart broken time and time again desperately wishing for a chance to show her how much I could care for her. It wasn’t even a fair statement to say I watched from the sidelines—because team members are at leastawareof the people on the sidelines. I was like a spectator way back in the nosebleed section, waving my hands, desperate to be seen. But since high school, I didn’t think Chloe Dyker knew I existed. She made out with me at age 16, and then she barely glanced in my direction again.
But I didn’t say any of that. Settling back in my seat, I simply said, “Thank you for being here today. For being my person.”
But the bitter truth behind my words left a terrible taste in my mouth.
Because she wasn’ttrulymine.
Not yet, anyway.
24
Chloe
Isat in the hospital café, holding a warm paper cup of weak coffee in my hands. I had managed to sneak away, giving the Evans family some much needed alone time. Their mom’s surgery had taken several hours, and when she was finally awake, we all went in to see her.
But it was painfully clear, as the Evans family held each other and wept, that I didn’t belong in that room with them.
“Here you are,” a deep voice rumbled from behind me. “You hiding from me?”
I spun, the plastic seat groaning its protest as my bare thighs slid across it. “Of course not. You have a big family stuffed into a tiny room,” I said, shaking my head. “I’m just giving you all some space.”
He slid into the seat across from me. His brown hair was tousled and messy in a way that had me thinking of our night together, and I ached to run my fingers through it. My pulse raced with the memory. “What if I don’t want space?” The question was so clearlynotabout the hospital room or his mother.
I gulped. “Well, it’s not entirely up toyou.”
He sighed and dragged a hand down his weary face. “After this surgery and everything with my mom is stable… do you promise we’ll talk about what happened between us?”
Us. One simple word and yet it had my heart sputtering like a leaky engine. “Once we know she’s in remission, yes. But until then, we just need to…” What? Act like that night never happened? Go back to just being friends? I was a champion at suppressing my feelings, but I wasn’t sure even I could accomplish that. Not with my business partner. And certainly not with my best friend.
Even still… I had to try.
“Pretend?” Liam offered. I shrugged, not sure of what else to say. “I guess your sister would be pretty upset if she found out.”
My breath caught. He thought this was about Elaina. Of course. And why wouldn’t he? I had told him as much months ago when we kissed. But he didn’t know she had given me her blessing. I swallowed my sip of coffee and it went down like a pile of sand. “What are you doing down here, anyway? Shouldn’t you be up with your mom?”
“She sent me to get you.”
“She… what?” That didn’t make sense. I shook my head and clutched the coffee tighter in my palms, blowing at the steam billowing off the top. “She only just got out of surgery a couple of hours ago. She needs to rest. And she needs you. And the rest of her kids. I’m the last person who should be in that room—”
“But she’saskingfor you. And what Mom asks for, Mom gets. Especially today.” He matched my smile with a thoughtful grin of his own. “Just don’t get too cocky… she’s also asking forcoffee.”
