Page 93 of The Way We Are

Not waiting for me to reply, Savannah says goodbye to her father in the same manner she greeted me. “Behave for Willis today. He’s a little devastated his beloved 69s didn’t make it past preliminaries.”

Confusion crosses Thorn’s face, but he does a good job hiding it from Savannah. I don’t know if his confusion stems from not recognizing Willis’s name or Savannah’s sporting reference.

After gathering her handbag from a studded chaise at the foot of Thorn’s bed, Savannah returns to my side.

“Midnight,” Thorn demands when his squinted eyes lock in on Savannah’s fingers intertwining with mine.

“Yes, sir,” I reply, nodding.

My eyes go wild when Savannah guides me down the long hallway of her family mansion. With the money Savannah paid Axel returned in small increments, the bland interior is slowly being restored to its former glory, though I doubt it will ever have the same family appeal it used to have. Until Savannah’s family gets closure on her mother’s whereabouts, the bow will never be fully tied.

Although witnesses saw Savannah’s mom arrive at her departure gate two years ago, her name was not listed on the in-flight manifest, and no surveillance has been uncovered of her arrival in Hawaii. It's as if she boarded the plane then vanished before take-off.

The whole situation is highly confusing. Although Axel proved Kath didn’t steal Col’s money, she still planned to leave her family. She packed her own bags, wrote a letter to both Savannah and Thorn explaining her decision to leave, then arranged for a town car to take her to the airport. It is just what happened once she arrived that has left everyone stumped.

Although Savannah hasn’t said anything, I know she's holding a glimmer of hope that her mom will be found alive and well. Her intuition told her something was wrong with her father months before his diagnosis, so she's hopeful it's also right when it comes to her mother.

“Are you having second thoughts about tomorrow?” Savannah asks, dragging me back to the present.

I wait for her to slide into the passenger seat of my truck before closing her door, then jogging around to the other side.

“No, it’s not that. I’m kind of looking forward to it?” I don’t know why my statement comes out sounding like a question.

Savannah giggles, once again blindsiding me with her strength. She’s had a tumultuous few months, but she still manages to smile every single day. That's remarkable and utterly awe-inspiring.

Mistaking the pride crossing my face as worry, Savannah says, “Don’t look so anxious, Ryan. You can be excited. It’s exciting. It’s not every day someone enters the police force.” She waggles her brows in a showy type of way. “Regina jumped through a lot of hoops to get you into the advanced training program. I heard you can’t even apply until you're twenty one.”

“I don’t know how many hoops Regina jumped through, but my thighs still feel like jelly from the physical agility test I took last month. And don’t even get me started on the number of brain cells I singed completing the written exam.”

Savannah taps her index finger on her pursed lip. “Are you sure they’re going to let you in tomorrow? You might have failed the psychological examination.”

“Ha ha. Very funny,” I chide, taking her humor in stride.

I’d never let on my worry, but there was one stage not so long ago her comment would have bothered me. Being raised in a household tarnished by domestic violence has debilitating effects. Not all of them are physical.

When Savannah slides across the leather, I arch a brow. She slaps my chest, unappreciative of my warning glare. “Stop it. You’re not an officer yet.” The throaty way she purrs “officer” makes fond memories pop into my head... amongst other things.

To appease my worry, Savannah latches the middle belt around her waist before returning her eyes to mine. “Happy?”

“Very,” I reply with a nod.

I kiss her crinkled nose before kicking over my truck to start our short trip to Justine’s. Although I’m not overly eager to return to the place that instigated our second demise months ago, when a Walsh brother extends an invitation, you accept, no matter what.

“So if you’re not worried about tomorrow, what’s with the extra wrinkle between your brows? Do I need to schedule a Botox injection?”

I shift my eyes from the road to Savannah. “Is Willis still going on about butt implants?”

Savannah’s laugh makes quick work of the groove between my brows. “Yeah. He's adamant no man has an ass as fine as yours without assistance.” She twists her lips, struggling to hold in her smile. “If you’d let him feel up your ass, he might believe you haven’t gone under the knife.”

My eyes roll skywards. “So you’re fine with Willis touching me, but if Marlana and Rhapsody get within two feet of my backside, your claws come out. You do realize Willis is gay, don’t you? His interests in my ass are just as sexual as Marlana and Rhapsody’s.”

The cheeky grin is wiped straight off Savannah’s face. If I hadn’t seen her exemplary test scores, I might have believed her terrible attempt to act stupid.

“You’re lucky your acting skills are so top shelf you convinced the board at Cornell that beauty isn’t the only thing you’ve got.”

Savannah slaps my chest for the second time. “Shut up. I’m still hesitant about attending Cornell, Ry. It’s so far away.” She dips her lip in a way that shouldn’t turn me on, but for some fucked up reason it does. “I don’t want to be hours away from you and my dad.”

“It’s only for a few years, and once you’ve finished your studies, you can come back and show all those naysayers that it isn’t just men who can rule in the engineering sector.” I twang her bottom lip, pretending I’m not dreaming about them being wrapped around my dick.

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