Page 26 of Second Chance Vacation

ELEVEN

GEN

“Savannah. Savannah!” My whispered tone is nothing to match the urgency in my voice.

I have been standing over Savannah’s bed for twenty minutes, desperately trying to get her to wake up. She sleeps like the dead. I try to avoid waking Wesley, but I am two more ‘Savannahs’ away from turning on all the lights and turning my phone on just to use it as a foghorn.

“What?” Savannah snips, her groggy and irritated voice finally cutting through the dark.

“Get up.”

“Oh, fuck off, it’s the middle of the night.” She rolls over, away from me.

Slap, I smack her arm, causing her to roll back over, still committing to keeping her eyes shut in hopes of a few more minutes.

“You had better be dying.”

She is even more cranky when woken up than I am.

“Savannah, get up.”

Wesley’s snore assures me I am at no risk of waking him. I’ve been told on more than one occasion that he, much like Savannah, is impossible to wake up. Apparently, that is true. I can only hope they never have a house fire.

Savannah’s eyes finally fall open, and her irritated expression meets mine and dies on contact. “Are you okay?”

“Not really. Let’s go.”

I slap her leg, urging her to get out of bed swiftly.

We are going for a walk, if for no other reason than I need to get out of this hell. I have spent the entire night sleeping next to Jackson after the club, and I am in a constant fight with myself about it. I keep feeling this intrusive urge to roll over to his side of the bed and finish what we started, but I know that would be a grave mistake.

There is a reason I never called him when he went to Duke, and it still stands true, we don’t work. After another three minutes of whining, Savannah is finally to her feet, and we are making our way out the front door, each with a coffee in hand.

It isn’t until we get to the end of the brick-lain street that Savannah breaks the silence, “Is this about last night?”

“What do you know about last night?” I sound more panicky than I should.

“I know Wesley, and I found you wrapped in Jackson’s arms, waiting for the private bathroom.”

She really is too aware sometimes, even if not the times it is desired. Maybe it’s by design.

“He was walking me to the bathroom.”

Savannah scrunches her nose in annoyance. “I don’t buy that any more than I did last night.”

Silence falls again, and this time, Savannah is determined not to be the one to break it. I pull the travel mug of steaming hot coffee to my lips before turning to Savannah.

“We kissed.”

“You and Jackson?” Savannah bites back her grin as she speaks, doing a terrible job of hiding her excitement at the new found information. I know just as well as she does that this is exactly what she wanted, even if not the exact way she planned. Despite Jackson and I’s history, Savannah is still hell-bent on fixing us up.

“No, me and you.” I can’t resist rolling my eyes. “Yes—Jackson.” I scoff.

Savannah nods as if deep in thought, contemplating the entire situation. I can’t tell if she is amusing me or is about to have some intellectual perspective. Savannah has a habit of surprising me at the oddest times, and knowing my luck, this is one of them.

“So…why are you upset?” That is not the response I anticipate. “I get that you guys have history, but wouldn’t that more so fall into the pro column? Jackson is a good guy.”

If it was any other man, I could see what she is saying, but it’s Jackson we are talking about. I stand there, my mouth agape as I stare at her, completely dumbfounded.

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