Page 88 of A Chance for Us
“Ollie,” I say pleadingly. “We don’t know that.”
He sighs, sitting back. “You’re an analyst. You know better than anyone how this could go, right?” I nod. “Then tell me what the most plausible outcome is?”
I don’t want to answer him. I don’t want the bitter truth to touch my tongue. The lie forms, a pretty illusion of what could be where we’re happy, but I can’t bring myself to say it. Because Oliver and my outcome is statistically bound to fail. We are destined for destruction, and I will not lie to this man, not even for just a little more time with him.
I wipe my cheeks. “We fall apart.”
“Why?”
“Because of our jobs, mostly. I’ll never leave my team and I’d never ask you to give up your resort.”
Our fingers lace together. “You love the beach, I love the mountains. You want kids, and I won’t ever let a child live like I did. Not to mention, we started this entire thing off on a lie.”
The sad part is, he’s not wrong.
“Sometimes it’s just easy to forget all that.”
“I know, but then I remember all the things we’ve said about what we want. I remember how it feels when you want something and it isn’t yours to have. I’ve been second choice one too many times.”
“Who says you’re second choice now?” I ask.
Oliver shakes his head. “You were going to marry another man named Oliver, and I pretended to be him. You and I didn’t start this because we wanted to date. We did it to give your father a chance to walk you down the aisle. I’m literally the last choice here. You chose the other guy, your dad, and then me.”
“That’s not true.”
But it is.
“I have made a series of bad choices when it comes to love, Maren. I’ve deluded myself far too many times, thinking that if I just loved enough or tried a little harder it would be fine. It never is. The truth doesn’t change just because two people wonder or wish.”
“Isn’t that the very definition of wishing? Wanting something you know is out of reach but desiring it anyway. Wishes come true, Oliver.”
When I look at him, the statistical outcome stops mattering and all I see is a future I want more than my next breath. The two of us would grow old together and split our time between the resort and Virginia Beach.
As if it were always right in front of me, a new set of events unfold, a new map drawing carving a path through a hypothetical life. Mark and Jackson would allow me to work from home when I went to visit him. Neither of us would have to give up anything.
All we have to do is be brave enough to take the first step.
He rests his forehead on mine. “I can’t risk it on a wish and I can’t be anyone’s second choice.”
I lean back, cradling his face in my hands. I understand his hesitancy, but sometimes you have to take a leap, and I’m about to jump headfirst. I lean in, pressing my lips to his. “You’re not and I was wrong about our outcome because it’s not defined. We can make it work if it’s what we both want and I want you. Take a chance . . . for us.”
Oliver doesn’t respond with words, instead, my back is against the plush couch, his body on mine and he’s kissing me. There’s a difference this time that I can’t explain. It’s as though he’s giving in as well as saying goodbye.
I chase that away, kissing him back.
“You make me want things,” Oliver confesses, looking down at me. “Things I swore I’d never want again.”
“We can have them. We just have to try.”
He closes his eyes, resting his forehead on mine. “We can try.”
When he kisses me this time, I don’t feel goodbye, I just feel hope.
Twenty-Two
OLIVER
“I’ll see you soon,” I promise Maren, lingering so I don’t have to let her get into her car and drive away.
