Page 138 of Built to Fall
“For the record,” she says, her voice breaking too, “I wish someone looked at me the way he looks at you.”
It’s not cruel. It’s not bitter.
It’s the saddest thing I’ve ever heard.
And only because I know she’s not talking about Grant. I can see her intentions clear as day.
I wipe under my eyes, trying to gather whatever scraps of dignity I have left. “This is embarrassing,” I mutter, forcing a half-smile. “Pretty sure we’re supposed to be mortal enemies or something.”
Savannah lets out a short laugh. “Yeah, I guess we’re screwing that up.”
I glance at her, feeling a strange kind of warmth spark between us. “You’re actually really hard to hate.”
She lifts a shoulder. “Don’t worry. I can be awful if you need me to be.”No, she can’t.
Savannah has had every reason to hate me, and she never has. Not once.
I laugh—really laugh—and the tension cracks open a little more. Savannah smiles too, easier now, like maybe she needed it as much as I did.
“Too late. Now you’re stuck with me.”
“Well, you’re lucky. I’m an exceptional friend, Everhart.”
And in that moment the realization dawns on me that both of us might not need Grant, but we do need each other.
From the outside looking in, everyone might expect us to be at odds, but we’ve found something far more lasting between us. Something that doesn’t ask for approval, and that’s the beauty of Savannah Sinclair’s selflessness.
“We’ll talk again soon, right?”
After a minute, Savannah pulls back, wiping under her own eyes with a trembling laugh. “Go find him, Lina,” she says, nudging me gently toward the door. “Let him see the girl he’s been looking for all night.”
CHAPTER FORTY
LINA
When I rush out of the players’ exit and into a private parking deck of the stadium, I’m expecting to see Grant’s car somewhere in the lot. When it’s not there, I feel like a delusional idiot.
Here I am, running out of the stadium, imagining some type of movie-like reunion where he’d be leaning against the hood of his car, waiting for me to run into his arms.
Instead, I’m halted in the center of the parking lot, wondering what the fuck I did wrong.
What is it that Eden says?It’s like watching a rom-com where nobody gets to the airport in time.
Except worse, because I’m the idiot who bought the plane ticket, sprinted to the gate, and watched the plane take off right as I was catching my breath.
I press the heels of my hands into my eyes, trying to block out the sting. Maybe I deserve this. Maybe this is what happens when you hold on too tightly to something that was supposed to be temporary. Something that already let go of you.
But has he let go?
A car door slams somewhere behind me, and a small part of me hopes that it’s Grant, despite everything else pointing at the fact that he’s already gone.
My heart stutters—stupid and reckless—and when I turn around, Braxton and Meredith are getting into Braxton’s BMW.
They must notice me when I go to turn back toward the stadium door, the click of my heels on the cement echoing through the nearly empty parking garage.
“Lina?” Meredith called.
I turn back, smiling slightly and waving.
