Page 22 of Chasing After You
Admittedly, I wasn’t impressed with that turn of events either. “Look, if I’m too late, that’s on me.
But I won’t know that I am until I have a moment with Ness where we can both be present, and I can lay it all out for her. Tell her the truth about how I feel. And then –”
“You’re not too late.”
“Come again?” I lower myself to the recliner just on the other side of the coffee table.
“I said, you’re not too late,” he repeats. He’s damn near gloating. Vale knows something.
“How can you be so sure?” I lean forward. “What do you know about Oliver that I don’t?”
Vale grins. “You meanDr.Oliver.”
Come on. “He’s a fucking doctor?”
“What do you care? You’re a fucking rock star.”
“I’m a bass player. Knox is the rock star.” It’s a technicality.
Vale rolls his eyes. “Shut up, man.”
“Fine, whatever. My job is cooler than his job.” My job is cooler than most jobs. “But his job is more like hers than my job.”
“I wouldn’t count on it. He cuts people open for a living. She’s all about wholeness, oneness, vibrations, and shit. They can both pretend they’re working in the same health and wellness field, but they’re not even close to being on the same planet.”
I nod, thinking it over. He’s probably not wrong. Nessa won’t even pop an aspirin when she gets a headache. A medical doctor might not be up her alley after all. “Alright, so maybe they’renot as perfect for each other as first impressions might imply. Anything else I can count in my favor?”
“Well, there’s the fact Nessa lied about him being her boyfriend,” Vale offers with a smirk.
“She what?” I frown. “Dude, no way.” I shake my head. He’s fucking with me. He has to be.
“I swear to God. She panicked when you showed up and lied. Oliver’s only on this trip with us because Roni and Tori arranged for him to come behind her back. Nessa had no idea she was coming on a couple’s vacation, let alone that she was coming on a blind date. Well, not until we all met at the airport to come here.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Nope.”
It takes me a moment to piece it all together and have it make sense. Except even once I do, something still sounds off. “I don’t get it. Why would she make up a relationship all of a sudden?”
Vale grins even broader like he’s relishing the drama he’s stirring up here. “Because she thinks you’re in one.”
I laugh out loud. “What?” Then, as fast as the laughter came on, it dies out again. “Wait, did you tell her that I was with someone?”
“No, dude.” Now he’s the one having a laugh. “You did.”
“No, I didn’t.” That would have been a real dumb fucking move considering I’m here to try and get her back. Not that I haven’t made plenty of other really dumb fucking moves since I arrived here.
“Well, you said a name,” Vale says, standing like he’s caught sight of something interesting in the kitchen. “Kenley.” He starts walking, straight for the breakfast bar and my half-eaten dinner. “Nessa made up her own stories from there.” He grabs the thick slice of meatloaf and breaks it in half. “You done with this?”
I’m too dumbfounded to do much more than nod. “Uh-huh.”
He drops a large chunk into his gaping mouth before he goes on, “That’s apparently her thing now. Making up stories about fake relationships.”
Not interested in having this conversation from two separate rooms, I get up and join him at the breakfast bar. “So, you’re saying when I mentioned that Kenley was coming, and didn’t specify that Kenley was with Knox, Nessa concluded I was here with a woman and her first instinct was to lie straight to my face?”
Vale stops short of jamming another piece of meatloaf in his mouth. “I don’t know why you’re finding this so hard to believe. You did the same damn thing.” He follows through on the meatloaf, chuckling. “Or did you forget how the whole damn band just happened to wind up here on vacation this week? That shit came flying out of your mouth the second you spotted Oliver, and it’s the same level bullshit Nessa spewed when she heard about Kenley.” He goes for the last piece of meatloaf. “I swear, you two are so fucking perfect for each other, even when you’re being idiots you manage to keep things on a level playing field.”
I can’t even argue with him. Hell, I don’t even want to. “I’m going to go talk to her. Tell her everything right now.” I start moving, ready to race out the front door and back to hers, but Vale grabs my arm and stops me.
