Page 23 of Chasing After You
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, dude. Not so fast.”
“What? Why not?” From where I’m standing, none of this has been fast. Two years of being apart. Another day wasted on being so scared of facing the fact we might be moving on with new people we both lied, something we never did when we were married.
“Because she’s not ready to hear it.” Suddenly, Vale doesn’t sound so amused anymore. “Trust me on this.”
“At least let me go tell her that I’m not with Kenley.”
“Why? So, she can be all like, ‘I never thought that, why would I have thought that? And more importantly, why would I care? It’s not my business whom you do or don’t date’,” he mimics her with disturbing accuracy. “Please, she’ll just go out of her way to make sure you never think she assumed such things. If anything, it’ll just make her lean into her lie harder to save face. You know how stubborn she is. And triggering that lovely character flaw into a flare-up won’t help either of you.”
“Fine.” I’m not saying I totally agree with everything he’s saying, but I can’t deny the woman has a stubborn streak so wide she’d freeze to death rather than admit that maybe she misjudged the weather when she left her coat at home. “I won’t do anything tonight.”
“Good.” He nods.
“But tomorrow all bets are off.”
“Fine by me. Call it a clean slate and run with it.” He wipes his hand on my napkin before dropping it into the now empty plate. Then he starts for the door. “Just drop the games. You two suck at them.”
“Fair point.”
He grins, letting himself out with a last nod in my direction. “Night.”
“Night.”
The door closes.
It’s just me.
Literally. Because there’s no fucking Oliver.
Holy shit. Knox was right. Things are definitely looking up.
NESSA
I’m still smiling at Oliver’s lame joke when I reach the kitchen. When all this is over, I won’t be sorry my sisters dragged him on this vacation with us.
As expected, I walk in to find Anna armed with a fork and digging into a piece of pie she brought back from dinner at the lodge’s main restaurant. Roni is busy reaching into a freshly opened bag of tortilla chips she must have found in the stocked pantry, and Tori is pulling the cork out of what looks to be a nice bottle of merlot mid-rant about one thing or another.
I’m just close enough to tune in to their current conversation when they notice me and abruptly end their chat.
Awkward and obvious though it is, I pretend not to notice and instead take things in a new direction entirely.
“No one started the coffee maker?” I ask, feigning disapproval. “Come on, ladies. Why are we slacking?”
“Sorry, Ness.” Roni doesn’t look sorry at all as she’s stuffing three large chips into her hungry mouth. “You know the rules. Every woman for herself.”
“Funny how that rule didn’t apply itself to my love life,” I mutter, making my way to the coffee maker sitting on the far end of the counter where it’s neatly wedged between a toaster oven and a blender. “So, what’s everyone talking about? And don’t say nothing. Anna only has half a pie left, so I know you three have been in here for a while.”
“You and Oliver.” Tori’s eyes practically bulge from their sockets. “Obviously.”
“Can’t have been a long conversation,” I remark, peeling free a coffee filter and dropping it into the tray.
“Well, now that you’re here, we can extend it.” Anna smirks, wiping pie from the corner of her mouth with the edge of her thumb. “You two looked awfully chummy when you got back from your walk.”
“And we all noticed what a gentleman he was at dinner,” Roni carries on where Anna leaves off. “Pulling out your chair. Ordering appetizers for you to share. And most importantly, keeping his eyes locked on you and only you all night.”
I make a face. “No, he didn’t.” God, I hope he didn’t. I certainly wasn’t returning moony stares in his direction. Truth be told, my eyes were hardly on him at all. And he was sitting directly across from me.
I couldn’t help it though. Over and over, my eyes just kept scanning the restaurant, anxiously searching the crowd for Matti. I didn’t even want to see him. I just couldn’t help wondering if I would. And if I saw him, that would mean he would see me. Having dinner with Oliver. Who apparently, couldn’t keep his eyes off me. If it’s true, I’m guessing it was for show. Especially given our last few conversations. And his willingness to help me save face in front of my ex who could have wandered in at any second.
