Page 129 of The Love You Fight For
“Good. Because you also might need to give me a job,” I joke. “I don’t think I can sustain my shoe addiction on freelance writing. I might need to take up bartending.”
Chris smiles.
“You’re hired.”
I laugh, then turn around and let us into the building. He gets more excited the more he sees. The kitchen, the dining area, the bar. He starts talking about remodeling. About menus. About everything, and in all of it, he includes me. He talks like it’sourfuture and a dream thatweshare, and the more he talks, the more I realize that it is.
Chris Casper is my future, and for the first time in forever, it’s a future I can’t wait to experience. It’s not daunting. It’s not precarious. It’s just...us. Us, and love, and dreams.
After a few hours, we lock up with plans to come back tomorrow.
I kiss him in front of the building, and I’m seconds from leaning back and telling him I love him again, for probably the hundredth time today, when I hear a gasp. We break the kiss and I look up to find Chris’s ex-girlfriend staring at us.
She’s just standing in the middle of the sidewalk on Main Street, staring at us with a gaping mouth. I thread my fingers throughChris’s and nod in Sable’s direction. I’m grateful when Chris squeezes my hand, and I lean into his side a little before smiling at our uninvited guest. She drops her eyes to our linked hands and her brows furrow.
“Sable,” Chris greets. “Did you need something?”
She drags her eyes to his face and forces a smile.
“Saw your truck. Thought I’d stop and say hi.”
Chris nods.
“Hi. We’re actually leaving, though.”
“Of course,” she says awkwardly, the slight hitch in her voice betraying her shock before she flicks her eyes to me. “Samantha. I’m so sorry to hear about your dad. I’m sure it’s been hard, what with all the bad press.”
She’s not sorry. I shrug.
“I expected it when I turned him in,” I say. “I was prepared.”
“So it’s all true, then?” she asks, eyes wide. “And his accounts and properties are gone, too? They’ve all been frozen? Did you know that would happen before you said what you said at the gala? It’s all over the internet. Everyone is saying you’re”—she swallows hard and whispers the final word—“broke.”
The laugh that escapes me startles everyone, me included. I can’t even hide the derisive tone in my voice when I respond.
“There are some things more important than money, Serena. Now, if you’ll excuse us. We have somewhere to be.”
I turn toward the truck and Chris follows.
“It’s Sable,” she says, and I roll my eyes.
“I don’t care.”
Chris’s stifled chuckle makes me have to bite back my smile, but Sable narrows her eyes, proving she heard it. She takes another step toward us and glances at Chris.
“So are you dating, then?” she asks. “Are you together?”
Chris’s thumb runs gently over my wrist as he responds, “We are.”
Her brows furrow even more until they’re almost touching and her jaw tightens. I sigh.
“We really need to go, Serena,” I say, making sure she can hear my feigned pity. “It was nice to... Well, goodbye.”
She doesn’t take the slight well. I didn’t think she would. This woman has always had issues with me. I suppose she was right to.
“Heproposedto me,” she snaps. “You know that, right? It was me first.”
It takes all my strength not to jab her in her store-bought nose. Instead, I give her a smile that says speaking to her is beneath me, it bores me, and I’m ready for it to end.
