“Give me that.” I snatch the phone from Mason’s hand, feeling my stomach drop when I see a photo posted in March of Chloe and Charles. It’s a throwback, at least, but if they had some sort of bitter breakup, why would she be posting photos of him at all?
She must have been on a book tour for most of April, since there are four photos in a row of her with different gatherings of readers. Most of her photos are either of her with her computer or of her with Spartan, her horse. She wasn’t lying about that at least.
“Hey, you.” Lauren plops down in the booth next to me and slides over. I tense, silently cursing Mason for inviting her out. Even if I hadn’t run into Chloe, Lauren isn’t someone I’d want to hook up with. “Your friend left?”
She literally heard Chloe say she was leaving, and Lauren is just driving the point in.
“Yes.”
“Her loss.” Lauren wiggles her shoulders and inches closer, looking over at the menu. “What are you ordering?”
“I don’t know,” I say honestly, and grab another menu from behind the salt and pepper shakers, giving one to her so she stops leaning over mine.
“It’s too late to eat anything,” Lauren notes, glancing over her menu.
“Too late?” Mason questions.
“I don’t eat past eight PM,” Lauren tells us. “That’s how you get fat.”
Paige, who’s a curvy girl, jerks her head up, looking at Lauren with wide eyes before turning her head back down, obviously embarrassed. Mason, who’s been hoping to hook up with her all night, notices and wraps his arm around her waist.
“Midnight snacking is my favorite.” He kisses Paige, and I kick him under the table. “Actually,” he starts, wincing from the kick in the shin. “I think some takeout sounds good. We could go back to your place.” He wiggles his brows, and I roll my eyes.
“I agree with the takeout,” I say. I want to get back to Jacob’s and crash on the couch. I close my menu with a sigh, knowing I’m going to have to break it to Lauren that I’m going home alone tonight.“Why did we agree on breakfast?” Mason grumbles, adding a third packet of sugar to his coffee. The whole family is out for breakfast at Silver Café.
“It’s nearly ten AM,” Dad quips. “I’d argue we’re actually eating brunch.”
“Whatever it is, it’s too fucking early.”
“I’m sure being tired has nothing to do with that girl from the bar you went home with last night,” I say, bringing my coffee to my lips. Mason glares at me.
“I bet my night was better than yours,” he retorts. “At least I got some.”
I respond by taking another drink of coffee, because his night was better than mine, and it had nothing to do with Paige and everything to do with me tossing and turning, reliving that night at the party over and over. I hate that I hurt Chloe.
That I missed my chance to tell her how much she means to me—how much she’s always meant to me. Finally, when the sun was coming up, I fell back asleep and didn’t have a dream at all. I woke up to Jacob’s dogs barking at something in the yard, but my head was a little clearer. I feel terrible for what I did to Chloe that night, but it’s not like she’s still suffering for it.
She’s living her best life and is happy. I’m just a blip on her radar, I’m sure. I’ll go back to work, back to my old self, and will go a few days without thinking about her. And then a few days will turn into a few weeks and I’ll get along just fine. As long as I don’t think about her for the rest of the—
“Chloe!” Rory jumps up, bumping into the table and nearly spilling our drinks. “Oh my god, Chloe!”
Chloe’s just walked into the café and is alone. She’s wearing teal athletic pants and a matching crop top. Her hair is up in a messy ponytail, and she doesn’t have any makeup on.
She’s beautiful.
“Rory!” Chloe smiles and hurries over, pulling my sister in for a hug. Mom gets up and goes over, hugging Chloe as well.
“Wow, it’s almost like you’re getting a second chance,” Mason mumbles.
“Second chance?” Dean echoes, lifting Adam out of the highchair. The baby started fussing the second Rory stepped away from the table.
“He’s wanted to fuck her since they were kids. Well, teens, to be accurate.”
“Don’t talk about her like that,” I shoot back.
“Ohhh, right.” Mason raises his eyebrows and adds more sugar to his coffee. “He doesn’t want to fuck her.” He tips his head. “If you’re not interested…I am. Little Fish-face has really grown up, if you know what I mean.”
I go to kick Mason, but he jerks his leg back, expecting it. Rory brings Chloe over to the table so everyone else can say hi and so she can introduce her to Dean.