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How could I forget? I watched her mope around for weeks. It was heartbreaking, knowing I couldn’t do anything to make her feel better. And I was furious at Sam for making her feel that way.
“And what happened next?” she asks.
“Chase happened.”
I can feel her smile even though I can’t see her face.
“That’s right,” she says, “Chase showed up. And he’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me—present company excluded, of course.”
“Of course.” I breathe out a laugh. Her statement circles inside my head. My stomach clenches. “What are you saying? That Ollie is like Sam?”
“No,” she scoffs adamantly. “Ollie’s twice the man Sam is.” There’s a hardness to her tone when she talks about her ex.
I know Oakley doesn’t have lingering feelings for Sam, but I think we’re all disappointed in the man he’s become over the past year. He’s changed for the worse. He could be so much more.
“I’m saying, sometimes, something bad has to happen first to make you appreciate the great thing that’s coming. I appreciate the little things with Chase even more after dating Sam.” She pauses. “And maybe you and Ollie getting together and then Ollie having to suddenly leave was what both of you needed to figure out how you actually feel about each other. To force you to decide what you want.”
My mind is drawn back to Oakley’s initial reaction to Ollie and me dating.
I chuckle. “I know you never wanted Ollie and me to get together.”
“It freaked me out at first,” she admits. “It was weird, seeing my best friend and my brother together.”
“I guess you always knew he’d break my heart.”
She laughs, blowing out a long exhale at the same time. Her shoulders shift, and I lift my head to meet her eyes.
“What?” I ask.
She has a knowing smile on her pretty face. “Silly girl. That wasn’t why I was freaked out. I was never afraid of Ollie breaking your heart. I was always scared that you would break his.”
The lines deepen on my forehead. “What?” It’s absurd to think that I would have that type of power over someone like him.
“Yeah.” She nods, confirming that I heard her correctly. “I’ve watched you for years, Mads, dating guy after guy, but never letting any one of them get close enough to really mean something to you. And that’s fine. I know you were just having fun.”
It goes deeper than that, and we both know it.
“But then it dawned on me that you always chose guys that you knew you wouldn’t fall for. It was a defense mechanism.”
“Okay, Dr. Phil,” I deadpan.
She giggles. “It’s true.”
I don’t argue with her. I haven’t thought too deeply about my motives before, but she might be right.
“I know some of this has to do with your mom,” she adds gently.
I don’t have to elaborate about my upbringing with Oakley. She’s had a front-row seat to the escapades of Celeste over the years. She knows what I grew up with, the good and the bad parts of my family life.
“So, I guess … when you and Ollie got together … I worried that you would keep him at arm’s length, like all the others.”
“Ollie isn’t really an arm’s-length kind of guy,” I admit.
“No.” She smiles. “He’s not. He’s the complete package. But I’m biased.” She glances over at me. “And if you tell him I said that, I’ll deny it till the day I die.”
I match her grin. “I think I’ve always had a crush on him.”
“You and every other girl in the world.” She laughs, rolling her eyes.
