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“You’re both making me miss my apartment. The magical land of where no one sees more than what I want them to.”
“You might as well get used to it; in a few weeks you’ll be back here for good. We’ll be all up in your business. We’ve grown bored without you being home.”
“Oh, my sincerest apologies. I’ll make sure to bring all the drama home with me. I wouldn’t want you to be bored.” I roll my eyes.
The back door creaks open and Nixon strides in with two gallons of milk. He places them both in the fridge before whispering something in Mom’s ear, making her giggle. She swats him with a towel and he laughs. He takes his place at her side, snatching the spatula from her hand and flipping the pancakes like he never left.
“I don’t think you need to bring the drama with you, I'm pretty sure it will be here waiting for you,” Dad mutters only loud enough for me to hear him.
Chapter 20
Nixon
I don’t want to admit how much I love being here with the Catalino’s again. Coming back here has helped me find this inner peace I’ve been missing for a long time. It’s like all of the puzzle pieces have finally fallen back in place. I needed this. I'm so happy I finally made the decision to move on from my period of healing and now I'm finally finding my new life.
“She’s so smitten with you,” Carla murmurs quietly.
“Who? Devon?” I smirk, knowing she’s referring to Savvy.
“No!” She giggles, swatting at me. “But… maybe her too. I'm talking about Savannah! She’s falling and fast. I can tell.”
“How? She’s pretty standoffish when people are around.”
“Because I'm her mother. I know everything there is to know about her. What about when it’s only the two of you together? How does she act then?”
“It’s like I'm transported back to high school,” I whisper, staring at Savvy as she talks in hushed tones with Donny. “I can pretend for a few minutes that the past few years were just a bad dream.”
“I have no doubt, by the time she goes back to school, she’s going to drop all of her walls where you’re concerned.” Carla pats my shoulder before placing the food on the table.
We’ve made a feast. Every type of breakfast food you could possibly want are scattered over the table, waiting to be consumed. We’ve made enough for an army, even though there’s only six of us.
“C’mon, let’s all sit down.” Carla ushers Savvy and Donny to the table. “Where’s Chad and Devon?”
“Right here!” Devon stumbles into the kitchen with Chad right behind her.
Chad wraps an arm around her waist to keep her from falling flat on her face. Devon almost seems drunk. Her hair is wild, her clothes are in various stages of disarray. Chad tugs her tightly against his chest with a wide grin on his face.
“Are you ok?” Savvy eyes them.
Her voice seems to tug them out of their own little world. Chad drops his arm from around Devon, almost letting her crash to the floor. He straightens and wraps Savvy in a hug.
“How was your night, baby?” He presses a kiss to her lips.
An instant frown takes over my brow… until I realize she isn't really kissing him back. She’s standing there stiff as a board, clearly uncomfortable with this display of affection.
My gaze moves to Donny. His jaw is locked tight, irritation covering every one of his features.
“Alright, let’s eat before you eat my daughter’s face off,” he grumbles, sliding his chair out and plopping down.
This time, Devon sits next to me. Her eyes are locked on Chad the entire time, a flirty smile pointed right at him. Savannah leans to the side, keeping space between her and Chad. She shouldn’t be uncomfortable around her own boyfriend. She should be melting into his side, clinging to him like she’s in love. But she isn't doing any of that. She almost acts like he’s a stranger.
The rest of the day continues like this. Devon shoots Chad flirty looks and Chad returns them until he catches me glaring at him, then he tries to act like he’s the doting boyfriend. Savannah retreats further and further into herself. It makes my blood boil to see her like that.
I guarantee he’s cheating on her with Devon. They seem like more of a couple than Chad and Savannah are.
“What’s going on with you?” I whisper to Savannah when Carla leaves the room.
The two of us have been helping Carla the entire day. We prepared everything for Thanksgiving dinner and rarely left the kitchen. Devon and Chad mysteriously disappeared after dinner for the fifth time today. I can only imagine where they are and what they’re up to.
