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“Nothing, I'm fine.” She waves me off, handing another clean plate over for me to dry.
“You’re not. Give me a little credit. I might’ve missed the past few years of your life, but at the end of the day, you’re still my Savvy. I know what makes you tick and I know when you’re upset.”
I spin so my back is against the counter. Drying the plate, I never take my eyes off of her.
“He’s cheating on me, isn't he?” She blinks up at me. I'm surprised by her lack of emotion. She asks almost clinically.
“I don’t know.” I don’t want to be the one to burst her bubble. I don’t want her to get mad at me because he’s a jerk.
“What do you think?”
“I think this is your relationship and it’s not my place to stick my nose.”
“The past few days I’ve been realizing he’s not what I want. I don’t like the way he’s treating my mom and dad. He doesn’t fit into my future and he clearly doesn’t plan to fit me into his… I can't believe I’m such an idiot. I wonder how long they’ve been sneaking around behind my back.”
“You’re not an idiot, Sav. If he doesn’t see how amazing you are, he doesn’t deserve you. You should be with a man who always puts you ahead of everyone else. A man who loves you more than life itself.”
“That sounds like I'm going to be single forever.” She chuckles, but there’s no humor in it. She’s close to crying and it breaks my heart.
“You are not. I bet there’s a man out there dying to get your attention and you just haven’t noticed him yet.” My heart beats wildly against my ribs. I want so badly to tell her how much I love her and how much she means to me, but I won't do it when her thoughts are focused on her piece of shit boyfriend. I’ll wait until she’s single. I bet when she comes back at the end of the semester, she’ll be single.
Once we’ve finished cleaning up the kitchen, we head back into the living room. Donny and Carla are snuggled up on the love seat like they always are. Chad and Devon are sitting on the couch, too close for their relationship to be platonic. They’re definitely fooling around behind Savvy’s back. She stiffens at my side for a split second before she plasters a fake smile on and jumps right into the conversation going on around us.
The rest of the night, I watch Savannah, trying to gauge where her head is. Chad tries his hardest to put me down every chance he gets. He feels threatened by me and he should because I'm not going anywhere.
“So, did you just give up on the military after a few years? You couldn’t handle it?” Chad smirks at me.
“Nah, I’d probably still be in the Marines if I hadn’t gotten injured.” I’m careful to keep my tone even. If the military taught me nothing else, I know how to keep my cool when I’d love to smash my fist into his face.
“You don’t look injured.” His gaze moves up and down my body.
It takes everything in me not to show him how I'm injured. I’d love to rip off my prosthetic leg and bash it over his head, but it’s not worth it. Chad isn't worth my anger or my attention.
“Looks can be deceiving.” I can feel Donny and Carla’s gazes on me. I glance over at them, receiving sympathetic expressions. They know the truth and tomorrow Savvy will too.
I’m finally getting my day alone with her and I'm not going to let Chad ruin it by pissing me off and in turn making Savvy upset.
“Chad, you play football, right?” Carla focuses a fake smile at him, trying to ease any of the tension in the room.
“Yup. I'm the quarterback. Did you play any sports, Nixon?” His cocky ass wouldn’t last a day in the military. They’d eat him alive.
“I played football all throughout high school.” I shrug a shoulder, not wanting to compete in this pissing match.
“Ah, I guess you just didn’t have what it takes to play college ball.” He nods his head like he knows everything about me.
“Nixon was offered the starting position at a division one school.” Savvy’s brows draw low. She scowls at Chad, more than done with his antics.
“And you chose the Marines?” He barks out a laugh, shaking his head.
“Yes. I chose to defend my country instead of a damn ball.” I have to fight to keep the growl out of my voice. I refuse to give him any sort of negative reaction.
“Let’s go out and throw the ball around. I’d love to see what you’ve got.”
“Nah, I'm good.” The last thing in the world I want to do is hang out with Chad. I could play football if I really wanted to. I'm not as fast or as agile as I once was, but I can hold my own.
My disability isn't something that’s held me back. In the beginning it was hard, but I was determined to regain the life I once had. I’ll never be able to squat down and be the catcher during a baseball game, but I can live a normal and happy life without problems. I was the lucky one and I’ll never forget that.
“You mean you can't do it and you don’t want everyone to know.” He throws his head back, his annoying laughter filling the room.
