“Yeah,” he says. “You should have.”
I wait for Ollie to say more. When he doesn’t, I soldier on.
“I know you want me to choose, but I can’t. I can’t choose between the two of you. I want you both. I don’t want to lose our friendship, but I can’t be around you and not think of him, and I can’t be with him and not miss you. You’re my family. And Evan is…”
My daddy… He’s my daddy.
Thankfully, I know better than to say that out loud.
“He’s like my family, too,” I say.
Ollie runs a hand through his messy locks. “Do you really want to date my dad, Nat? Be honest with me.”
“Yes,” I tell him. “Yes, I do. I love him, Ollie. I know it’s a little weird—”
“It’s super weird. Like the weirdest thing you could possibly want to do.”
I chortle. “Yes, it is. But I really do love him. …How is he, by the way?”
Ollie grimaces. “He’s pretty miserable, actually. He misses you. He’s been sleeping at the lake house instead of his apartment, commuting to work every day. It’s…not pretty, babes.”
My heart sinks. More than anything, I want to ask Ollie to drive me to the lake house right now so I can see him. But this conversation isn’t even halfway over. I take a long sip from my smoothie to steel myself.
“Have you two had a chance to talk about your relationship?” I ask.
“A bit. We’ve talked about his reasons for leaving and why he stayed away so long. I don’t fully understand his decisions, but it’s nice to have it out in the open. It’s all thanks to you, you know.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Me?”
“Yeah. You always encouraged us to find a middle ground.” Sighing, he pinches the spot between his eyes and takes a deep breath. “Look, I know this whole thing is insane. I don’t like to think about you and my dad being…”
He makes an inappropriate gesture with his hands.
I wince. “Yeah, I get the picture.”
“Still, I know he cares about you. And you clearly care about him. He’s my dad, and you’re my best friend. I want you both to be happy. And I don’t want to lose you, okay? So as long as you guys are happy—” He sighs again. “—I’ll try to be okay with this. I can’t promise I won’t freak out, but I’m going to try and keep an open mind, okay?”
I can already feel the tears welling.
“Thank you, Ollie. That means so much to me. You have no idea.”
He squeezes my hand on the table. “I draw the line at calling you mom, though.”
We burst into laughter that draws attention from the tables around us, but I don’t care. A piece of my heart falls back into place as we settle into our familiar banter. For the first time all summer, I feel like I can breathe again.
No more lies. No more secrets. I got my friend back, along with his blessing.
Now I just have to hope it’s enough to convince Evan that loving me wasn’t a mistake.
CHAPTER TEN
“Natasha…” My hands tighten around her chart as I suppress the urge to wrap my arms around her and claim her mouth in possessive kiss. “What can I do for you?”
The cotton gown she’s wearing slides an inch off her shoulder as she shrugs. “I wanted to see you.”
She crinkles the paper blanket across her lap. She’s nervous. But what reason would she have to be nervous?
Maybe because she knows she comes bearing bad news.
“Is your IUD causing you problems?” I ask stiffly, taking a seat on the rollaway stool. “You can check the strings yourself. You don’t need a doctor for that.”