I open my mouth to tell her to back off, but the words die when I realize Savannah’s eyes are on me, pleading for help. She looks one second away from bolting again.
I force my voice to be calm. “Ellie. Outside. Now.”
Ellie raises both brows. “Someone’s cranky when he’s horny—”
“Now,” I snap.
Mom finally looks up, sensing the shift. “Children, play nice.”
Ellie rolls her eyes but follows me out the back door onto the porch. The cold hits like a slap. I really do need to put a shirt on, but not as bad as I need air that isn’t saturated with ginger tea and Savannah’s scent.
The second the door shuts, Ellie whirls on me, arms crossed, grin still in place.
“Okay, talk. How long? Was it Halloween? I knew you both disappeared, but Sav told me she’d gone home.”
“Ellie.”
“—and then you were gone the next day, and this is the first time I’ve seen you together since then.”
“Ellie, stop.” I pinch the bridge of my nose. “I need to know how you feel about this. About Savannah and me.”
Her face softens instantly. The teasing vanishes.
“Ollie.” She steps closer, voice gentle. “She’s my best friend. She’s been in love with you since we were fifteen, and you carried her piggy-back through that blizzard because her boots broke. If you’re finally pulling your head out of your ass, I’m not going to stand in the way.”
Relief punches through me so hard my shoulders sag.
“But,” she continues, poking me in the chest, “if you hurt her, I will end you. Brother or not, Savannah is my best friend, and I will take you down. I know where you sleep.”
I nod once. “Understood.”
She studies me for a long second. “You really like her.”
I don’t answer. I don’t have to. She sees it.
Ellie sighs, soft and fond. “Then go get her, dummy. But maybe put a shirt on first. Some of us are trying to eat breakfast.”
She slips back inside.
I stay on the porch a minute longer, letting the cold burn the haze from my head.
Ginger tea. Cardigan clutched like a shield. She looks like she hasn’t slept in days.
Something’s wrong.
And I’m done waiting for her to tell me what it is.
I head back in, grab a T-shirt from the laundry room, and pull it on. I’m going to find out what’s going on.
Chapter five
Savannah
By noon, I’ve successfully avoided Oliver for six whole hours, which feels like a personal record.
I spent the morning hiding in the sunroom with a stack of Mrs. Adams’s old romance novels, pretending to read while staring at the same page for forty-five minutes. My stomach has finally settled thanks to the ginger tea and toast. Progress.
Ellie finds me there, cheeks pink from the cold, carrying two mugs of hot chocolate piled so high with whipped cream it’s practically a crime.
