His teeth flashed white when he smiled. “That’s great.”
“Yeah.” From my perch, I was just high enough to check the ocean. This stripe of water normally hung in the navies, but today, it was bluer than usual. “They want me in tomorrow.”
“There it is.” Caleb crossed his arms, leaned against the chair. “And you told them you appreciate it, but you’re on vacation?”
I winced. “Not exactly.”
“But—” He shook his head, cleared it. “Never mind.”
“It’s my career.”
“Yeah, I know. That’s why I never-minded it. I wish I could tell you money is a construct, but that’s patronizing.”
“Incredibly. And just because something is a construct doesn’t mean it’s not real. Hypotheticals have definitions, too.”
His eyelashes fringed together, apart. So long ago, that face above mine, mere blocks from here. “Never change, Olivia.”
But I had. We were two different people now.
Wells was my soulmate. I thought of the red light against my lids last night, of the rolling forces of pleasure I enjoyed about ten feet from where I currently sat. But here was my childhood best friend, a person I was indivisibly woven to in some way, shape, or nostalgic form.
He stood, crossed the deck, then resettled himself against the opposing porch pole. Our feet were inches from each other. “I’m proud of you,” he began.
I nudged his foot. “I’m proud of you, too.”
He cleared his throat. Time had etched his jaw, carved his face into stone. It made me wonder what he’d look like when we were old, if he’d resemble his parents.His dad might be an asshole, but he sure is hot, I imagined Natalie saying.
“I have to tell you something.” Caleb arranged his spineagainst the post, his expression resolute. “I know it shouldn’t, but it’s bothering me that he’s your soulmate. I just don’t get how that can be when I’ve never been more comfortable with someone than I am with you.”
I considered this. “I haven’t, either,” I said finally. There was my heartbeat again, this time, in my fingertips. I itched to reach out to him, butWells.
This was possibly a problem.
He gestured around us. “I was really looking forward to this weekend. And, look, Olivia: I will cheerlead the hell out of your decision. I’d never want to put down your career. But if we only live this one time, are you going to spend every second of it working?”
“I don’t spend every second of it working.” I stiffened. “Hardly. Honestly.”
“Wasn’t it just on the plane ride here that you said you’ve woken up before sunrise for years?”
“Hey,” I said, trying for lightness. “I was exaggerating. Don’t throw my words back at me.”
He held up his hands in surrender. “I’m not. I swear. I was only...” He dragged in a breath. “This felt like a second chance. Or a do-over, really.”
“I know,” I began, when I heard my name. A sweaty, shirtless figure sprinted up the beach parking lot, the same limbs that hovered over me last night.
One side of Caleb’s mouth quirked, but his eyebrows plummeted. “Livi,” he said, unable to wring the sadness out of the single word, two-syllabled nickname.
I was afraid to speak. I was afraid I’d cry.
Caleb pressed his foot to mine. “I need to be extremely clear.”
“About what?” My words thickened in my throat.
“I wish your soulmate wasn’t him.”
My focus flickered. “Who, then?”
“I think you know,” he said, his voice quiet, intense.
