20. Nixon

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.

"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.

"Chad!" Savvy pins him with a glare.

"What? It's not my fault he isn't man enough to throw around a football."

"I've had about enough of this shit. In the morning, I expect you out of my house." Donny glares at the asshole.

Chad glances from one person to the other. In the beginning he thinks Donny's joking, but when no one else says anything, he sobers quickly.

"Are you serious? You're kicking me out?" He stares at Donny completely slack jawed.

"You're damn straight! You don't get to come into my home and insult my family."

"He's not even your family!" Chad holds a hand out in my direction.

"He's more of my family than you'll ever be. Just like he's more of a man than you'll ever be. Nixon was willing to give his life to protect yours. Do you even realize that? He's one of the men who risked everything to make sure people like you could throw around a ball and remain free."

Donny glances in my direction. I know it's on the tip of his tongue to tell Chad exactly how much I lost by serving my country but I don't want him to be the one to tell Savvy. I plan to tell her myself tomorrow. I subtly shake my head, asking him to keep silent. I have nothing to prove to Chad and I don't care about his opinions of me. He nods his head, accepting my request for silence.

"Babe, are you really going to allow this?" Chad turns his gaze on Savvy. She shrinks further into the chair. I wish I could help. I'd love to sweep her into my arms and escape to my house. Get away from all of this drama and just get to be ourselves again.

Savvy opens and closes her mouth several times, but nothing comes out. Her gaze flits from one person to the next, unsure of how to handle this. When she doesn't come to Chad's rescue, he launches off the couch.

"Whatever. This place has sucked the entire time. I'm more than happy to go back to school. Are you coming with me?" He glances down at Devon. She directs a huge smile at him and nods her head. I'm sure she's thinking about how much fun she can have with him. "Savannah, are you coming?"

"No. I came home to visit my parents." She finally finds her voice. It's steady and confident. I'm proud of her for standing up for herself and not just following him like he expects her to.

"Are you serious? You're not coming with me?" He can't hide his shock. He really thought she'd pick him over her family.

"No, I'm not, Chad."

"Who cares. If she wants to stay here, she can. We drove separately. We don't need her to go. I'm sure we can have plenty of fun all on our own." Devon stands, clinging to his arm. It's pitiful how desperate she is for his attention.

"She's my girlfriend! She should be putting me first." Chad crosses his arms over his chest, irritation written all over his face.

I swear Donny's seconds away from punching him in the face. I'm not sure I'd even stop him. I might actually hold Chad down to make it easier.

"You're not even sleeping with her. Let's just leave now, I'm sure I can make this weekend much more fun for us." Devon sinks her teeth into her plump bottom lip, staring up at Chad.

"How long?" Savannah stares at them. Her voice is void of emotion just like it was when we were alone earlier.

"What?" Chad lifts his gaze from Devon and finally pays attention to Savannah.

"How long have you been cheating on me?"

"What are you talking about?" Chad's eyes widen in horror. "I'm not-"

"Nine months." Devon folds her arms across her chest, jutting out her hip. She's so stuck up and full of herself. I don't know what Chad can possibly see in her.

"What the fuck, Dev?" Chad growls.

"What? Do you really think she's going to stay with you now that Daddy dearest doesn't approve of you? Newsflash, she won't. She's going to stay here as long as she can. She's going to fall into Nixon's arms and she's going to live out the life they want her to. That's what Savannah does. She gets the picture-perfect life. She does exactly what's expected of her. She's the good girl you could never have."

"She's my girlfriend. She's mine."

"Is she though? You've been dating for a year and she never slept with you. You've been cheating on her for almost as long as you've been dating. I think it's time to admit you lost the bet."

"What bet?" Donny growls.

"Oh, didn't you know? Your daughter is the center of a football team bet. If Chad could fuck her, he won a few thousand dollars. His time was running out. He thought if he came here for Thanksgiving, she'd throw herself at him." Devon turns her cold stare on Savannah. "Everyone thinks you're a stuck-up princess. You'd rather have your nose stuck in a book than pay attention to your boyfriend. He deserves better than you. That's why I stepped in and gave him what he deserved."

"Get out," Savvy grinds out through clenched teeth.

"Sav, let's talk about this…" Chad takes slow steps towards her with his hands raised.

"Get the fuck out, Chad."

"Baby…"

"She said get out." The muscles in my jaw clench and release as I try to maintain my composure. He doesn't have long before I'm going to show him a few things the military taught me while he was busy sticking his dick where it didn't belong.