24. Nixon

Chapter 24

Nixon

I laid in bed for hours last night trying to get the image of Savvy standing in front of me in nothing except a lace bra and panties out of my head, but it was no use. I covered my eyes as soon as my brain caught up to what my eyes were seeing, yet I'll still never be able to erase the image from my brain.

Today, I'm not sure what we're doing. The plan was to hang out together on Saturday, but now that Chad and Devon are gone, I'm not sure anymore.

"Morning." Savannah smiles sweetly at me over the rim of her coffee cup. She's sitting at the dining room table with one foot tucked under her and the other knee bent so she can rest her chin on it. She's wearing a thin tank top and a pair of pajama pants, looking completely adorable.

This is what I've dreamed of. I've always wanted Savvy to be the first person I see every morning and the last one I speak to at night.

"Morning," I say softly as I grab a clean mug and fill it with coffee. "Where are the parents?"

"At the restaurant. They said they needed to get some things prepped for the weekend rush."

"Do they need help?"

"Nah, they know we were planning to spend a day together this weekend and they said to do it today.." A small smile tugs on the corner of her lips.

"Right. Well, whenever you're ready, we can begin our day."

"Where are we going and what are we doing?"

"Nope! That's a secret and you don't need to know." I shake my head, unable to hide my grin.

"Nixon," she groans my name, making all of my thoughts turn dirty.

"Savannah," I mimic her groaning and flop onto the chair next to her. I lean my head back against the chair, but turn so I'm facing her. "Do you trust me?"

"Of course," she whispers softly. "You're one of the few people I know I'm always safe with."

"Good. Once I finish my coffee and get dressed, we can go."

"I want you to tell me what really happened," Savvy whispers as she stares across the lake.

We're sitting on an old bench along the edge of the water. Savannah's fingers are intertwined with mine, resting on my right thigh.

"I told you, I wanted to wait until Sunday. Today, I just want to enjoy my time with you."

"But how am I supposed to enjoy spending time with you if I feel like there's this heavy secret following us around?" She sticks her bottom lip out in a pout, knowing it's always helped her get her way.

"You're not getting your way," I murmur, tugging her closer to me. "I'll answer all of your questions, but not today. Please, Savvy."

"Fine, but I'm not going to like it," she huffs, folding her arms across her chest.

"That's fine." I chuckle. "I can handle that." I pick up one of the pebbles at our feet and skip it across the water.

"I think we should play twenty questions." Savannah leans down and stares at the rocks. She runs her fingers over a few different ones, trying to find the perfect one for skipping.

"Ok. I get to go first." I grin at her when she rolls her eyes, but motions for me to continue. "Where are you going to live after graduation?"

"Pebble Creek. Where else would I go? I don't want to be away from my parents."

"Where are you going to work?"

"That's two questions." She glares at me. "But I'm going to work at Catalino's. Where else would I work? Dad and I have been working on some new plans and I can't wait to put them into action."

The smile playing on her lips is addicting. She looks so happy and at peace with her plans. I have no doubt she's going to do amazing at whatever career she chooses, but she belongs at Catalino's.

"What kind of plans?"

"You know, you're supposed to take turns asking questions. You can't ask all of them."

"Fine, but tell me the plans first. Then, you can ask me three questions."

"I want to expand the restaurant. Right now, we do parties and events, but we're planning on doing weddings. I thought doing weddings and other larger events could take the business to a whole other level. We've talked about opening Catalino's Bakery too. Having a separate shop just for our baked goods."

"Those are amazing ideas, Sav. I'd love to help you guys any way I can."

"I was thinking of asking you about getting an app made." She peeks up at me with a shy smile. "Something people could order dinner or bakery items from."

"I'd love to do that for you. I can put together a few ideas and you can pick what you like best."

"Well, I need to get Dad on board and see if we can afford it. So, don't get too excited." She waves a hand in the air like she can erase the ideas running through my head.

"Savvy, I'm not going to charge you to create an app for Catalino's. I'll happily do it for free. I don't even want any arguments about that."

"Thank you, Nix."

"Of course. Now, you get three questions."

"Why did you come back to Pebble Creek?" She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear and peers out at the lake. She's not meeting my gaze because she's too scared of what she'll find staring back at her.

"I came back for you," I say softly.

"Why?"

"Because life felt empty without you. The past six years I felt like something was missing and the second you walked into the kitchen the other day, everything felt right in the world."

"Nix…"

"I'm not asking for anything more than friendship, Savvy. I just need you in my life. I want to be able to pick up the phone and hear your voice whenever I want to. I want to sit next to you and work on apps while you study or read. We don't need to talk or touch, just be near each other."

"Why don't you have a girlfriend?" She swallows hard as she meets my gaze.

"Because there's only one woman I've ever wanted and she's been a little pissed at me the past few years."

"The last thing I need is a big jar of candy!" Savannah giggles as I pick the largest one in the store.

"Why? You love candy."

"Yes, but I've eaten way too much this weekend and it's only half-way over. I'm sure when I get back to college, I'm going to be five or ten pounds more than I was when I left."

"You look perfect and you don't need to worry about your weight." I tug her against my body and press a soft kiss to her forehead. It's taking everything in me not to kiss her for real, but I want to make sure Chad is completely erased from her mind before I do that.

"Oh, I'm sure." She rolls her eyes.

"This is for you to remember me while you finish up college. Plus, you can munch on gummies as you drive home." I wiggle my eyebrows, knowing gummies are her favorite type of candy.

"Fine, but only because this jar could last me months." She snatches the jar out of my hands and slowly walks around the store.

There are big bins of candy everywhere you look. Each one has a scooper in it and you can fill up your container with whatever you want.

When I drove through Pebble Creek, I saw this place and knew I had to bring Savvy here. We would've spent so much time in this store if it were around when we were kids.

"How will I know if I'm eating strawberry lemonade gummies versus cherry?" She frowns at the multiple bins of red candies.

"It's a surprise every time, which automatically makes it more fun."

"It sounds like those jelly beans." She makes a sour face. "Remember when you got the one that tasted like dirty socks?"

"Please don't remind me." I gag just thinking about it, making her giggle. "I don't think I've ever thrown up that many times in one day."

"Yet, you continued to play," she singsongs.

"That's because you liked the game and I didn't want to disappoint you."

She nibbles on her bottom lip and I can tell she's trying to hide something. I narrow my gaze on her and tug her out of the way of other customers.

"What are you hiding?" I duck down until we're eyelevel and stare into her blue eyes.

"Well, I might have possibly known which ones were the good flavors and the bad flavors. Maybe." She scrunches up her nose, looking more than guilty.

"Savannah Catalino! Are you kidding me?"

"I'm sorry!" She covers her face with her hands and laughs. "I thought you'd stop eating them! And after you threw up for the fifth time, I didn't want you to force me to eat a bad one! I hate throwing up!"

"I can't believe you'd do that to me." I shake my head in disbelief. "And to think, I trusted you. You were my best friend and you did me dirty like that."

"Nix! I'm sorry!" She places the jar on a counter and wraps her arms around my waist, giving me a big hug. "Don't be mad at me, Nixy."

"I could never be mad at you, Sav." I kiss the top of her head and hold her a little tighter.

"Good. Then help me get all the gummies! I need something to hold me over until I come home again. and when I return, I expect another cheesecake from you." She points a finger in my face as she steps past me and over to a bin of candy.

"From me? Why?"

"Well, I'd never admit this to my mother and if you tell her, I'll deny this until the day I die. After I say this, we're never going to speak of it again either… but your cheesecake was better than hers."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! What did you just say? That's treason! Treason against Catalino's!"

"Shh! I told you, we won't speak of this again."

"Do we really need sticky buns too?" She stares up at me like I'm crazy. We already had so much food today.

"So, I tried this place last week. Their sticky buns taste just like the ones we always got down the shore. They reminded me of the memories we made each summer."

I take the white box from the woman and hold my hand out to Sav. When she places her hand in mine, I grin and lead her out of the store.

"Do you remember how we used to take the red and white string off the box and make bracelets out of it?"

"Yeah, I do." My grin spreads even wider. "We used to see how long the bracelets would last. Whoever's came off first, had to buy the other person ice cream."

"I think we need to do it again." She nudges me with her shoulder.

I place the box on an empty table in the park and grab my pocket knife. Carefully cutting the string, I measure pieces large enough for our wrists and then slip the knife back into my pocket.

"Give me your wrist."

I take the string and gently tie it around her wrist. I tug on it a few times to make sure it isn't going to fall off. Then, I hold out the other piece to her and give her my arm. Her small fingers graze my skin as she ties it around.

"This is perfect. I'll think of you every time I look at my wrist once I go back to school." She smiles.

"And I'll continue thinking of you every second of the day." I make a face at her and she bursts out laughing.

"You sound like such a stalker."

"If I were a stalker, I'd suck at it. I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to make your presence known if you're stalking someone."

"That's true… I guess you're just a creepy neighbor." As soon as the words are out of her mouth, she takes off at a run, giggling the entire time.

I chuckle and grab the box before I take off after her.