Back To You | complete

Chapter 14| Food Is The Way To Everyone's Heart

Chapter fourteen: Food is the way to everyone's heart

O L I V I A

"Finally," I murmured as the driver got the car out of the resort's driveway.

"I'm going to miss them all so much!" Sam sighed.

"Of course, you will." I chuckled. "Your social battery never dies, does it?"

"You know me." She laughed. "I'm assuming yours is dead for the rest of eternity?"

"You got it." I closed my eyes, resting my head against the headrest. The silence didn't last for even a full minute.

Yes, I counted.

"So, what're the haps with you and Kaison?" She exploded.

"How long have you been keeping that in?" I asked without opening my eyes.

"Long enough," she grumbled. "Tell me!" She yanked at my arm.

"Alright, Jesus!" I righted my sleeve and pushed the collar back in place. "I'll tell you if you tell me about Josh."

"What about him?" She questioned innocently.

"That would've worked had I just met you, Sam," I scolded, looking at her.

"I know," she deflated a little, but her eyes were bright with joy.

"You like him," I accused, noting the glow on her face. "You like him a lot!"

She blushed. "Shut up." 

"Oh, my God!" I squealed. "Do you love him?"

"Maybe?" She sang uncertainly. I gasped. "But I don't know!" She hurried to add.

She shook her hands in her lap restlessly, peering out of the window. 

"Sam?" I prompted her to look at me. Her brown eyes met mine hesitantly. I smiled softly to make my expression comforting. I continued, "How long has this been going on?"

She bit her lip and tore her gaze away from mine again. The silence stretched and with its implication, my smile slowly dropped.

"How long?" I asked again, more slowly this time. I thought I had lost the warmth in my tone but I couldn't focus on that. The forefront of my brain was on the fact that my best friend had been hiding a relationship from me long enough to be uncomfortable to tell me. "Six months? A year? More?"

" . . . almost two years," she whispered, staring at her lap.

I collapsed on the seat behind me in shock. Almost two years. I vividly remembered talking to her a few months ago when I was baking. We had been discussing my single life. I also remembered thinking she was a hypocrite to ridicule me about it when she had chosen a similar lifestyle for herself. 

"I . . . " Words failed me. I couldn't think of anything to say. What was there to say anyway?

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "I should've told you."

Well, duh.

"How long have you liked him?" I inquired after a moment. I refused to look at her, because if what I was thinking was right, oh I was not going to like it.

"Liv," she pleaded.

"You never got over him, did you?" I asked, feeling like a fool. Blind. I had been so blind.

"It's not that," she defended."It's just that old feelings resurfaced and . . . just look at you and Kaison."

"There's a difference," I snapped, opening my eyes and looking at her. She recoiled at the tone and I tried to dial it down. "I never stopped loving Kai, Samantha. All these years, I've loved him. I still do."