He Belongs With Me (16 page)

Heat shot through me at his words. I don't think I knew it until just this moment, but maybe I'd missed him too.

“Do you think we could be friends?” he asked, cooling me off instantly.

“Friends?” I repeated, testing the word on my tongue. Robby and I hadn't really been friends the first time around. Not in the way Leo and I were friends, at least.

“I know you have plenty of them, but I don't. You don't have to answer now…just think it over. Get back to me.” He started to pick up my Barbies, putting them back in the tote. “C'mon, Valerie. It's time to clean up. I'm sure dinner is ready downstairs.”

Valerie didn't complain and hurried to do as he'd asked. Once all the dolls were safely put away, I couldn't stop myself from blurting out the truth.

“I barely have any
real
friends,” I admitted. Robby and Valerie both stared at me, listening to my words. “I have tons of casual friends, but not many true friends. It's like high school. I used to be pretty popular, but I haven't kept in touch with a single person from back then. I have the feeling that college will be the same. Leo's all I've got...” I sighed, watching as Valerie started to pull on Robby's arm. My big speech bored the little girl and Robby probably thought I was pathetic for admitting all of this. And I wasn't even sure why I was admitting this, since I never had before. I had Leo. I'd never needed anyone else. “Sorry, I'm rambling.”

“You aren't rambling.” He swung Valerie up in his strong arms effortlessly and then didn’t miss a beat as he continued talking. “I'm the same way. It's hard to stay close to people when you're constantly moving.”

“At least you have an excuse,” I muttered.

“Not really. Why do you think I move so much?” he asked. Before I could give that another thought, he quickly added, “So, was that a yes? We can be friends?”

“Yes.” I didn't hesitate as I said the word. He gave me a huge smile, and then the three of us headed downstairs for dinner.

“There you are,” Dad said, his eyes taking in Valerie. His face blanched for a fleeting moment before he bent down to her level and gushed over the little girl. When he stood back up, he gestured toward the spread of food in front of us. “Sit. Eat. I was just telling Anita about the charity tournament in Miami coming up next week and our vacation home down there.” He turned back to Anita—who looked like she was drowning in Dad's charm—and went on, “My house is right on Biscayne Bay, overlooking the Miami skyline. I only get down there about once a year, but it's something to see. Tell her about it Maggie.”

“It is very beautiful—” I started but then I felt my phone vibrate in the pocket of my shorts. Assuming it was Leo, I pulled it out for a quick peek.
Clara?
I stood up immediately. Clara and I never called each other—ever. So it didn't matter that I was in the middle of dinner, I had to answer.

I excused myself and, pressing the phone to my ear, I rushed back inside the house. If Clara was calling me, then something must be terribly wrong. My twin spidey-senses were ringing as I headed for the nearest hall closet, hiding myself inside the dark space and preparing for the worst. “Clara?” I answered, my voice unusually panicky. “Is everything okay? Is Leo okay?”

“My phone's gonna die,” she said, sounding like her normal unaffected, emotionally-void self, “so listen up.” No ‘hi’ or ‘hello’ or ‘how's it going.’ She jumped right into conversation and expected me to keep up. “I need a couple favors. First, can you please call Leo for me? Tell him I'm sorry and I just need some space and time to think things over. Tell him I won't be flying home with him on his jet in the morning.”

“Why can't you call him and tell him all of that yourself?”

“Because my phone is gonna die so I couldn't call both of you. Second favor...can you come pick me up at the Roanoke airport tomorrow?”

Did someone give her glue chips as a child?
“That's over two hours away!”

“So? When have I ever asked you for anything? My flight gets in at 8:39 a.m. I'm not checking a giant bag or anything so you can drive your Porsche. C'mon! You know you’ll love the drive through the mountains as the sun comes up. I'll even meet you outside. Can you do that for me?”

“Why are you flying commercial and not with Leo?”

She huffed. “I don't want to talk about it.”

“Well, I'm not coming to pick you up unless you do.”

I'm not sure if Clara's phone died or if she hung up on me, but our connection was suddenly cut off. The nerve of her, just expecting me to drop everything and come rushing to her aid. I guess that's what sisters were for…but still.

My phone buzzed again. A different, unknown number lit up the screen. “What?” I answered, my patience gone.

“It's Clara again.”

“Yeah, I figured. I'll come get you tomorrow.”

“Thanks. I really appreciate it.”

“Yeah, okay. Bye.”

We both hung up at the same time. I took a couple deep breaths, reeling. Why did it have to always be this way between us? Our whole lives had been like this. I'm not even sure where we went wrong or why we couldn’t get along, but I wasn't about to analyze it now. I had to call Leo and break Clara's oh-so-wonderful news.

I dialed the familiar number, but his cell rang and rang. Just when I thought he was going to ignore my call, he answered.

“Maggie!” he shouted cheerfully. “What's up, baby doll?”

At the words ‘baby doll,’ my heart jumped inside my chest. My breathing became sporadic and I swear I could feel all of the blood pumping through my body. I knew he was drunk—he sounded like he’d taken a bath in a martini glass or eight and came out of it whistling Dixie out of his butt. Normally that would have bothered me but not tonight. Tonight, I was just happy hearing his voice. Maybe it was only a comfort thing or maybe…could it be more?

“Hey, Leo,” I said, a little high-pitched. “Where are you?”

“Some bar. Anyway, want to come meet me?”

“I can't. I'm in Blue Creek.”

“Fuck Blue Creek.”

I giggled. “So what are you doing at
some bar
?”

I could barely hear him over the background noise. “I'm out with Vince and Tony,” he shouted. “We're getting drunk and I wish you were here. What are you doing?”

He wished I were there?
I tried not to read too much into that statement. I knew he'd had some sort of fight with Clara. Maybe he wished I were there because he needed a friend. Yeah, that was probably it. “I'm hiding in a closet, talking to you. Robby is having dinner with us. He has a daughter. They're both out on the back deck right now and I'm in the closet.”

Thunk!
It sounded as if Leo fell from his chair and onto the floor. He did that sometimes when he got tipsy. “Mags! I told you to wait for me. I told you I would take care of him. What the hell is he doing at your house?”

“Good question. It's been a crazy day.”

“I'll say. Well, get out of the closet and tell that fucker to go home. Don't say ‘fucker.’ Not with his daughter there and all, but go tell him to get his ass off your back deck—I mean it. He has no right to be there. He lost that right a long time ago.”

“Where's Clara?” I asked. The question just sort of popped out of my mouth. I didn't want to talk about her, but I needed to know what had happened between them. And I sure didn't want to talk about Robby a second longer.

“Brooklyn.”

“That's a vague answer. Elaborate, please.”

The line went quiet for a moment, as if Leo had hit the mute button. He must have gone outside because when he came back on, his voice was much clearer. “I don't know what the hell I'm doing. You should have seen the way she ran away from me on the subway today...like I butchered her dog.” He let out a noise that could only be described as a growl. “Dammit. There's such a fine line between love and hate. Do you think it’s possible to fall for someone after you've spent a lifetime hating them?”

He used the ‘l-word’ and it sat like rotten food in my stomach. But the ‘h-word’ gave me a strange sense of hope. If he hated her so much, then how could he possibly love her? “I'm not sure if it's because you're drunk or what, but what kind of question is that? If you love someone, you just love them. Flaws and all. You can't hate someone and love them at the same time—it doesn't work that way. Love is all or nothing. Sometimes your own issues get in the way, but once you strip away all the noise, you find that there is just love underneath.”

“Who knew you were so insightful? So what you're saying is...if Clara likes me, then it's not possible for her to genuinely hate me at the same time? It's an either/or kind of thing?”

Say what?
I thought we were talking about Leo's feelings for Clara here, not the other way around. And then it dawned on me—Leo was asking me all of this because he was serious about Clara. Oh. My. God.
But he was my best-friend!
Why hadn't he fallen for me instead of her? What if he only loved Clara because I'd always been unavailable? What if my opportunity to make him mine had already come and gone years ago? What if it was passing me by right this moment?

“I have to go,” he said suddenly, not waiting for my response any longer. “There's somewhere I need to be. Now go tell Robby to get off your deck. Please. I'll see you tomorrow and we can deal with him together. Okay?”

“Okay.” I'd have to wait for tomorrow. I hoped it wouldn't be too late to tell him how wrong Clara was for him and how right I was. “Always,” I choked out.

“Always.” Then he hung up.

Getting off the phone with him, my emotions were yo-yoing all over the place. On the one hand, I loved how it felt like he was right here with me, always looking out for me, even when he was hundreds of miles away. But then every time he said something nice about my sister, it made my heart hurt. To make matters worse, now I had to go back outside and force myself to make polite conversation with Robby, who just informed me that he wanted us to be
friends
.

Suddenly, I felt exhausted and in no mood to talk to anyone. “I'm not feeling well,” I announced, as I peeked my head back outside. “I'm going to go lie down.” I forced a smile for Valerie, closed the sliding glass door and walked away without looking anyone in the eye.

I grabbed a glass of water as I passed through the kitchen and then headed to our media room, where I could be alone with my convoluted thoughts. I'd just curled up on the couch and flipped on the television when Robby came into the room. The glow of the TV danced across his handsome face. He sat down beside me, not bothering to ask if he could, and then he pulled my legs up onto his lap. He moved to rest his legs on the coffee table, snuggling in a little closer to me.
Whoa.
Friends sure as heck didn't
snuggle
on coaches.

“So what was that all about?” he asked, sounding genuinely interested. “You were fine up until you got that phone call.”

I sighed, shifting my attention back to the TV. An old rerun of
Friends
happened to be playing. “Clara and Leo drama,” I said, intentionally keeping my answer vague.

“I guess not much has changed then.”

“What do you mean?”

He rested his head on the back of the sofa. “Same story then. Same story now. Leo pining over Clara and doing nothing. I know he has his issues and thinks she hates him, but here's the kicker. Clara's always been just as caught up with Leo as he has been with her. I tried way back when to convince him but never could.”

How could Robby possibly know all of this? He'd only been with us for three short months. “You're wrong. When you lived with us, Clara liked you. Never Leo.”

He shrugged. “Maybe Clara
wanted
to like me. I think maybe she tried to push her focus toward anyone but Leo and I was the closest target, but she secretly had feelings for him. I could tell then and I could tell the other night. When a person pretends not to care as much as Clara does, it's obvious they do care.”

Growing annoyed at the direction this conversation had gone, I pushed up on my elbows. My eyes connected with Robby's through the semi-darkness. “You honestly believe that?”

“Yes. Maybe she doesn't even consciously know it, but why else do you think there is so much friction between her and Leo? And between you and her? The question I'm most interested in though is…when did you fall in love with Leo?”

I gasped. “I'm not—” I moved my legs off him and jumped off the couch. “I'm not in love with Leo,” I declared. “That's insane.”

“It's okay that you are.”

“I'm not!”

“Please, don't lie to me.”

I wasn’t lying…I didn’t know how on earth I felt right now except confused. I buried my face in my hands, feeling ten kinds of defeated. “I don’t even know what I’m feeling right now, so how could you?” I challenged and then paused, knowing he probably wasn’t the best person to ask my next question. Then again, it’s not like I could ask Leo. “But if I did love him, what should I do?”

“Fight for him.” Robby peeled my hands away from my face and then tilted my chin up toward him, forcing me to look him in the eyes. “Leo is yours. He's your best friend, not Clara's. And maybe Leo's had a crush on her his whole life, but that doesn't mean things can't change. You know him better than anyone and I know you have a place in his heart too. It's not too late, Maggie. Believe me, I know all about regrets and you can't let this moment pass without fighting for what you want. If you decide to go after Leo, I can't promise that everything will work out and you'll get your happy ending. But maybe you will. So, ask yourself...is Leo worth the risk?”

I swallowed hard. As Robby’s words sunk in, I knew what I had to do—I needed to fight for Leo. And I was going to have to make him mine before things went any further between him and Clara. Because the answer to Robby’s question was clear—Leo was worth the risk.

CHAPTER 14

CLARA

Darkness hugged every corner of Steph's tiny room. The only light that could be seen came from the red glow of her alarm clock, and I swear the damn thing was mocking me. I had an early flight to catch and needed to catch some serious zzz’s, but time just kept slipping away and with it, all opportunities to get a decent night's rest.