childhood, and she’d told him that she and Serena had always worn secondhand clothes and how she’d vowed never to need to do that again. She said she knew that she dressed differently from everyone else and that it had as much to do with rising above her past as it did with trying to stand out, but not in an ostentatious way. She said she’d always felt plain, invisible, when she was growing up. Chloe could be dressed in rags and she’d never look plain or fade into the background, but he understood what she meant all too well.
“She’s not a fuck-the-world-for-fucking-me type of person, Vi, and she doesn’t take anything for granted. Friends are at the top of that list. She makes these incredible albums for people. Did you know that? She even makes them for some of the residents at LOCAL.”
“Yeah, she made a gorgeous wedding album for Des and Rick.”
“Well, I had no idea she was so creative or put so much of her time into doing things for others.” He paced the studio as he told Violet about the sculpture he was making and that it had been Chloe’s idea to focus on the people left behind rather than those who had been lost. He explained how Chloe had taken pictures of everyone and their hands for him to use while sculpting, and he showed her the inspiration board she’d made.
“It seems like she’s just as into you as you are into her.”
“I think she is, at least I hope so,” he said honestly. “I knew I liked her, but man, it’s so much bigger than that. She’s stayed at my place the last few nights, and last night we went to see these dogs that Dwayne and a bunch of us helped rescue from a dogfighting ring. There’s this one dog that Chloe named Shadow. We both hate to leave him, but when I see her loving him up?” He shook his head and said, “I don’t know, Vi. Everything she does gets to me.”
“Sounds like you’re in deep.”
“Yeah, and I want to get deeper. Everything is better when we’re together. We cooked dinner together last night, and even that was fun. And don’t get me started on what it’s like to wake up with her in my arms or watch her get ready for work in the morning, dressing in her fancy clothes with heels that make her legs look miles long. It takes all of my restraint not to sweep her into my arms and haul her gorgeous ass back to bed. And not just for sex. I want to hold her, to be with her, to—”
“To love her?” Violet suggested.
“Yeah,” he said, surprising himself. “I mean, I don’t know. I wouldn’t say that and send her running for the hills, but I never thought it could be like this.”
“Don’t pull that crap with me. Every time she blew you off you told me she was the one for you. Maybe you never thought it could be this good, but you definitely knew you two would be good together.”
“Whatever. I’m not a wordsmith, but you know what I mean. I literally saw her this morning, and I wish time would move faster so I could see her again.”
“Sounds like you’ve been hit with a cupid’s arrow.” Violet’s eyes filled with compassion. “That’s how it happens, Justin. Remember how it was with me and Andre? I fell so hard and fast, it scared the life out of me and I left the country. What a mistake that was. I lost two years with him. Don’t make the same mistakes I did. Don’t get scared because your feelings are so big.”
He scoffed. “I’m not scared. I want to spend more time with her, to protect her from the assholes in this world and make sure her life is nothing but incredible. My only fear is that I’m me, you know? And she’s so independent. I’m worried I’ll fuck it up. She rode with me and the guys out to Harborside on Sunday, and she enjoyed the hell out of it, but she gave me shit for telling this guy to stop checking her out.”
Violet laughed. “You got her on your bike and she gave you hell? You do realize that makes her even more awesome, right?”
Justin gave her a deadpan look. “Seriously, Vi. She basically told me not to piss on my territory to keep guys in line.”
“I get it, and as I said,