And I didn’t have time to figure it out right now.
In less than forty-eight hours, I’d be on a plane to Austin for the most important meet of my career, one that could determine my chances to swim for Team USA or hang up my cap for good. I couldn’t afford distractions.
I glanced at the laptop again before shutting it completely and setting it aside. Maybe it was best to give bothReadToLivand Livvi a little space—just until I had my head straight.
Because if I was right, if they really were the same person … I wasn’t sure what that meant.
For me. For her. For us.
CHAPTER 18
LIVVI
It had been two days since I’d heard from either Talon orTheWriteGuy.
Two days.
Which, okay, wasn’t that long in the grand scheme of things. But considering I’d been in Talon’s apartment just forty-eight hours ago, laughing with him about turning a fish into a life coach, the silence felt … loud.
And then there wasTheWriteGuy. Normally, he popped into my inbox once a day, even if it was just a meme or a short “How’s your day going?” But now, nothing. It was like they’d both fallen off the face of the planet at the exact same time, and the pit forming in my stomach was starting to feel a little dramatic.
I kept telling myself Talon was busy. He had the Pro Swim Classic in Austin, and from what little I knew about professional swimmers, competitions like this took over their whole schedule. But still, a single text didn’t seem like too much to ask.
When my phone finally buzzed, I grabbed it so fast, I almost dropped it.
Talon
Hey, can you feed Sharkira while I’m gone?
Not exactly the text I’d been hoping for, but at least it was something.
Livvi
Yeah, of course. When are you back?
Talon
Not for another week. Thanks.
And just like that, the conversation was over.
I sighed, shoving my phone back into my pocket. Fine. I’d feed the fish. And try not to overanalyze the fact that Talon hadn’t said anything else.
By the time lunch rolled around, though, I was still overanalyzing. I sat on a bench outside of my office building, balancing a sandwich on my lap as I opened my phone and hit record for a video message to Cali.
“Okay,” I said, trying to keep my voice casual, “so I haven’t heard from Talon since Tuesday night. Which … probably doesn’t mean anything, right? He’s probably just busy getting ready for the swim meet in Austin. But it’s weird because it’s like one day we’re talking about naming our fish and then the next—radio silence.”
I hesitated, chewing my lip. “I don’t know. Did I say something wrong? Or maybe he just needed spacebefore the meet. Which, okay, fair, but it kind of feels like I got ghosted. And by two people at once, which should not be possible. Did I mention thatTheWriteGuyhas disappeared too?”
I blew out a breath and ended the recording before I could start rambling about how much I missed talking to both of them.
I finished my lunch and reluctantly went back to work, knowing it was going to be almost impossible to focus on work and not on how the two guys who had once been so interested in me were both suddenly not.
That night, as I was getting ready for bed, my phone buzzed with a notification. Cali’s face filled my screen as her video reply played.
“First of all,” she said, looking entirely too smug, “stop spiraling. You didn’t do anything wrong. He’s probably just focused on swimming because, you know, that’s literally his whole life right now. Plus, weren’t you telling me that this was his big moment? Like his last chance? He’s probably just zoned in right now.”
She leaned closer to the camera, her expression softening. “And secondly, Liv, maybe him taking a beat isn’t a bad thing. You’ve been talking to him a lot lately. A little space might help you figure out what you actually want from him. And, you know, whether you want to keep getting heart eyes every time he says your name.” She dramatically batted her eyelashes.