Crazy for Love by Victoria Dahl

whispered.
    â€œThey screwed up the hem, and you got overwhelmed. You weren’t a bitch.”
    She took a deep breath, but the lump in her throat didn’t budge. “I must’ve been. I must’ve been a bitchto Thomas. I must’ve been an obsessed, type A ice queen with a scary attitude, or none of this makes any sense.”
    Jenn’s arms wrapped around her waist and she snuggled her head into Chloe’s shoulder. “That’s not true. You’re sweet and kind. And maybe a little bit type A, but just a little. Don’t cry.”
    But she was already crying. “My life was so normal.”
    â€œI know.”
    â€œWhat did I do?”
    â€œAw, Chloe, you didn’t do anything wrong. It was Thomas! He… He must have gotten cold feet.”
    â€œWhen men get cold feet, they don’t jump out of a plane and hide out at a beach resort in Florida! I don’t know what I did!”
    Jenn made soothing noises and rubbed her back until Chloe stopped sniffling. “Thomas was a mama’s boy. You knew that. He didn’t know how to stand up to his mom, and apparently he didn’t know how to stand up to you, either.”
    â€œBut I don’t even know why he wanted out.”
    â€œDoes it matter?”
    Did it? Chloe took the tissue Jenn offered and wiped her tears. He’d wanted out. Badly enough to chew off his own foot to escape the trap. How was she supposed to excavate a logical, thoughtful reasonfrom a mess like that? “Maybe it doesn’t matter. I’m sorry I get so weepy.”
    â€œI’m sorry about your cousin.”
    â€œIt wasn’t that. I think your vacation just worked a little too well. I kind of forgot all that craziness for a while. I let my guard down and it snuck up on me when I talked to my mom about Tiffany. And…and I’m kind of freaked out that I’ve been able to forget Thomas so easily. When I was making out with Max… How could I enjoy that so much if I was in love with Thomas just a month ago?”
    â€œYou don’t have to feel bad about that. You don’t owe him anything after what he did!”
    Chloe crumpled the tissue in her hand. “No, but if I’m already getting over Thomas after a month…then we really shouldn’t have been getting married, right? Thomas was right.”
    â€œThomas wasn’t right about anything. ”
    â€œHe—”
    â€œLook, Chloe, I knew him, too. I’ve known him almost as long as you have, and I’ve spent time with him and…Thomas was nice and smart and handsome, but he was weak. And he was a liar. ”
    She took a deep breath. And then another. “Yes. He was a liar.”
    Jenn’s hand touched hers. “So if you’re moving on, I’m happy about that and you should be, too.”
    â€œOkay.”
    â€œSo tell me about making out with Max Sullivan.”
    The tears had taken something dark with them. Chloe felt lighter than she had in a long time. Maybe even months. So she smiled and told Jenn exactly what had happened on the sand. By the time she went to bed, her eyes were swollen, but her sides ached from laughter. Not a bad trade-off, really.

CHAPTER EIGHT
    T HE WAVES SLAPPED the sides of the boat as the wind pushed spray above the bow, and Max’s heart pounded. Another day on the water. Another day of making sure his brother didn’t sail into a storm or flip the boat or wreck them on the rocks.
    But this time Max’s heart wasn’t pounding with anxiety. It was pounding because Chloe Turner was lounging on one of the captain’s seats, her feet balanced against the railing as she grinned into the wind. Her red bikini glowed like a siren in the sun, alerting him to what they’d been doing the last time he’d seen it. Wow.
    â€œSlow down as you come up on these buoys,” he said to Elliott without taking his eyes off Chloe’s belly. His fingers tingled at the