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“Hey,” he said, sounding tired even from the other end of the line. Despite not being on speaker phone, it was loud enough for Sawyer to hear, sitting so close. He kept quiet and still beside Josie.
“Hey,” she said. “Sorry I didn’t see your texts. Is everything okay?” She leaned back into Sawyer’s arm slung around her, seeking his warmth and reassurance, and he silently kissed her on top of the head.
“Uh, it’s fine. No one’s hurt or anything…”
“You sound mad.”
There was a beat of silence after that, and Josie took that as confirmation. She heard Luke let out a deep breath on the other end of the line.
“Have you seen Sawyer?” he asked.
Josie froze and so did Sawyer.
“No…” she said, swallowing her guilt as Sawyer’s arm wrapped around her protectively. But if there was a time to let Luke know about whatever thisthingwas that she and Sawyer had going on, now wasn’t it.
“Haven’t seen him all day. But I’m sure he’s fine,” she said.
Luke scoffed. “Yeah, I don’t really care if he’s fine, to be honest.”
Josie and Sawyer locked eyes and now he started looking concerned as well. She’d thought that the brothers had been getting along so well… What had gotten Luke all twisted up like this again.
“Are you okay?” she asked again, starting to get worried all over again. “Luke.”
“I’m fine, but if you see Sawyer around, can you tell him to check his phone for once, please?”
“Yeah, sure.”
They hung up without a goodbye, and Sawyer, having faintly heard the other end of the conversation, dug in his pocket to pull out his phone, which had been turned on silent the whole day.
“Aw man.” He sighed, turning the screen to Josie so that she could see the literal dozens of missed calls and messages from Luke. Josie swallowed down the lump of panic in her throat.
“He’d say if someone had died, right?” she said, only half joking as Sawyer stood up from the cramped sofa with impressive grace.
“He would,” he reassured her, bending down and kissing her on top of her head, which seemed to be one of his favorite spots.“I’m sure it’s nothing. We both know he can be a little dramatic sometimes.”
Josie stood and wrapped her arms around Sawyer, not wanting him to go.
“Yeah,” she said. “Panic first, ask questions later?”
“Correct.” Sawyer chuckled, and Josie savored the rumble that she could feel move through his body. Then he was kissing her again, on the lips this time, before talking softly into her ear.
“I should go, though,” he said, sounding as reluctant as she felt. “Make sure that everything’s all right and calm him down. I doubt a phone call or a text is going to cut it right now.”
“Yeah…”
Josie let him go, watching him walk out the door and leaving the house feeling barren and empty without his presence, like the temperature had dropped twenty degrees. She sat back on the sofa, figuring she’d find a book to read or something, but she was no longer able to relax. She couldn’t settle, the sofa not as comfortable without Sawyer on it beside her. Her thoughts wandered away on tangents without her permission.
If something really was wrong, likebadlywrong and not just Luke’s idea of a catastrophe, which had had many definitions over the years, then he would have said it over the phone. So, if he was going to be cryptic and weird, she was determined not to stress about it.
But also… her thing with Sawyer, which was far more than just athing, was starting to worry at the edges of her mind. She felt so safe around him. So warm. Happy. She was happy in a way that she hadn’t ever been before and it was terrifying and wonderful.She didn’t want him to leave because everything suddenly felt empty without him there, towering over everything. But if it was so good, should she really be hiding it? If this were a good idea, the two of them being so entwined and getting more tangled up by the day, everyone around them should be happy about it… right?
CHAPTER 13
SAWYER
Sawyer pulled up to the house as dusk settled over the ranch, wishing he was back on Josie’s couch with her snuggled into his side. Before he’d left, he’d texted Luke saying he was coming back and that he was sorry he’d had his phone on silent and hadn’t gotten a response. So Sawyer sat in his car for a minute, watching the warm yellow lights of the house get brighter as night fell, wondering what had gotten under Luke’s skin so bad that he’d tried to contact him a billion times and then promptly ignored him. Wishing he could just turn around and go back to Josie’s, sleep on her floor if he had to, Sawyer forced himself out of the car, up the front steps and into the house.
There was the clatter of dishes and cutlery coming from the kitchen, all of the telltale sounds of washing up being completed. Sawyer kicked off his boots as he closed the door.
