AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He follows and lingers by the entrance to the room, still seeming dazed.
“It’s okay, Easton. We’ll figure it out.” Maybe. I walk to the breakfast room. “I’ll get an Uber home.” I get my purse from the table.
When I turn, Easton is behind me, blocking my path. “No.”
“No, what?”
“No. I can’t let you go. I don’t want to. I don’t want to be with anyone else. I want to be with you.” He cups my cheeks.
“No, you don’t.” He doesn’t know what he’s saying.
“I do. I want to be who you want, and I need you to give me that chance.”
More tears spring to my eyes. It’s what I wanted to hear from him, but I can’t.
“I’m sorry. It’s too risky. After everything I’ve been through, I can’t get hurt anymore. Not right now. Not for a while. I need to play it safe. My heart can only take so much, and it’s overloaded. As much as I want to try this with you, I just can’t. You could change your mind or get bored, and I’d be…I’d be—” My voice catches. “Please understand.” I slip away from his hands and run to the door, praying he doesn’t follow me.
The elevator is private to the penthouse and arrives quickly. I get in and watch the doors close. Easton doesn’t try to stop me. Even though I’m thankful he doesn’t, not seeing him come after me hurts. Knowing I hurt him with my rejection kills me. For him to offer to try to be what I want is huge, and I ran away. I’m such a mess. I cover my face and cry in my hands.
Chapter 27
Easton
A day has passed since Sadie left. I’m still at Daire’s penthouse. I spied on her condo last night to make sure she was okay. The guard at her complex loves me or else it wouldn’t have been possible. He thought I was picking something up from her. I doubt he would’ve agreed to spying.
The lights were on in her condo, and I watched her shadow pass behind the sheers of her window. I wanted to beat on the door until she let me in. She felt so far from my reach, even though she was only one floor away from where I stood in the courtyard. Thankfully, none of her neighbors came out or noticed me staring.
Now I’m on the phone with Daire in the kitchen of his penthouse. All I wanted to know was if Everleigh had talked to Sadie and if she was okay. Instead, after an hour of being questioned, I’m spilling my guts in a way I never thought I would.
“I told her I wanted to try to be who she wants, and she left.” I finish the story, surprised at how tight my chest gets when I recall how small she seemed as she ran away.
She was destroyed, heartbroken by what her half-sister had said, and I dumped the news about Dash on her lap, then expected her to fall into my open arms. Mr. Unreliable. Mr. Never-Had-A-Long-Term-Relationship-Never-Wanted-To. Never gave the impression I wanted one with her.
In my defense, I didn’t know I did. It hit me in that moment. Seeing her so broken and devastated triggered something inside me. The whole exchange did, with her half-sister and how she stood up to her. How hard I knew it was for her. Dash’s betrayal had been tough to deliver but not as difficult as it was for Sadie to hear. She’d trusted him.
I hated the pain I saw in her eyes. I hated that people had hurt her. I wanted to kill them all. More than that, I wanted to take her in my arms and never let go. No one has ever made me feel that way. I didn’t know it was possible. I didn’t care about myself or my desires. I wanted Sadie to have the world and I wanted to be the one to give it to her.
“How do I fix this, Daire?”
Everleigh’s soft voice sounds in the background. I’m on the phone with Daire, but it’s like I’m on with Everleigh, too.
“It’s okay if she’s mad at me,” I say. “You, too. I expect nothing less.”
They said they weren’t, but how can they not be? Everleigh loves Sadie, and I’ve made things worse for her.
“If you’d have used her, we’d be upset. But it’s clear you love her.”
He’s been saying that ever since I gave him a sugarcoated version of my secret relationship with Sadie. My initial response was to lie to him until I found out Everleigh had talked to Sadie, and she’d told her enough to validate what Everleigh and Daire had already guessed. That we were hooking up. Daire said that for me to be with Sadie intimately, I would have had to have fallen for her. In fact, he had the nerve to say I had fallen for her a long time ago, but I was too hardheaded to see it.
Nice older brother. Yet here I am asking for his advice.
“Can you admit you love her?” Daire asks. “That’s the first step.”
“I’ll admit it to her if I get the chance.” I’m still working that word out for myself. Love. It seems so mature and certain. Two things I’ve never been.
As if Daire knows my thoughts, he says, “You’re not the irresponsible man you were a year ago. You’ve proven that you are capable of dedication and true compassion. That is huge progress. I don’t think you see it fully. I’m beyond proud of the work you’ve done and who you’ve become. You are capable of so much more than you realize. Sadie would be lucky to have you and you to have her. You’re different with her. I’ve noticed it for a while—Hey!”
“Easton,” Everleigh says, clearly having taken the phone from Daire. “I’ve never seen Sadie trust anyone the way she does you. You’re not the only one who’s grown. She’s come a long way, too. Before, she wouldn’t have opened herself to you at all. You remember how she shut you down when you first met? That was her protecting herself. It’s what she does. Dash was safe or so she’d thought, but she never had any passion for him. The way you two look at each other is like a fire erupting in the room. The way you both help each other and want what’s best for each other shows how deeply you care. And you do, Easton. I wouldn’t be okay with this if I didn’t believe it with my heart. You are more than capable of being the man she wants and needs. I know it.”
