Every free moment I had was spent sitting in the hallway outside her door. I had an endless list of things I could’ve been working on. My project had taken a back seat, because Sadie was more important.
Through the door, I’d hear her soft sobbing, the creak of floorboards when she walked to the bathroom, and the low hum of somber music bleeding through the walls.
I knew she liked Lane—it was painfully clear when I would see her smiling up at him with a sparkle in her eyes. I guess I just didn’t want him to mean that much to her. Because if he didn’t…maybe there was a chance she could still wantme.
All I want is for her to be happy.
Onthethirdday,she finally opens the door. I’m sitting on the floor with my back against the wall, pretending to read a book, when I hear her soft footsteps. I assume she’s just going to take her third shower of the day, but then the door slowly creaks open.
Cooling my features, I try to look casual—like I’m not sitting outside her bedroom door like a stalker. I intentionally hesitate before glancing up at her.
God, she’s so beautiful.
Her long, wavy blonde hair is still a little damp from her shower earlier. She’s wearing black leggings and her usual oversized T-shirt. It’s such a simple outfit; it shouldn’t affect me the way it does. But nothing about her is simple.
“Oh. Hey,” she says softly, frozen in the threshold. Her hand grips the glass doorknob so tightly the tips of her fingers blanch.
“Hey, Sades,” I say, giving her a small smile.
She scans the hallway slowly before looking back at me. “Uh…What are you doing?”
I smirk down at the book lying open in my lap. “What does it look like I’m doing?”
She releases her grip on the knob, leaning into the frame and crossing her arms over her chest. “Looks like you’re waiting outside my bedroom door…pretending to read.”
Shit.
“Pretending? You wound me.” I press my hand over my chest as if she’d shot an arrow straight through my heart.
In a way, she has.
She arches an eyebrow at me, not buying it. So I take the bait.
“Alright, you caught me. Iwasreading…before you came out here and interrupted me.”I wasn’t.
She scoffs. “Iinterruptedyou?”
“Yup.”
Neither one of us says anything, and a full minute passes us by. I’m about to ask if she’s okay when the front door slams shut and booted footsteps thump up the stairs.
Emmett freezes at the top of the steps, his gaze flicking between me sitting on the ground and Sadie standing in the open doorway.
“Hey. I was actually coming to ask if you’d want to tag along on a sunset trail ride.”
She quickly glances down at me before answering. “Oh…um, no. Sorry, I don’t think I’m really up for it tonight. Thanks for asking, though.”
His smile dims but I don’t think she notices it. He tips his hat to us before pivoting and trotting back down the stairs and out the front door, letting it slam shut behind him again.
“Emmett!”Dad barks from downstairs.
“Yeah, Iknow.Sorry!” Emmett’s yell is muffled from outside.
A beat of silence passes between us again and I slam my book shut. “What about a drive?”
She blinks. “What?”
“Would you…be up for going on a drive? With me?”
