Not because I think fake dating is ideal. Not because I think headlines are healthy. But because I have eyes.
I’ve seen Jillie relax over the past few days. Laugh easier. Stop checking Sadie’s face constantly like she’s monitoring adult moods for danger.
And maybe that says something terrible about how lonely both were before this.
Sadie steps closer to Jillie. “We’re leaving.”
Darren looks at her for a long moment.
Then: “You’re getting attached to somebody temporary.”
The sentence lands directly where he intended. I feel Sadie tense instantly beside me, and suddenly I understand something important about Darren Hale.
He doesn’t need to yell to hurt people either.
Interesting.
I take one slow breath before answering. “Goodnight, Darren.”
My voice stays completely level. That seems to unsettle him more than anger would have.
Because there’s nothing to fight against.
No dramatic scene.
No macho posturing.
No competition.
Just a very clear refusal to let him keep upsetting them.
After a long few seconds, he scoffs and steps backward toward his SUV. Vanessa watches the entire thing silently from the passenger side, her expression unreadable.
Then Darren leaves.
The second his taillights disappear, Sadie exhales shakily beside me.
Jillie leans against her leg quietly. Nobody speaks for a moment. Snow keeps falling.
The school doors swing open behind us as another wave of families exits into the parking lot.
Life continuing. Normal. Except nothing about the way Sadie looks at me right now feels normal.
“You didn’t escalate,” she says softly.
I blink once. “Was I supposed to?”
“Most men would’ve.”
I glance toward the road where Darren disappeared. “Most men aren’t thinking about whether a six-year-old can hear them.”
Something changes in Sadie’s face again. That vulnerable look, the one she tries to hide immediately after it appears.
“Thank you,” she says quietly. And for some reason, that affects me more than it should.
I could drive separately, but neither of us even suggests it. I leave my car parked beside the school gym and climb into Sadie’s, somehow unwilling to break whatever fragile warmth settled between us tonight.
Something changes in Sadie’s face again...
