Prologue: Anastasia
Sawyer’s shop is pristinely organized, every single tool in its place. Which makes it easy to navigate in the dark. I follow a path through the main bay toward his office. There’s a single light on inside, offering a faint glow that gets brighter the closer I get.
Heart racing, I pause just outside the cracked door.
This is silly. Sawyer Maddox is one of my best friends. So why do I feel so nervous?
Pull yourself together, Anastasia. It’s just Sawyer.
I knock on the door, then push it open. Sawyer is seated behind his desk, baseball cap on backward, a black t-shirt stretched over his muscled chest. How does he look so good even when there’s grease smeared on his cheek?
“Anastasia,” he says, eyes widening in surprise.
“So you remember my name; that’s good.” I walk in and take a seat in the worn leather chair on the other side of his desk.
The corners of his lips twitch. “Of course I remember you.” His expression turns serious. “Is everything okay?”
He’s so much colder now. Distant. Even though, technically, he’s being perfectly kind, this isn’t the Sawyer I know. The one who would do anything to see me smile. Who’d hang out at the coffee shop whenever he had a spare moment so I’d have someone to talk to when there was a lull.
I never really realized what I had until he stopped showing up. And now, I’d do anything to find out what I did to chase him away.
“Everything’s fine. I just dropped Thomas off at Weston’s and thought I’d check in and make sure you’re okay.”
“I’m fine.” He glances back down at the papers he was looking at when I came in, resuming his work like I’m not there. My chest aches, a pain blooming at his clear dismissal. What did I do?
“Are we okay?” I ask hesitantly. I’ve never been afraid of confrontation, but this time? I think I’m afraid of his answer.
“We’re fine, Anastasia. I’m just busy. You’ve got Jack and the shop; you know how it goes.”
His words say one thing, but his expression tells an entirely different story.
“Yeah, I guess so. You’re okay, though?” Ever since he was released from the hospital, Sawyer’s been in his own world. He’s even missed dinner at my mom’s a couple of times over the past few weeks, which is completely unusual.
“Of course.” He flashes me a smile, but it’s not his. Sawyer’s smile always made his caramel eyes light up. But this one is plastered on his face like he’s being forced to keep it there. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
My heart falls. “Not sure. Just figured I’d ask.”
He goes back to his papers once more, so I stand. “Well, I guess I’ll get going then.”
“Okay. It was good to see you. Thanks for stopping in.” He offers me another smile, so I push out of the room, my heart sinking with each step between us.
Thanks for stopping in.
There was a time I thought Sawyer might be the one. As cheesy as that sounds. But then, as time passed and he never acted on what I thought was between us, I moved on. I had to, right? I couldn’t wait around forever.
We’d definitely had a spark.
A connection.
But then I started dating Jack, and we’d maintained our friendship. Which only solidified that’s all it would ever be. After all, if he truly felt for me what I thought I felt for him, he’d have said something, right?
Then he’d gone missing.
Those hours when I thought I’d lost Sawyer were the worst in my life. I’d been devastated by the loss. Desperate to get him back. And then I did. Except—this isn’t him. Not the man I lost.
Not the funny, kind, adoring Sawyer Maddox who stole my heart in the first five minutes of meeting.
Anger pushes past the hurt, and I whirl on him. “No.”
