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She made eye contact as she slipped out the door. “Fine. I’m just beat. It’s been a long day.”
The door closed with a soft click, and I blew out a long breath. Collapsing onto my back again, I stared at the ceiling and wondered how to bridge the gap widening between us.
Things had been great until we‘d met back up at the diner today. So either she was spooked that I’d barely inched my toe into the water of thinking longer-term about us by asking if she might stick around after her assignment, or she was pissed at me for telling her not to dox Axel Everett.
Both possibilities made me queasy.
But she was the one who was so adamant about not hiding things between us anymore. I wished she’d tell me what the fuck the problem was so I could fix it.
There had to be a way to fix it.
But I needed to figure out what the hell it was first.
Talking out feelings wasn’t my strong suit, but I’d survived a hefty dose of it a few nights ago and the payoff was well worth it.
I made up my mind as I took off my prosthetic and got ready for bed. As soon as she was done with her shower, I was going to ask her point blank what was going on and get to the bottom of things. No excuses or procrastinating.
The minutes ticked away as I lay there playing through possible approaches in my mind for how to phrase things without putting her on the defensive. The shower turned off, and a door closed down the hall.
She was probably getting some fresh pajamas or something.
Minutes passed by.
And passed.
And passed.
She never came back.
My fingers tingled and my chest constricted.
I sat up, pulled my boxer briefs back on, grabbed my crutches from under the bed and crept out into the hallway. It was dark, and there were no sounds coming from her room. No light shining from under the door.
I rapped once and was answered by silence. Nudging the door open a crack, I found her lying on the guest room bed on her side, asleep. I watched her chest rise and fall with her slow breaths as it felt like a piece of my heart was being sliced away.
I trudged back to my room.
Alone again.
* * *
After three more days,nothing had changed. Sadie filled her hours with excuses—or at least what seemed like excuses to me—for reasons we couldn’t see one another. She came home as late as possible. She avoided me at all costs.
Except in the middle of the night. That was when she crawled into my bed, and we went at each other like our ship was going down. Then she’d pass out and be gone again in the morning before I woke.
I wanted to confront her. Figure out what had caused her sudden change in behavior toward me. But I was also terrified of her pulling away in those few intimate moments she still allowed between us.
I lay in my bed alone, staring at the ceiling as the morning light filtered in through the curtains.
She wasn’t going to be able to avoid me all day. Not today. The opening ceremony of the festival was this afternoon, part of which was my grand introduction as Valor King. Then I had to help emcee goose bingo.
She would have to attend to get pictures for her article. Plus, she’d spent so much time helping get this damn festival set up that Kobie would convince her she had to be there to see the fruits of her labor, no matter how hard she dodged me.
Tonight, I was going to catch her at the festival where she couldn’t ignore me, figure out what she was upset about, then put whatever her concerns were to rest.
I got dressed and spent the morning doing some painting at the Jackson Street house. I’d made a solid dent in my to-do list the last few days since I had a lot of time to kill. Keeping my hands busy kept some of the worry at bay.
At eleven thirty the alarm on my phone chimed, reminding me of the assignment I’d set for myself.
