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“You know Stinton’s never leaving.” Nothing against the guy, but he was the type who ate the same breakfast every morning, wore the same clothes every day with little variation. Once he found a good thing, he stuck with it.
“Stinton has a serious girlfriend now.”
“Get out.” I picked up the remote and muted the T.V.
“He does. We’re talking ring-shopping level of serious. They talk on the phone all night. I have to be careful rounding corners because I catch them making out.” Denver shifted until we were shoulder to shoulder. It made sense. We were keeping our voices down.
Even after clubbing, Denver smelled nice, and he was warm. The T-shirt he was wearing was soft. It wasn’t fair that he could look picture-perfect at a club in a thin T-shirt and jeans, while I had to wear a dress to blend in.
“After Stinton moves out, I’m thinking of renovating the whole house.” Denver turned his body towards me. He picked up my hand and laced it with his. It would have seemed audacious even a day ago, but he’d been holding my hand all night. Right now, it felt… natural. Like the way one might pick up a pebble and turn it over. Friends could hold hands in the dark, right?
“I shouldn’t ask, but how can you afford that?”
Denver stared me down. “I can afford it.”
I waited, which made him laugh.
“Sadie, what do you want me to say? That I’m rich?”
“Are you rich?”
“I mean, not never-work-again rich, but I’ve been dabbling in stocks since my teens. My uncle helped me. And then I bought land I knew would be sought-after a few years later. Like on corners where I knew there’d be a Circle K and a Walmart once the housing developments went in. I made them pay me a lot for it.” He said it without any hint of ego or pride, almost like he was embarrassed by his success. It was baffling to me. I didn’t think Denver had any secrets. He’d always been an open book.
“Why aren’t you still doing that?”
“Markets go up and down. It’s not something I can count on all the time. Plus, I still need health insurance and something to do every day. The only problem is, I’m not really built for sitting behind a desk.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
Denver rested his head back. “Sometimes it is. I like to have places to go, things to do, and people to talk to, or I get bored.”
Boy, did I know that. He flitted from one relationship to the next because being alone wasn’t his thing. It was why I was glad we were only friends. We’d be incompatible as anything else. I never dated, and Denver couldn’t seem to stop.
Although he wasn’t dating anyone now. But that was probably because of GoWithFriends. The BFF thing wouldn’t work if he had a clingy girlfriend demanding his time. Was that why he’d turned down a second chance with Makayla?
Chapter 24 – Denver
Who would have guessed I’d get introspective with Sadie of all people? Thanks to Julian, all my previous relationships were running through my mind like swipe after swipe on a TikTok feed, and they all felt shallow in comparison. Not that Sadie and I were dating. But pretending had sort of blurred the lines, especially tonight. I wouldn’t go so far as to say I trusted her, but I felt connected to her. Which made me want to test it a little. To push some buttons and see if they lit up the way I thought they would. Sharing things about ourselves had to go both ways.
I bumped our joined hands on my knee. “Tell me about Kellen. What was that all about?”
She was silent for a long time, before giving me the same vague answer. “He’s a guy friend from high school.”
“And,” I prompted.
“And an idiot. He was just following the crowd. Forget about him.”
Of course. Why had I expected something different from her? My disappointment irritated me, and I was about to reach over and unmute the TV, when Sadie squirmed next to me and sighed. “What I mean is, Kellen was just there. He didn’t stand up for me, but he’s not the one who… Okay, here goes. I was best friends with a guy named Chris. All through high school. I related better to guys, and I went all in on hanging out with just him and his friends.”
“All in?” All in was pushing your chips to the middle on the off chance you might win. I already hated where this was going.
“Yeah. We were a tight group, or at least, I thought we were. That was why I kept my crush on Chris a secret.” Sadie frowned. “I had it bad. Like, every Taylor Swift song cliché. That was me. Chris could do no wrong. He intimidated other guys that showed interest in me, and I thought that was a sign that he secretly felt the same way I did. Nope, that was just a big red flag I ignored because I was so in love with him. I thought no one knew about my crush on him. But I later learned it was an inside joke they kept me out of, Kellen included.”
“I wish you would have told me sooner. I would have—”
“You would have what?” Sadie asked, cutting me off. “Gotten in a fight with Kellen? Made him leave? It was better for you not to know. I made my peace with him tonight. Sort of. Like, what is the point of dwelling on something when everyone else has moved on? Chris is married now with kids. He’s someone else’s problem. I really hope he’s not still a bully.” She absently picked at the edge of my T-shirt sleeve with her free hand, and a tendril of affection for her wrapped its way around my heart. This woman. She was going to be the death of me. And she didn’t even know it.
“I haven’t even told you the worst part.”
