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“Beer?” Sage’s voice travels from the kitchen.
“Sure!” Jackson and I yell in unison.
Sage comes out to meet us, four cans of Sweetwater 420 between her fingers in a claw-like grip. I grab the ice-cold relief from her, pop the tab, and take a huge gulp within seconds.
I’m not typically a huge beer person, but the arctic salvation leaves me worshipping the fresh, hopsy flavor on my tongue.
Each of us swallows it down—even Gen, who Ihave never seen drink beer. Then again, I haven’t drunk around her much in the past decade.
“Hey babe.” A tall, blond guy appears in the open doorway, pressing his lips to Sage’s cheek.
I don’t miss how she pulls away from his affection.
“What are you doing here?” Sage asks.
“I am heading to the gym…I figured I’d stop by and see my girl.”
Despite my efforts to not be obvious, I feel my eyes bug out of my head at his words. I didn’t realize Sage had a boyfriend.
“Not your girl…but you can stay,” she sighs, grabbing a box off the floor and handing it to him. “Put this away.”
He doesn’t even question her and I am reminded that I really don’t know much about this girl. I’ve met her a few times, mostly at events thrown by Wes and Savannah, but as for her personal life, I know next to nothing.
“Boyfriend?” I ask, hushed in tone.
“Oh God no,” Sage laughs. “I worked with him at the golf course last summer. He’s fun—but no.”
Her shrug keeps my questions at bay. I look to Jackson, who doesn’t seem remotely fazed by this.
Okay then.
A crash sounds from the kitchen, causing me and Sage to jump slightly.
“Sorry—” The random blond guy’s voice rings through the air with the sound of glass being swept up. He emerges from the kitchen with half of my teapot in one hand, the other half in shambles in the blue dustpan in his other hand.
“No…” I whine, grabbing Mrs. Pots—or what’s left of her—from his grasp.
The teapot is one of the few things my parents have gifted me that made me feel like they knew me. It was for mythirteenth birthday and I’ve treasured it since that day, bringing it to every new apartment.
“We’ll replace it.” Jackson’s voice cuts through my panic as I struggle to keep tears at bay.
Objectively, I realize it’s just a teapot, but it’s more than that and he should know that.
“Jackson…”
“I know, bug…but we’ll replace it.”
I nod, unsure of what to say other than that you can’t unbreak porcelain.
The half still intact lands in the empty trash bin, the sound of it cracking again causing me to jerk in response.
Don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t cry.
By a stroke of a miracle, I don’t.
Remind me to pat myself on the back.
Gen, Jackson, and Sage’s not-boyfriend finally leave. A chime cuts through the apartment before a whirl of caramel curls darts past me to open the front door. Sage grabs the box from the delivery driver, filling the space with a delicious fog of pepperoni and pineapple. I’m relieved that it took barely half an hour to get our order—leaving New York made me nervous.
