As if feeling my gaze, he turned to me, offering me a warm smile.
“Here,” he said, reaching into his pocket. I braced myself slightly, but relaxed when I saw it was a handkerchief he pulled from his pocket. I shook my head slightly.
“Are you all right?” he asked, his voice laced with concern.
“I-I should be going,” I stammered. “I shouldn’t be here.”
He looked confused for a moment, but as if realizing something, he put his handkerchief back in his pocket and gave a knowing nod.
“I see Jeremiah told you about me,” he said.
“Yes, he did.”
“Or maybe it was justhisside of things.” He shrugged easily, leaning back against the bench and looking out at the lake again.
I didn’t say anything and followed his gaze.
“He’s always been a good liar, that Jeremiah,” said Anderson. “It’s why we aren’t friends anymore.”
“Wh-what?” I asked, wiping the remaining tears from my cheeks.
“Jeremiah dragged me into a lot of trouble when we were younger. Stealing, lying, getting us involved with the wrongpeople. We were young and dumb, desperate to survive in the city. You do stupid things when you’re hungry and homeless.”
It sounded just like the story Jeremiah told me, except the roles were flipped. I knew I should get up and leave, knowing everything I had heard about Anderson, but he seemed so kind. So convincing.
“He told you about the street gang?” he asked, looking over at me with a weak smile.
“Yes.”
“It’s a good thing I was too afraid to go through with it. If I had, who knew where I would be. Where we would both be.”
“Youwere afraid?”
“Oh yeah,” he said with a shake of his head, as if remembering. He chuckled to himself as he settled further into the bench, draping his arm behind me. I was suddenly hyperaware of his presence, the hair on my arms standing up. “It feels like a damn lifetime ago. It was all so ridiculous.
“You know, I tried to make amends with him a few months ago,” Anderson continued.
“Really? He didn’t tell me that,” I said in surprise.
“I doubt he would. He wasn’t keen on the idea. He rejected my attempt at finding our way back to being friends again. We had history, you know?” A reminiscent look washed over Anderson’s dark eyes. “But Jeremiah…he always has tohatesomeone. There’s so much anger in him. He thrives on it.”
I hated how I found comfort in his words. How I agreed with them. Jeremiah was stuck in his past, scared of the world. Pushing everyone in it away. Stewing in his own angry memories.
“If you’re a smart girl, which I believe you are, you’ll leave him,” said Anderson, his thumb stroking my shoulder gently.
It felt wrong and comforting at the same time. My insides were torn up. If I weren’t conflicted already, Anderson’s version of events was making me question everything. Maybe Jeremiah was worse than I thought.
When I left the coffee shop, I was leaning toward working things out with him. Like we always did, so we could build the life I had imagined for us. The life I thought we both had imagined. But Anderson was planting seeds of doubt in my mind, each one slowly sprouting and spreading. It felt unfair to Jeremiah, letting a near stranger have this kind of pull on me.
“You’re a beautiful woman, Sadie,” said Anderson, his words smooth as silk as he slid his hand down my shoulder and back up in comforting strokes.
“Th-thank you,” I whispered, feeling frozen on the bench, even though part of me was screaming to run.
“You deserve someone who sees that,” he continued. “Withthatsmile. Good heart. Thatfigure.”He whistled as I felt his eyes wander over me slowly.
“You could have anyone you wanted,” he said, leaning closer, his breath warm against my cheek. “Hell, you could have the whole fucking world if you picked the right man who would love you enough to give it to you. You shouldn’t pick the one who makes you cry.”
I stiffened slightly as I realized how close we were. I could smell his cologne, every bit as sensual as he was, with every heavy inhale. My heart began pounding in my chest.
