“But it’s a Wednesday, and you have work,” I remind her. “Winnie has tutoring.”
“I can take it off. The other tutors can cover,” Winnie replies as she grabs the butter out of the fridge. “I am not passing up a massage and a pedicure. Or time with you.”
“Really? Why?”
“Because my toes are in desperate need of attention. And who passes up a massage?” she counters as she pulls the two cast-iron skillets with the delicious egg dishes out of the oven and puts them down on the stovetop.
“I mean, why do you want time with me? I see you every single day.” My mouth waters as the heavenly scent of her shakshuka fills the room. My willpower is gone. I’m not going to bed without some of that in my belly.
She shrugs. “I know, but we desperately need a mimosa, massage, pedicure, and shopping day. Like how we used to be.”
“Don’t question it, Sadie. It’s a good idea,” my dad advises.
I walk into the dining room and drop down into a chair after nuzzling Declan’s cheek and giving him a kiss that makes him grin. He’s just like his daddy: he loves female attention. I smile and actually feel myself start to loosen up a bit; the tension I’ve been carrying like a backpack starts to get lighter. I roll my shoulders.
“We can be normal,” Winnie tells me way too enthusiastically, and she carries in one of the cast-iron pans and puts it down on a trivet. “You don’t have to worry about us.”
“Why would you say that?” Every fiber of my being is tingling. Something happened. I look around the table, and everyone is looking at anything but me.
“Jude…” I say.
“It’s been too long since we have had this amazing meal. We shouldn’t let it get cold,” Jude says.
“Jude Jackass Braddock.”
“Sadie!” my mom warns.
Jude sighs. Dixie jumps in. “So your boyfriend might have mentioned to Elijah that we need to take it easy on you for a while.”
“Yeah, he basically said that we’re leaning on you like a wall and you’re starting to crumble,” Jude adds, and my anger surges so fast I feel light-headed.
“I don’t have a boyfriend.” My voice is shaking so hard that it makes Zoey’s face constrict with concern.
“You prefer the term ‘lover’?” Winnie asks and scrunches up her nose.
“Or boy toy?” Eli jokes.
“Man toy,” Dixie corrects.
“Senior citizen toy,” Jude adds.
“I’m not seeing him anymore,” I bark back, and the whole table falls silent instantly. “And he had no right talking to any of you about anything. I’m fine. I don’t need you all to act like pod people. It’s a hard thing we’re dealing with.”
I look at my dad. He’s looking back at me with such sympathy in his eyes, it makes me shake. He’s dying right in front of us, every second of the day, and he’s got sympathy for me. That’s the last thing I wanted. Ever. I stand up.
“Wait a minute…” Jude’s eyes cloud with concern. “Why did you break up with him? What did he do?”
Oh, great. Now my brother wants to punch him. “He didn’t do anything. I ended it. He’s dealing with some stuff and I’m dealing with stuff, and I can’t do it. I just can’t. I knew I couldn’t. I told you I couldn’t and I can’t.”
I am shaking, from my toes all the way up, like my body is suffering its own personal earthquake. My mom stands up, her hazel eyes wide with fear. “Sadie, sweetheart, come here.”
“No, Mom, I need…to sleep.” I step away from the table. Every single one of them stands up too. As I walk away from the table, through the kitchen, Jude, Winnie, and Dixie all start to follow.
“Give her space,” I hear my dad command as I reach the hall and grab my purse off the floor by the door, where I dropped it when I came in. “Let her go.”
I don’t turn around, but I’m not surprised when the stampede of footsteps behind me stops. I march all the way down the hall to my room and then close and lock the door before falling facefirst into my bed. How dare Griffin do that! We can’t be together. He agreed—easily. So why the hell is he still inserting himself into my life? Why is he looking out for me? How am I supposed to stop myself from falling in love with him if he keeps doing this?
I storm into my bathroom, grab the melatonin out of the medicine cabinet, and take two because I know without it, even after a grueling twelve-hour shift, I won’t sleep now, and all I want to do is be unconscious so I can’t think about any of this.
