It took even less time for me to come for my men. In that moment, I felt like I could claim them, too. It wasn’t permanent, or maybe even real, but it felt too good to not do it, even in my head.
40
Sawyer
Winnie’svoicebrokethroughmy sleep, and I wrapped my arm around her and tugged her into me. My nights alone with her were my favorite moments, and I wasn’t ready to wake up and sneak back out before Birdie woke up. I nuzzled my mouth into her hair and breathed her in deeply. She smelled so good, even after a night of sex and sleep.
“Sawyer, hey. Your phone’s ringing.” She twisted around to face me and gently shook my shoulder.
I finally processed what she said and sat straight up, fumbling for my phone. There had been a time when a call in the middle of the night didn’t send me straight into panic mode, but being a father changed all that. “Hello?”
Stacey’s voice filled my head, and the worry in her voice didn’t settle my nerves at all. “I think I need to bring Silas over. He’s running a fever and throwing up. I’m sure it’s nothing, but he’s not himself.”
I stood up and searched through the dark to find my pants. Winnie was there, handing them to me and putting a calming hand on my arm. I looked down at her and pulled her into my chest. “Sure. I’m not home, though.”
“Where are you?”
I grimaced at the anger I could already hear in her voice. “My girlfriend’s. Her house is closer to you, anyway. I’ll text you the address.”
Winnie was still and silent against my chest when I hung up.
I sent a text with her address to Stacey and then bent down so I was eye-to-eye with Winnie. “I’m sorry to just bring her into your home. Silas is sick. I can have her wait outside.”
Shaking her head, Winnie bit her lip and forced her lips into a smile. “It’s okay. Silas needs you.”
“Don’t fake being okay with me, Win. I know this is weird.” I kissed her hard and hurried to pull my shirt over her head. “You can be angry, you know?”
Grabbing a robe from the back of her bathroom door, she shook her head. “I’m not angry. I’m nervous to meet your ex-wife in the middle of the night. I’m nervous because you called me your girlfriend, and I don’t know if that’s what I am, or if it was just easier than saying… screw buddy.”
My chest ached at the vulnerability I could feel radiating off her. I’d been with Stacey for so long that I had been expecting anger; everything pissed Stacey off. Winnie was so different. She got angry, I knew, but she was so kind in how she carried herself. She exposed her emotions in these gut-wrenching moments that at times showed more than she knew she was showing. It was beautiful to watch her.
“Do you have a problem with being my girlfriend?”
Her eyes ran down my bare chest and settled on my pants, which sat low on my hips. “You need a shirt.”
“Winnie.”
She sighed and turned to find one of the ponytail holders that littered every surface of her bedroom. “No, Sawyer. I don’t have a problem with it.”
I walked up behind her and wrapped her in a hug. “Good.”
She melted into my chest and ran her fingers over my arms. “Is she nice? Your ex-wife, I mean?”
I turned her around and kissed her again before grabbing another shirt from my overnight bag. “Um. ‘Nice’ isn’t exactly the word I’d use to describe her.”
“Oh, good.”
We both moved towards the front door, waiting for Silas. “She wasn’t always the way she is now. She married me thinking the family name was going to come with more prestige. Her parents and grandparents were high ups at some preparatory school, and she wanted to be like them, but the school shut down. I think years of working jobs that she and her family thought were beneath them made her bitter. I guess when everything disappoints you, you turn mean.”
Winnie gripped my arm and stared up at me with wide eyes. “This is so embarrassing. What’s your last name, Sawyer?”
I grinned when I realized I’d just claimed her as my girlfriend and she didn’t know that she was living in the town my family founded. “Stand.”
Winnie went white just as I heard a car door shut outside. Looking at the door, she started backing away. “I should go make sure Birdie doesn’t wake up.”
I walked towards the door, keeping her in my sights. “Stay, Win. I don’t know what just happened to you, but we’re going to talk about it.”
Stacey stood on the other side of the door, dressed up and wearing makeup, but I only glanced at her before focusing on Silas and pulling him inside. He was hot to the touch and turned green almost immediately.