“Yep,” Liam said. “Let's spend time together while we’re there. It will probably help to have this conversation away from Lake Conrad and the bubble we’ve created for ourselves—we can strategize.”
Sadie couldn’t agree more. They didn’t go out much in Lake Conrad, just skiing and quick stops into restaurants. They’d mostly stayed huddled up and hiding in Sadie’s apartment, which had been fine—more than fine, actually. But it would be exciting to go out more openly and not be worried about running into Elaine or, god forbid, one of the school board members.
“That sounds wonderful.” Sadie breathed the words out with a wistful sigh. “But you’ll have to pick me up from my parents’ house like we’re in high school or something.”
She laughed loudly at her own joke, looking up to see that his eyes weren’t laughing but serious as he looked down at her like he had something he wanted to say. He opened up his mouth before closing it tightly, his eyes quickly taking on their usual soothing calm.
He took a deep breath before reaching down and setting his hand on her cheek. Although he was calm, he was unsmiling—only the ever-present chin dimple on display—and Sadie felt that familiar urge to poke him, to try to make him laugh.
“Always so serious, Mister Principal,” she whispered as she reached up a bit to kiss him lightly on the lips gently tugging on his lower lip with her teeth.
He returned her kiss and smirked down at her as she pulled away. “Lucky for me, you like it,” he said roughly, his eyes darting to her open classroom windows.
Glancing down at her again quickly, he pulled her a few steps into a darkened corner of her classroom, his lips taking hers as he kissed her senseless.
You bet I like this,Sadie thought.How could I not?
8
Liam
“Areyousureyouwant to do this?” Liam asked Sadie as they stepped out of the car and onto The Blue Sky’s snow-packed parking lot.
It was the Friday before winter break—the play was tomorrow—and both Sadie and Liam were headed to Sacramento on Sunday. Liam had been looking forward to a night lounging on Sadie’s big white couch, watching her crappy TV show.
But she had other plans. When he’d arrived at her apartment after work, she was jumping up and down with excitement that Annie had invited them to get drinks with her and her friends at The Blue Sky.
Seeing her so excited to go, Liam reluctantly agreed they should join them, but as it was, he was barely out of the car and already wondering when they could leave.
“Of course I want to do this,” answered Sadie, her eyes bright and hopeful, an excited smile stretching her cheeks. “Everyone was really great at Thanksgiving. I think they’re getting over it now.”
Liam smiled at her reassuringly as he thanked their Uber driver. But as he closed the car door and they both started walking carefully over the icy parking lot, Liam remembered Jake’s warning from Thanksgiving.
When she’d told him what had gone down between her and Jake, she’d been very remorseful about her behavior, painting herself as a villainess in Jake and Lena’s pure love story. Liam, however, wasn’t so sure that was the case.
From his perspective, Jake had led her on so much that she didn’t know what was right or wrong anymore. Had she lashed out and said things that she regretted? Of course. But wasn’t everyone guilty of that at one time or another? And she’d been a good friend to Annie, and nothing but warm and polite to the rest of them. What else did she have to do before they would fucking get over it?
He felt the same irritation and indignation overwhelm him that he had every time he thought of the situation. He’d told Sadie he thought it was ridiculous when she’d described the details to him a couple weeks ago, but she’d waved him off, insisting that she was completely in the wrong.
Pushing aside his ire, he watched her make her way through the final steps of the snowy parking lot. When she reached forward and pulled open the heavy doors to The Blue Sky, Liam couldn’t help but admire her long, slim legs wrapped in tight black leggings, and her long, straight blond hair trailing down her back. Her cheeks were a bit rosy from the chill in the air, and her blue eyes were bright with optimism.
It was still unreal to him that he’d had those long legs wrapped around him, that he was the one who got to bury his fingers in those silky strands.I really hope we don’t stay here long, he thought desperately.
“Come on,” she said, smiling as her gloved hand reached down to his, pulling him forward as they were enveloped in the bar’s heavy crowd. It was much too hot and crowded in here, and Liam immediately missed the cool, calm openness of the parking lot.
Watching her weave through the crowd ahead of him, lifting her free hand in the air to wave at Annie, Liam felt like he was transported back to high school.
The sounds of the crowd disappeared, and she was moving ahead of him in slow motion yet much too quickly as she turned back to smile at him encouragingly, the long tendrils of her hair fanning out behind her.
It struck him for about the millionth time that he needed to tell her about high school. He’d been going back and forth about it since Thanksgiving. But seeing her now, holding his hand in this public place, he realized it needed to happen.
Maybe she never needs to know?Won’t she look at me differently if she remembered who I used to be? Would she be angry that I’d known and kept it from her?
Talking about it would be hard. He didn’t like to dwell too much on the story he’d created for himself over the past twelve years. A story in which Sadie Sullivan was an uncaring and aloof ice princess, ignoring the bullying he’d endured at the hands of her ham-fisted boyfriend because it was too inconvenient for her to try to process.
But getting to know her—actuallyget to know her as a person and not just a symbol of this anger—was liberating and eye opening. Really, he’d been no different than Annie’s friends, deciding he knew exactly who Sadie was based on her past actions or mistakes.
They didn’t know the full story, and neither had he.