Sadie tilted her head skeptically as she watched him. She would have liked to talk to him and catch up, but she supposed he was too busy with whatever he had going on over there.
Morgan skulked around the room, suspiciously quiet and sipping from a can of seltzer while openly glowering in Cole’s direction.She really doesn’t like him, Sadie thought, blowing out an exhausted breath before the thought drove her to take another careful sip of wine.
Morgan was always so loud and disruptive at The Blue Sky, interrupting Cole’s sets and causing general mayhem. Sadie couldn’t imagine how bad it must be between them with Morgan actually working at The Blue Sky now.I bet that’s been a hot mess.She didn’t know whether she was relieved or disappointed that she didn’t get to witness it.
Liam hadn’t arrived yet. He’d been on the group text, so she knew he’d be here eventually. Other than passing glances at work, she hadn’t seen him in the five days they’d been back from Antelope Grove, so to say that she was nervous would be an understatement.
When she’d woken up the morning after he’d come to her parents’ house, he’d been gone. She would have thought the whole thing was a dream if she hadn’t found a note on the nightstand written on an old receipt in Liam’s messy scrawl.
I’m ready when you are.
And she hadn’t been ready while in Antelope Grove. There were the holidays to get through; she’d had to put on a bright smile for her parents and extended family as they went through the motions of Christmas and New Year’s celebrations. So, she’d had the luxury and the excuses necessary to put her phone in a drawer and make a futile attempt to forget about him for the time being.
Once she’d arrived back in Lake Conrad a few days ago, it had felt comfortable to continue to avoid him for a just bit longer.
I’m not ready, she’d thought as she camped out the past couple of evenings watchingFriendson her couch. Although, she had to admit that a certain hollow loneliness had taken up residence inside her chest as she sat around her empty apartment where she had so many new memories with Liam. But filling that void would mean continuing their difficult conversation, and she hadn’t felt up to that particular challenge.
Sadie’s reverie was interrupted by the sound of the bell above the door tinkling. She looked up with a start, her wine almost sloshing out of her cup.
It was Liam. He walked into the room, taking off his coat while he stopped to talk to Jake and Ian. His eyes were scanning the room, though, and before long, they focused in on her, sitting alone on the couch, ripe for the picking.
Sadie sat up straight and looked around the room helplessly, sending off a silent distress signal.I’m not ready! I’m not ready!
Her mouth dried up as she watched him make his way toward her. He looked … like Liam. Comforting and sweet, wearing his principal uniform of khaki pants and a button down. He’d gotten a haircut, but his hair still looked messy.Am I ready?Seeing him in front of her now, she wasn’t sure.
Before he could reach her, though, a weight came down on the couch next to her, surprising her and sloshing her wine again.
“Why are you freaking out?”
Sadie looked over to see Morgan slinking down next to her, casually sipping from her can of seltzer and looking at Sadie inquisitively. Sadie finally gave up on holding her giant cup of wine, and she set it on the table in front of her, looking at Morgan fixedly.
“I’m not freaking out,” she said quickly, realizing immediately that she sounded defensive. Her eyes darted up to see Liam stop in his tracks at the sight of Morgan before awkwardly returning to Jake and Ian.
“You look like you want to push past your nerdy boyfriend and sink into the snow.”
“He’s not really my boyfriend,” Sadie said dismissively, not denying the whole sinking into the snow part. That sounded pretty nice about now, actually.
“What’s going on? Please, tell me,” Morgan pleaded, sticking out her lower lip. “I need a distraction.” She shot Cole with an evil glare before settling her attention firmly on Sadie with a deep breath and, seemingly, great effort.
Sadie couldn’t help but smile at Morgan’s imploring expression. After everything happened with Lena and Jake, she seemed to always be on the receiving end of Morgan’s wrath, which was not a fun place to be. It was kind of nice talking normally with her. It reminded her of how magnetic Morgan was—it was impossible not to be drawn to her energy, her light.
“Well, it’s complicated,” Sadie admitted as she let out a deep breath and tried to think of a way to succinctly explain. “But okay, let me see … Liam and I went to high school together? And he had a crush on me? And now he’s my boss and we’re together, but I’m mad at him for not telling me? Also, I didn’t recognize him, my ex showed up and told me who he was, and that was… awkward, and reminded me of … bad memories.” Each statement came out in a questioning tone, and Sadie surreptitiously left out the overly bad parts. “I know it’s stupid.”
Morgan didn’t say anything to Sadie for a few moments, just narrowed her eyes, considering her as she leaned back on the couch, sipping her drink. Sadie feared that she’d lost her—Morgan would surely get up at any moment, storm away, and proclaim Sadie an idiot for being so wrapped in drama from high school.
But no, Morgan leaned in closer to Sadie, looking at her intently. “You know Cole, right?” she asked softly. “You guys are friends?”
“Yeah,” Sadie answered, nervously glancing at Cole.
“He and I— We used to—” Morgan stuttered in a way that was very unlike her. She was the kind of person that knew what she wanted to say and said it without rebuke. “We were kind oftogetherin high school—secretly.”
Sadie pulled back in shock. “What? Really?”
“Yeah, but no one knows about it,” Morgan replied seriously. “Not even Ian. When you said that you and that nerdy principal guy had high school drama, I just thought…. Anyway, it obviously didn’t work between me and Cole,andhe was a total dick about it. He has been ever since.”
Sadie felt something wilt inside of her at the confession. She’d often painted Morgan as an unreasonable, immature brat, getting wasted and giving Cole a hard time while he was trying to perform. But seeing her now, she looked so small and vulnerable—sohuman. Whatever had happened between them had hurt her.
“I’m so sorry, Morgan,” she said sincerely, unable to stop herself from reaching over and putting her hand on the couch between them.