AllFreeNovel
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“Sort of. I designed it with Mom and Nan. Nan is the rock that’s held us all together over the years. Mom is so gentle, so calming, so she’s the water. And I’m the ‘son.’ So…”
“You light up their lives?” I ask, tilting my face toward his. He kisses my forehead and rests his cheek against it, smiling softly.
“That’s what Nan said. It just felt weird to repeat it.”
“Well. Nancy is the best. That woman deserves a medal after having to overhear some things last night. God, I hope she had earplugs.”
His face flushes. “I have it on good authority that she had a little slumber party in a friend’s suite last night.”
I press a hand on his chest, feeling a smile cross my face. “You really anticipated everything, huh?”
“No,” he says. “I never could’ve anticipated how good this would feel.”
“I’m sure you’ve had better sex than that before. Maybe. Actually, probably not. Last night… and this morning… it was— ”
“I don’t just mean the sex, Gwen. I mean all of it. This thing between us.”
“Oh, it’s a ‘thing’ now?” I chuckle, but he doesn’t.
“Yeah.” He pulls away and props himself on his elbows. “I told you, I’m not looking for a fling. You said you weren’t, either.”
“Well, I think I said I usually don’t do flings. Which is true. But sometimes you find things you weren’t looking for. And this was great. All three times. But realistically…”
“Fuck, Gwen.” He swings his legs over the side of the bed, turning his back on me. “Fuck.” Then he’s pulling on his boxers, his sweatpants, his T-shirt.
I take the cue and slip into my underwear, then realize I don’t have any clothes other than my formal dress with me.
“Top drawer,” he says, his back still turned toward me. Inside, there’s a sundress folded next to a pair of leggings and his sweatshirt, a pair of flip-flops underneath the clothing. He must have gotten all of this from Gram yesterday, somehow. I slip into the sundress.
“Thanks,” I whisper. He really has anticipated everything. Except, of course, this argument I feel brewing, where he can’t just let this trip be a perfect thing between us without ruining it by trying to force it into the real world.
When he turns to face me, his eyes sweep over the dress before darting to the dresser, and he seems disappointed. “I just thought we’d at least put in some effort. You owe me that much, Gwen.” I recoil at the words and so does he, like they’re a bomb he’s thrown between us. “Look, I didn’t mean—”
“I don’t owe you anything, Sawyer. If you thought some nice dinner and wine and everything you did was some sort of deposit on a full-blown relationship with me, you’re incredibly mistaken.” I snatch my purse off the desk and rummage through, taking all the cash I have with me and shoving it into his hand as I push past him toward the door. "Consider my debt paid."
“You could at least try, you know. Regardless of what you think we should be, at least pretend to give a damn, for her sake, so she thinks you’re on your way to something, before—”
“Before what?” I spin around to face him, and his face is flushed.
“Oh, come on. I’m not stupid. I saw the pills.”
“What pills? What the hell are you talking about?”
His eyes narrow, and his lips part. He lowers his voice. “You don’t know, do you?” I cross my arms. “Shit. Forget I said anything, Gwen.”
“No. Spill it, Sawyer.”
He runs his hands through his hair and shakes his head, looking everywhere but my eyes.
“Never mind. I’ll figure it out myself.” I storm off and he follows me, objecting and apologizing the whole way to my suite. Gram’s not here, so I start hunting: first her bathroom counter, then the shoe organizer hanging over the closet door, but I come up empty. I rummage through her purse; it’s there that I find the pill bottles. I’m not a pharmaceutical savant, but I know these drug names.
“Gwen—”
I hold my hands up to stop him, and the pills rattle in the bottles.
“If you want to talk about it…”
I don’t want to talk about it. But I’m not given a choice, because Gram and Nancy come bounding in after their breakfast.
