Page 244 of The Bluffing Game

I nod slightly and gasp. She rushes over and grabs me.

“He doesn’t want to know me.”

I can’t stop the tears from coming. They release like a dam is broken and run down my face uncontrollably. I sob as she holds me close, and I feel Izzy and Lucia next to me, rubbing my back.

“It’s going to be okay,” Rosie says.

“He doesn’t want to know me. He’s got his own family, a wife and kids, and I guess he’s just living happily ever after. He doesn’t even want to say hello. He doesn’t even want to see me. What sort of man has a kid and doesn’t even want to see them?”

I sob and sob for what feels like ages until I feel someone standing over me. I look up, half-expecting to see Dalton. My heart drops when I realize it’s not him. It’s Jimmy, frowning, looking concerned.

“What’s going on?” he says in a gruff tone.

“Nothing. I’m fine. I’ll be fine.” I take a deep breath.

Rosie continues to rub my back. “She just found out that her birth dad wants nothing to do with her. He doesn’t want to see her. He doesn’t want to know her. He doesn’t even want to meet her, and that sucks.”

Jimmy looks at me and frowns. “It means that much to you? Don’t you have a mom and dad?”

“Yeah, but he’s not my biological dad.” I bite down on my lower lip because I don’t want to be rude in front of Rosie. I know she loves her dad. “I just really wanted to find the man who was biologically connected to me to see if we could build a connection.”

He watches me for a couple of seconds. “You should let it go, girl,” he says and then rubs his forehead. “I mean, Sage. You should let it go. What you don’t know can’t hurt you. If he doesn’t want to be found, if he doesn’t want to contact you, there has to be a reason. It’s likely for you,” he says. “Don’t take it personal or anything. I’m sure if he could meet you, he’d feel differently.”

I look up at him and offer him a small smile. “Thanks, Jimmy. I guess you might know who he is.” I sniff.

“Why do you say that?” He looks taken aback.

“I mean, Brett said that you might know him, and it’s okay. I’m not going to ask you to tell me who he is. I’m not going to show up at his door. I’m not Parker. I’m not a psychopath. I just … is he happy with his family?” I ask Jimmy, and he recoils.

“I couldn’t say,” he says, swallowing hard. “I should get back to the bar.”

“Okay,” I say. Because I’m hurt. I’m hurt that he won’t tell me more, but maybe he thinks I’ll do something that I shouldn’t.

“Sage,” he calls out to me. He steps forward again and offers me a rag. “Wipe your tears, girl. You’re going to be okay. You got friends and people here who love you, and that’s what matters. Sometimes, what’s in the shadows and the dark should stay in the shadows and the dark. It can only hurt you.”

“I guess,” I say. But I don’t believe it.

All I feel is rejection and hurt and pain. My own dad knows that I exist, and he wants nothing to do with me. There is nothing that feels worse than that.

Chapter 30

DALTON

“Do you mind if I turn the TV on?” Sage asks as she sits cross-legged on the bed.

She’s wearing long pants and a baggy T-shirt, and her hair is up in a ponytail. I think she thinks that she’s completely unattractive to me, but I’ve never found her sexier.

“Of course not,” I say. “Feel free to watch whatever you want.” I look up from the chair I’m sitting in in the corner of the room. “Do you find the bed to be comfortable?”

“It’s fine,” she says, shrugging, and bites down on her lower lip. “I mean, what would you do if I said it wasn’t?”

I glance over at her. “What do you mean?”

“What if I said it was the most horrifically uncomfortable bed I’d ever been in? Would you change the mattress and get a new one, even though I’m only going to be here for such a short amount of time?”

“If that’s what you wanted, but what a terrible waste of money it would be. I’m not a billionaire, Sage, but I can afford to get a new mattress if it’s giving you a backache.” I stand up, head over to the bed, sit on the side of it, and look over at her. “Is it giving you a backache?”

“No. I didn’t say that. I was just saying, what would you do?”