“A million years,” she repeated, her lips a caress around the words.
This was love.
37
Sage
The sugary funnel cake we’d inhaled after our Ferris wheel ride sat heavy in my stomach as if I had chugged a gallon of milk along with it. I felt bloated, my dress feeling a bit too tight as we walked through the rows of booths.
“Hey, Cal!” Bailey shouted from somewhere behind us.
We turned to find him and Lettie by the goldfish booth. We headed over to them as Lettie attempted to toss a ping pong ball into the little bowls of water in the center.
“Do you two really need another pet?” Callan joked.
I took a sip of lemonade as Lettie’s ball bounced off the rim of the glass.
“Lettie would take the whole damn bucket of fish home and raise an aquarium full of ‘em if I let her,” Bailey said.
“We’d treat them better than any other random person coming through,” Lettie tossed over her shoulder.
“I’m sure you’d give them five course meals and paint their fins,” Callan teased. Lettie shot him a glare before focusing her attention back on the ball.
“Avery looked real cute in the parade,” Bailey told me.
I smiled. “She really did. It was the highlight of the year for her, I’m sure.”
“Where’s she at?” Lettie asked after missing another throw.
“With Charlotte. Speaking of.” I turned to Callan. “I should probably go check on her.”
“I’ll come with,” Callan offered.
“It’s okay. I’ll come back after I make sure she’s not raiding the cotton candy stand. I’ll be quick.”
He looked like he wanted to push, but then he let it go, thinking better of it. His hand slipped into his jeans, pulling out his wallet, and he handed me some cash. “Give this to Avery for some more tickets.”
“You don’t have to—”
“I want her to have fun,” he said, and I knew he was being genuine. There was no ill intent behind giving me the money.
“Okay.” I grabbed the cash from him, then he leaned in for a quick kiss.
“I’ll wait for you here.”
The fair wasn’t too big, so even if he moved for some reason, I was sure it’d be easy to find him again. “I’ll be back.”
Heading away from the booths in the direction of the lit up rides, I meandered through the crowds of people. A couple shoulders bumped into mine despite my attempts to avoid them.
As I rounded the corner booth, the field opened up a bit before it turned into a few rows of food trucks and metal storage containers. The lights from the rides and spot lights dimmed slightly over here, shadows cast over the flattened yellow grass. Behind me, a balloon popped, causing me to jump.
My hand covered my racing heart as I paused, taking a steadying breath. As Avery and I didn’t go many places like this, the sounds were a bit overwhelming at times, but nothing I couldn’t handle. It was just a balloon.
Seeing a small alley I could cut through to get over to the rides, I turned in that direction. It was a narrow pathway between two storage containers, but it was the only opening not blocked by food truck doors or garbage cans. About five feet from the alley, I stopped in my tracks as my gaze landed on the man from the bar.
He stood an equal distance away from the opening, staring threatening daggers at me as children and parents walked by in every direction. Blissful chaos ensued around us as every breath, every beat of my heart, narrowed in on the man, blurring the rest of the world out as panic settled into the marrow of my bones.
There had to be only one reason he was here—the same reason he was at the cafe and the bar—and this time, I had no one to pull me out.
The familiar squeeze of my shrinking lungs penetrated my thoughts, and the urge to flee coursed through my veins. I didn’t ignore my mind screaming at me to go the other way. I spun on my heel, nearly barreling into a group of teenagers passing around a giant corn dog.
“Excuse me,” I muttered, the words barely audible as I maneuvered around them. My heart beat faster than a herd of wild horses galloping across flatlands, and my breaths came in short pants. My feet stumbled over one another as I looked back over my shoulder to find the man storming toward me with a mask of calm that did nothing to settle the terror washing through me like a wave.
Callan was too far away for me to get to him, and if the man figured out I was going to him, I was sure he’d quicken his pace in moments. Under the glow of the rides and food trucks, I could see the faint traces of a black eye lingering from the night at the bar when Beckham sent his fist swinging. I swung my head around, my eyes darting in every direction to find a pair of familiar eyes—whether they belonged to Callan or one of his brothers. I wouldn’t involve the girls in this, even if I found one of them first. The man had already made it clear he didn’t have boundaries, and I had no idea what his intentions were tonight.
“Oh, Sage,” the man sang behind me, and my lungs seized as my stomach spun in on itself as his voice stuck out over the crowd. “There’s no point in running this time.”
I picked up the pace, brushing past people in a whir. But one glance over my shoulder told me he was doing the same, and gaining fast.
My eyes landed on the opening to the rides, but the hesitation to turn that way was one second too long as his hand clamped around my wrist. With his punishing grip, pinpricks of pain shot up my arm, making my attempt to pull away futile.
He yanked me toward him, pressing his lips to the side of my head as if this was some act of affection to any watching eyes. “Wouldn’t want to make a scene, would you?” he mumbled into my hair.
A shiver broke out over my body with the multiple points of contact he had on me. I wanted him off. Off. Off.
“I don’t know what you want from me.” My pitch was high, my voice shaking as my fist gripped the cash still wadded in my hand.
He wrapped an arm around my shoulders, letting go of my wrist as he kept me close. His hand on my upper arm was bruising as he squeezed it. “I want a lot from you, sweetheart, but unfortunately, you’re strictly off-limits.”
