Page 25 of Sugar Coated Secrets

“I was checking the time.”

We have about an hour and a half left. “Do you need to stop for the bathroom?”

“Nope. I’m good.” She taps her nails on Detective Pickles’s cage.

“Something wrong?”

Her fingers halt, and she blows out a breath. “I was going to wait until we got closer to the farm to talk about this.”

“Talk about what?” Whatever it is, she’s obviously nervous.

She focuses on the hamster’s cage. “Did Daire talk to you about where I’ll be staying?”

Ahh. I see where this is going. I nod.

“And?”

“And…?”

She huffs, looking so cute with her cheeks puffed out and that crease between her perfectly shaped brows. “Did he say where I’d be sleeping?”

“He said a few things.”

“Are you messing with me?” She’s like a pretty teapot, ready to blow.

As much as I love to tease her, I have a new desire to ease her, too. “He said you wanted to kick me out of my house and sleep in my bed.” So much for not teasing her.

She gapes. “He said that?”

I chuckle.

She gives my bicep a little shove. “You’re not funny.”

“Why don’t you just say what you’re not saying?”

She crosses her arms above the small cage on her lap and stares out the side window. “Never mind.”

So stubborn. “Okay,” I agree, curious to see how long she lasts before asking if she can stay at my house.

I’ll admit when Daire asked me, my first response was no. I only moved into the house a few months ago after graduating this summer. The house was a gift for earning my business degree. I’d been promised it when I was a freshman in high school. Back then, the house was old and dated. No one had used it for years. I had my room in the estate and was either there, in Atlanta, or at college. When I took a gap year, to Daire and my father’s disappointment, I stayed at the estate, Daire’s penthouse, or with friends.

But after this last year of living with two people off-campus, I knew I’d want a place to myself. I also knew that place would need serious updating—another perk from my graduation gift. My parents are the most giving people on earth, in my opinion.

It’s one of the reasons why I doubled up on classes so I could graduate on time—as if I’d never dropped-out—and make my parents proud. I did it to show Daire I could, too, and to prove to myself I was capable of more than I’d become—an unambitious freeloader with no goals other than to have a good time with friends and women.

It was easy once I got back into the swing of college. From there, I got new ideas and wanted more for myself. I had the house redone with the help of an architect and interior designer. I graduated with honors. And I moved back home to my newly renovated house and adult life. The adjustment was easy. I love the freedom of living alone, especially when it comes to dating. I can screw wherever I want, whenever I want. It’s liberating and secluded.

But then I imagined Sadie alone at night having a nightmare and no one there to wake her up or hold her. Not that I want to share a bed with her and hold her. I mean, I do. Fuck yeah, I do. But I won’t. I made a decision to respect her wishes long ago. I’ve been doing one hell of a job so far. I’m not about to screw it up. I’m adulting now. Sadie is another step toward my maturity. I can continue our platonic friendship while she lives with me. Some boundaries aren’t meant to be crossed. Besides, Sadie deserves better than anything I can offer her. She deserves the dream she wants.

“Fine.” Sadie huffs and turns her pink-cheeked face to me. “Daire was supposed to suggest I stay with you. Sleep with you. Not with you. Sleep in your house…with you there or not. You don’t have to be there. But I’m not kicking you out. I don’t have to stay there. I just don’t know how comfortable I am being a third wheel—fourth if you count the bun in the oven—to Daire and Everleigh. They’re still in their honeymoon phase, and the house is smaller now. I’d be on top of them basically. But I don’t want to impose on you. I mean, you have a life and women to…date. I don’t want to crowd you, either.”

I can’t hold my laughter in anymore. I lift one hand from the steering wheel to silence her, but she stopped talking the moment I started laughing. “It’s fine, Sadie. You can stay with me. I talked to Daire, and it’s all good.”

She points those stunning eyes at me. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I’m sure.”

She exhales a breath of relief. “Thank you.”

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