Page 64 of Icebound Hearts

“What is it?” I ask, grateful for the distraction and the opportunity to get a piece of the brownie for myself.

“Just a spam notification,” Sawyer answers, avoiding my eyes. But his phone buzzes again and this time I catch a glimpse of it before he can clear it. I can’t read the entirety of it, but I see enough to know it’s a message notification from the dating app.

“That’s not how you’re supposed to do it,” I say with a bite of brownie dangling on my fork in front of me. Sawyer lifts an eyebrow at me.

“Do what?”

I point my fork at his phone. “You’re not even giving them a chance.”

“Like I told you, I don’t really want to right now.”

“That wasn’t the agreement.”

Sawyer hands the rest of his brownie to Jake. “Why don’t you take the rest of mine in the living room, buddy? I’m full.”

“Okay!” Jake says and snatches Sawyer’s plate without a second thought, then climbs out of the chair and dashes intothe living room. When we’re alone, Sawyer fixes his intense gray eyes on mine.

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure you haven’t been holding up your end of the agreement, either.”

“What do you mean?”

“I haven’t seen you going on any dates either. And I’m sure guys have been messaging you non-stop, heartbreaker.”

I almost drop my fork on the plate. But I’m suddenly not very hungry anymore anyway, so I set the plate on the counter and lean against it. “Okay, fine. You’re right. Guys have been messaging me, and I haven’t accepted any date offers. But it’s different.”

Sawyer snorts and raises his brows at me. “Is it?”

I grimace, his call out shooting right through me. “Alright, you know what? I’ll go on a date when you do. In fact, we can go at the same time.”

Sawyer’s jaw drops for a second before he shakes his head, laughing at me. “No way. That’s crazy.”

“No, it isn’t. It’s perfect, actually. I’ll say yes to a guy on the app, and you say yes to a woman. We’ll tell them we’re friends and set up a double date for the four of us. That will take the pressure off everyone involved, and if either of us are having a bad time, we’ll have the perfect ‘being a good friend’ get out of jail free card to call it off.”

Sawyer stands staring at me and my heart hammers in my chest while I wait for him to say something.

Part of me wants him—no,needshim—to say no to this, but I can’t exactly admit that to him. I can barely admit it to myself.

And I don’t even want to think about what it might mean if he says no. The only way I see to get rid of all of this tension that just won’t stop growing between us is to hitch one or both of us up to someone else. To make both of us firmly off limits for each other.

Because I don’t know how much longer I can keep this going.

“What do you have to lose?” I goad him, despite the pulse pounding in my throat threatening to close it. “Besides, you can’t deny the world your amazingness forever. You’re going to have to let someone see it eventually, so why not do it with some moral support?”

Sawyer snorts, but it turns into a laugh as he crosses his arms over his chest. “Alright. You’re on. Let’s make it a double date.”

Chapter 21

Sawyer

What the hell was I thinking? Why thefuckdid I agree to go on a date with some stranger?

No. Not just a stranger. A strangerandVioletandher date.

This was a huge mistake, I already feel it in my bones, and my unease is clear on my face as I run my hand through my hair in front of the bathroom mirror. I wish more than anything that I could back out, but I’ve already set up a sitter for Jake and gone through all the trouble of making sure everyone involved is on the same page and free for the night, so I can’t.

But good lord, do I want to.

I take a deep breath and finish buttoning up my suit jacket, then check to make sure everything’s straightened out and in its right place before I head downstairs. The sitter, a girl named Kelsey whom I’ve hired a couple of times before, is already here and sitting with Jake on the couch. She’s not the best sitter I’ve ever met—at this point, I don’t think anyone could compete with Violet—but she’s not the worst either. And on such short notice, I couldn’t be too picky.

---