Page 16 of Stuck with my Boss Daddies

Sitting atourtable. Inourstore. Like she belonged here.

Adam was talking. Something about hiring her. Her résumé. Her experience. The fact that we needed the help.

I didn’t care.

All I could hear was the sound of my own blood pounding in my ears.

Sadie Collins.

Back in Medford.

Back inmylife.

And the worst part?

She still had the power to undo me.

Samuel hadn’t said much, but I’d seen his hands curl into fists under the table. Seen the way he looked at her… like he recognized something in her that I didn’t understand.

And I’d seen the way she refused to look back at him.

A sharp pain twisted in my stomach. I hated the way it felt. The way itmattered.

I should have shut it down. Should have told Adam no. Should have walked away before she had the chance to hurt me again.

But I didn’t.

Because, despite everything, despite the years, despite the fact that she left me in the wreckage of our past, I still knew her. I knew she was good at this work. I knew she could bake. I knew she could handle pressure.

We’d spent plenty a Sunday afternoon baking when we were younger, planning on doing more of it in our future.

And it seemed like shereallyneeded this job.

So, despite myself, I said nothing.

But the moment the day ended and there was no more work to do, I pushed out the back door and into the cold early evening air, barely holding myself together.

I walked.

Didn’t think, didn’t stop, justmoved.

And somehow, ten minutes later, I was standing in front of the house she used to call home.

It looked different. Smaller. The white paint peeling, the porch swing hanging lopsided. The lace curtains in the front window were still there, but yellowed, edges curling.

My chest ached, emotions deep and sharp twisting in my ribs. I dragged a hand down my face, forcing a slow breath, but it didn’t help.

Because I saw her here.

Not now, not with time and distance between us… but then.

Sadie, at sixteen, peering around those lace curtains, searching for me the second she heard the rumble of my bike pulling up out front.

She always knew when I was coming. Always waiting.

And when she saw me, her whole damn face would light up.

God, thatlook.

---