Page 70 of Cold Hard Truth

Once more, he looks over at me, his eyes glancing at my T-shirt for a split second. And I wonder if he’s thinking what I assume he is. That I wear T-shirts to always cover my back so people can’t get a glimpse of the scars on it.

“You sleepokay?” he asks me.

A simple enough question, even if we both know he’s actually asking more.

I nod.

“Good.” Sage turns to Fel. “Are they back there?”

“Yeah, I think Crew’s just finishing up.”

Once more Sage glances at me, his stare pausing on my mouth when I press my lips together. “I’m going to check in with a friend, but then Kane wants to see you at the club.”

“I can take a cab if you’re busy.”

He shakes his head. “I’ll drive. Just give me a few minutes.”

“Okay.” My mouth is dry as the word fights its way out.

I feel like a nervous teenager all over again and it’s ridiculous.

Sage disappears down the hallway, and the moment a door opens at the end, laughter filters down the hall before it once more closes.

It’s strange to think of this world he’s living in when I remember it all being so different. He’s grown up. But I guess we both have.

“You two are on better terms.” Fel smirks at me, picking at a fingernail.

“We were never on bad terms.”

We’ve just been avoiding each other at all costs like we can possibly run from what will inevitably smack us in the face.

“I’ve never seen you two in a room together for more than a minute without arguing about something.” Fel crinkles her eyebrows. “Until now.”

As much as I wish I could tell her she’s wrong, she isn’t. Last night changed something.

“We talked, that’s all.”

“Mm-hmm.” She smiles. “Youtalked.”

“It’s not like that.” At least, not anymore.

“Not like what exactly?” She stands up, circling the counter to come to meet me on the couch. “Because I’veneverseen Sage like this.”

“Like what?”

She purses her lips, thinking. “I don’t know what I’d call it—at peace, maybe? He’s always all over the place. I swear he never sits still. But the moment you came back, it was weird. It’s like he found his center again.”

Something about that is comforting to hear.

“Sage can be the funniest, happiest person in the world.” Fel sinks down onto the couch. “And still, something about him… it’s like he’s always smiling but never actually means it. Like it’s all been a mask. But you take the mask off him.”

She glances over at me.

“Really?”

Fel nods. “Really.”

I twist my fingers around a frayed string on my shirt. Around and around.

---