Page 66 of Better Run
I glare at him, and he flashes me a wink. He looks like Cole in that second. Then he heads upstairs.
I knock softly at Sage’s door. As usual, she doesn’t answer, so I go in. She’s on the bed, curled on her side. She barely opens her eyes as I come in. I replace her water bottles with new ones and sit beside her. Her eyes are sunken in, and it looks like she’s been crying.
When she speaks, it scares me. I haven’t heard her talk in weeks.
“I liked all your videos, you know.”
I stare at her.
She closes her eyes. “I’d never tried eggs in my ramen before you. Made Jayden try it too.” She gives a sad smile.
“I, uh, thanks.” I rub the back of my neck. I wince at how awkward I sound. I say in a softer tone, “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.” I’m not sure what I’m apologizing for. All of it, maybe. That she even found me in the first place.
She closes her eyes and then opens them again. “It’s not your fault. Jayden is a controlling asshole.”
I look at my hands. I don’t want to push her too much. “Why does he hate you so much? Did you break up with him?”
She sighs, “No, he broke up with me. We were…having a hard time. After the shooting, he wasn’t the same, but it started before that too.”
So they broke up recently. “I’m sorry.” I pick at one of my nails.
“It’s fine. I got mad…after he broke up with me. I…” she clears her throat and stares at the floor. For the first time, I see some color in her cheeks. “I wanted him to see what he lost…make him realize he should have treated me better. So I…”
She pauses for a long time.
“You…what?”
She gets angry and bites out, “I…hooked up with Pat.” She sneers. “His stepdad.”
I blink.
“Yeah, yeah, I don’t want to hear it.” She glares at the wall.
I sit in stunned silence.
Her voice drops low. “I didn’t know about him. I swear I didn’t. Not until it was too late.”
I don’t like the tone of her voice. I look at her. “Know about…what?”
She looks at me. The anger is gone like it was never there and there is hardly any life left in her eyes. She looks a hundred years old. “That he is…was, a pedophile.”
I get a sinking feeling in my gut. She closes her eyes slowly. We sit like that for a little. She finally says, “I swear I had no idea. Jayden never told me about what he did to him and Cole.”
I feel sick. Nausea rolls over my body, and I get hot.
“I’m tired,” she says suddenly. “I’d like to sleep.”
I clear my throat. “Sure, yeah.” I stand up.
She closes her eyes. “Sleep and never wake up.”
My gut is churning. I close her door and stare at the wood. I spend a few hours in the living room, turning my awkward wooden ice cream creation around and around in my hands as my thoughts churn and my stomach hurts.
Finally, I walk up to the loft. Jayden is reading on the bed. He smiles when he sees me. “Kitten. You ready to beg?”
Heat flares in me, but I cross my arms. “Sage is breaking. Past the point of return.”
He shuts his book and gives me a serious look. “You need to stop thinking about her. She’s none of your concern.”
