Page 49 of Breaking the Rules of Love

I take a deep sigh and look up at the ceiling. This girl really is a handful.

Moments later, she returns, wearing what she came over in last night, clearly on her way out.

“Are you leaving?” I ask. But I already know the answer. Sadie nods.

“I have to, Jake.”

“You don’thaveto, Sadie,” I reply. “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. If you want to stay, for example, you can stay.”

She stops as she passes me. I find myself looking at her back. She’s thinking. But after a moment, she shakes her head.

“No,” she says. “This is getting to be too much, Jake.”

She takes a step forward toward the front door, but I reach out and grab her wrist. “Can you at least look at me?”

I feel her instinct to pull away, but she doesn’t. Somehow that makes me feel good inside. She turns slowly, and I see the conflict in her eyes.

Deep down, she doesn’t want to go.

“Stay with me, Sadie,” I tell her.

There’s a moment’s hesitation, but she shakes her head. “No,” she says, pulling her arm away. “I can’t.”

I watch as she opens the door and steps outside.

This girl is going to be the death of me.

34

Jake

This is a risky move,but something needs to be done.

Obviously, what I’ve been doing so far hasn’t been working, and I’m not going to just let this back-and-forth nonsense with Sadie continue. There’s only so much I can tolerate, so I’m going to call in some backup. And that’s why I’m basically camped out in front of my side window looking out at Sadie’s front lawn.

I’ve been sitting here all day, ignoring invitations to go hang out with the boys and skipping out on my workout. I’ve done nothing but sit here all day and wait, hoping that my plan will pay off. But after a little more than eight hours, I’m starting to wonder if I’m going crazy. If I should just move on and think of something else to do.

I might be nuts. I might be losing it over this chick. Men have been known to go crazy over women. I mean, there are famous works of fiction on the subject.

The sun is almost going down when my phone buzzes again. It’s Ryan, and my guess is he’s calling with another invitation to the bar with his college buddies, just like he was when he called this morning.

I shouldn’t answer. I know I’m just going to turn him down, but today has been such an awful bore that I pick up anyway just to have someone to talk to.

“Hey, buddy,” I say. “How’s it going?”

“I’ll cut to the chase,” Ryan says. “You coming out tonight or not?”

“Not,” I reply. I hear him sigh on the other end. “I can’t, pal. I’m already busy.”

“With what?” he asks. “That crazy woman of yours?”

Somehow, I manage to force out something resembling a laugh. “Well…kinda sorta. It’s complicated.”

“Look, man,” Ryan grunts, sounding obviously fed up, “would you just get off your ass and come out? There’s a guy here you should meet. He’d make a good addition to the company. Plus I told the boys you’d come. You don’t want to seem like a bore, do you?”

“You told them I’d come out?” I frown. That’s so like Ryan.

“I sure did.” I can practically hear him smiling on the other end of the phone.

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