CHAPTER 11

OF COURSE IT WAS

SAGE

Of all of the people in Charleston who could have happened upon her and her broken down car, it had to be David Hughes.

Oh, and Sage was completely fine.

She had a phone, and she was wearing perfectly suitable walking shoes. She was only a few miles from home, and it wouldn’t be a big deal at all to walk back to her apartment.

She’d popped the hood because that’s what she thought she was supposed to do, even though she had no fucking idea how to fix whatever was going on beneath it. If the smoke pouring out from what she guessed was the engine was any indication, it probably wasn’t a simple “pour some more oil in the car” kind of problem. Pulling on some of the tubes that wound through the dark cavity probably wasn’t her best move, but come on, she needed to at least pretend like she knew what she was doing.

But it was all fine, because she could handle a broken down car. She was independent. Competent.

This was no big deal.

“What happened?”

Shit. David was still there, now looming over her like some sort of stoic, stubborn bear in the night.

“The hood started smoking and I pulled over,” Sage explained, wiping her grease-covered hands on her jeans. Shit . Those were probably ruined. She slammed the hood shut. “Well, thanks for stopping, but I’ve got it from here.”

David blinked at her, his thick brows pulling down in confusion. “Have you called a tow truck?”

“Yeah. They’ll be here in about an hour.”

“How are you going to get home?” David’s voice had dropped lower somehow, and she willed her body to cut the shit when her skin broke out in goosebumps.

“I’m going to walk.”

David barked out a laugh. “Like hell you’re going to walk.”

Bristling, Sage turned to face him, hands planted on her hips. “What? Are you going to stop me?” She circled to the passenger side of the car, wrenching the door open and grabbing her bag before returning to the driver’s side. She wrestled the key out of the ignition, manually locking the door before stashing the keys on the tire as instructed by the tow company. She left her gym bag, seeing as there weren’t any valuables inside. “See you later, Coach.”

There wasn’t a sidewalk on this section of the road, so she started walking on the small strip of pavement before the road sloped down into what was probably wet marsh down below.

“Seriously, Sage?” David’s voice called out from behind her. “Can I please give you a ride?”

“I’m fine!”

She heard what sounded like a low growling noise, but she kept going. She was perfectly fine, and she would show David fucking Hughes that she was more than capable of taking care of herself.

“I don’t know what you’re trying to prove,” he shouted, and Sage found her feet coming to a stop. “And I honestly don’t give a shit, because I cannot, in good conscience, leave you alone to walk home in the dark. So if you don’t want to ride in my car, then fine. You’ve made it very clear that you have no interest in listening to me. But if you walk, I’m going to drive behind you with my goddamn blinkers on until you make it back to your apartment.”

Sage turned around to look at him. She couldn’t see his face in the darkness, but his body was impossibly big where he stood beside her car. She was torn between wanting to punch him in his beautiful face and, even more terrifying, the urge to run back to him.

“Why are you like this?” she asked, holding her ground.

“I could ask you the same thing, Lefty.”

Sage sighed. “Fine.” She started back toward the two cars. “You can give me a ride, but it’s only because the thought of you driving behind me at two miles an hour is absolutely humiliating.”

She could hear his chuckle as he held open the passenger door for her. She climbed up into the leather seat, and he firmly shut the door behind her. She shook her head — of course , he was also the kind of man who opened car doors for women.

When he got into the driver’s seat, Sage shifted so that her shoulder leaned against the window. As the engine purred to life, loud music suddenly filled the car.

“Sorry,” David said, fumbling with the volume dial and turning it down.

She recognized the song. “Chili Peppers?”

David nodded as he glanced back over his shoulder to check for oncoming traffic. It was excessive, since he’d be able to see anyone by their headlights in the rearview or side mirrors, but hey, she wasn’t complaining if he wanted to take extra precautions to drive safely. They pulled out onto the quiet street.

“So,” David started. She could see now, with the glow of the dash lights, that he wore a team polo and basketball shorts. Since the season began she’d rarely seen him in anything but team branded gear, with the exception of the games, where he showed up in well-tailored suits that looked so fucking good on his big body that Sage had gotten in the habit of visiting the bathroom to splash cold water on her cheeks at halftime.

As usual, a baseball cap was pulled tight over his dark hair, which had only grown longer and more untamed since she’d met him. Honestly, he looked exhausted, his eyes heavy and his face drawn.

It was obvious that the season was already wearing on him.

“Have you eaten?”

“No,” she admitted.

David shifted his legs, his shorts drifting up his hairy thighs. Sage averted her eyes. “I was already planning on grabbing something on my way home. Do you mind if we stop? I’ll get you something.”

Sage was tempted to argue. Her instinct was to put up a fight. But she was starving, and she was already in the car, so what was she going to do? Pout while he grabbed food for himself?

“Food would be great,” she said. “But I’m going to buy my own.”

“Does Italian work for you?”

“Fuck yes. I mean, yes. Just yes.” She turned her face to try to hide her hot cheeks.

A minute later, they were pulling into the drive through at Angelo’s. David ordered a chicken caesar salad, while Sage got fettuccine alfredo. They only had to wait a few minutes until the food was ready.

They were mostly quiet as David drove them home. Sage expected it to be awkward, but instead it was surprisingly easy to relax back into the worn leather seat and let the quiet music fill the space between them. David, for his part, glared at the road like he was driving in a storm rather than a clear, moonlit night.

When they pulled into a spot a few buildings over from Sage’s apartment, David was out of the car and around to her door before she had a chance to unbuckle her seatbelt. Grabbing her bag and her container of pasta, she climbed out.

“Thanks,” she said, and she hesitated, waiting while David got his own backpack out of the back seat.

“Mind if I walk you up?” David asked, hovering a few feet away from her as though he wasn’t sure if she would mind if he got closer.

It was oddly sweet to see him so cautious around her. “Sure,” she said, unable to justify fighting him on this one little thing.

They walked side by side with about a foot between them. It struck Sage how strange it was that she was here, in this moment, with this particular man who had become an unexpected fixture in her life. From a potential one-night stand to a sort of coworker and now a neighbor, David Hughes had somehow infiltrated all of her waking hours.

And her less-than-professional dreams, but she wasn’t acknowledging that.

Sage dug through her bag as they reached the top of the stairs. Her stomach sank when she didn’t hear the distinct jingle of the ring that held her keys.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

“Everything okay?” David moved closer to her, and she thought she might have felt the brush of his fingers on her back for a moment.

Sage searched again. Even though she knew, logically, that her keys were currently somewhere north of town at the mechanic, she searched again. And then she took every single item out of her bag, setting them down on the cement floor in front of her apartment door: water bottle, textbook, laptop, chamomile tea bag, chapstick, five wrapped lozenges, three tampons, and a rock that she’d picked up once because she thought it was pretty.

She buried her face into her hands and screamed, muffling the sound so that it probably sounded more like a strangled goose.

Fuck this day.

She looked up at David, who was standing there watching her with such obvious worry on his face that she couldn’t help but laugh.

“My apartment key is with my car.”

David seemed unphased. “Let’s go to the office and get you a replacement.”

Right. That made sense. Relief filled her. “Great. You don’t have to come with me,” she added as she shoved her things back into her bag. She felt her cheeks and the back of her neck heat — she hated the fact that someone was seeing her like this — disorganized and incapable.

But the look David gave her made it very clear that, like it or not, there was no way in hell that she was going to the office alone.

* * *

Of course the office was already closed for the night. Of course it was.

Sage yanked on the locked door one more time before turning away.

David hovered beside her, tall and quiet. His hands were shoved deep in his pockets, and he rocked back on his heels.

She shifted so that she was facing away from him. She blinked against the burning in her eyes and she could feel the itching in her nose, clenching her jaw as she willed herself not to cry.

She had her phone. She could call a ride share and go…somewhere. She could find a hotel, probably, or even go to campus and curl up on one of the couches in the library. She would figure it out.

“Right,” she said. There was a tremor in her voice, and she cleared her throat and straightened her shoulders. “Well, thanks for the help again. I’m going to get a ride and find somewhere to stay.”

“Are you going to stay with friends?”

Sage felt her body stiffen. “No,” she admitted, but didn’t elaborate.

“Where are you going to go?”

Why couldn’t he just let things be?

“Probably a hotel.”

She heard his sharp inhale and turned to face him. His head was tilted back like he was looking up at the stars, but when Sage followed his line of sight, all she saw was the dark web of oak branches stretching above them.

“You should stay with me.” The words were soft, almost whispered. David still looked up, and her eyes dropped down to the shadow of stubble on his throat before she absorbed what he’d said.

“What?” He couldn’t have possibly…

“It’s after ten,” David said, and there was a quiet defeat to his voice that made Sage pause. “It’s late, and I have a really big couch that, if I’m honest, I end up falling asleep on most nights. You can take my bed. I’ll even change the sheets.” He rubbed his eyes. “Please, Sage.”

Sage opened and closed her mouth.

This was a colossally bad idea. But the reality was that she didn’t have a friend she could stay with, and while she could swing a hotel room, it was less than ideal for her budget.

And there was something about David in that moment, like he was hovering right on the edge of collapse, and a very, very small part of her had the feeling that maybe he wanted the company.

She let out a resigned sigh. “Yeah, okay,” she said. She watched as his eyes dropped closed for just a second, some of the tension in his body easing. “And thank you,” she added. “Really, I appreciate it.”

The smile that curved David’s mouth was genuine, and she was reminded of just how handsome he was. So fucking handsome, kind, and annoyingly concerned with her safety.