Page 24

CHAPTER 23

DON’T FALL FOR IT

SAGE

Sage slowed to a walk as she muttered an apology to the frowning flight attendant at the front of the plane.

Half of her hair was falling out of the braid she’d slept in, and her eyes were gritty with sleep — or the lack thereof. She walked down the empty aisle, painfully aware that every fucking passenger was watching her find her seat.

Of course she immediately saw David, sitting about halfway back with a frown pulling down his lips as he watched her. She couldn’t hold his gaze.

When she passed him on her way to the single empty seat toward the back of the plane, she muttered a quick “Sorry,” but didn’t look at him.

She couldn’t.

Finally she settled into her seat between two of the freshmen players, offering them both what had to be a strained smile before putting her earbuds in and closing her eyes.

Her head was a fucking mess.

She’d been on such a high after the game. Even though it had ended in a loss, there had been such a tangible sense of togetherness in that locker room that even Sage had felt the heady belonging of being a part of the team. They’d left everything out there on the court, and it was the perfect culmination to a season that, while it had started rough, had ended in greater accomplishments than anyone had expected.

And then there had been David, who at the beginning had looked so uncomfortable in his position. In those early games, she’d watched him like she was trying to learn him. To understand him. He’d fidgeted with the sleeves of his blazers. He’d second-guessed himself when the players asked him questions. His uncertainty and lack of confidence had been right there on the surface, where anyone could see it.

But he’d changed. Somewhere along the line he’d found something inside of himself to draw on. Something that lent him strength, calm, and the self-assuredness of someone who knew that they were right where they belonged.

Somehow he’d become more beautiful too.

He’d always been nice — so fucking nice — to look at, but now Sage got the sense that maybe he felt like he was worthy of it all. His posture had straightened. His wide, uninhibited smile was almost constantly on his face. He moved decisively, spoke with certainty, and where Sage had been drawn to him before, now her body had convinced her that she belonged permanently cuddled up on his lap with her face nuzzled into the stubble on the underside of his jaw.

It was a ridiculous, almost silly feeling, but rather than laughing it off as a moment of hormone-fueled insanity, Sage found herself actually entertaining the idea. He’d said “ After the season” when she’d kissed him, and she’d nodded. And now, finally, they’d arrived at that moment that had seemed so far into the future that Sage hadn’t totally believed that it would actually come to pass.

In the moments after the game, Sage had wanted, more than anything , to blow off her family and drag David Hughes to the airport and onto the next flight back to Charleston. Back to the world they’d created, together, between their two apartments. There was nothing stopping them from — what exactly she didn’t know, but she hoped like hell that it involved seeing David Hughes naked and getting beard-burn from how much time she planned to spend kissing his jawline.

Another more hesitant, fragile part of herself hoped that it also included reading on the couch together and taking Daisy for walks. Sharing tots at The Grove. Grocery shopping. More dancing in David’s arms. A continuation of the things that made up the landscape of their friendship.

But her mom and Brinley had rushed toward her with open arms, and all thoughts of running away fled as she burrowed into the familiar warmth of her family.

“Tough loss,” Brinley said, tucking a piece of Sage’s hair behind her ear with a proud smile on her face. “But you looked like a badass up there.”

Sage leaned heavily into her mom’s arms, inhaling the familiar patchouli scent that she’d watched her mom dab onto her neck every morning throughout her childhood.

“Hey, Mom,” she said, feeling a wave of emotion that only a reunion with a mother could bring up. “I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too, Sagey.” She planted a soft kiss on her cheek and then drew back so that she could look her in the eye. “You are beautiful. You know that, right?”

Sage rolled her eyes as she felt her cheeks heat. “Stop it.”

Brinley let out a musical laugh. “She’s right, you know. You look hot as hell right now.”

“Did I see Coach White on the other team’s bench?” Her mom looked genuinely curious, like she was inquiring after an old friend.

Sage waited for her body to respond, waited for muscles to cramp and her gut to hollow with the dread that talking about Evan summoned in her. But there was nothing besides a little sliver of pain, like prodding a bruise that had faded to yellow.

“Yep,” Sage replied. “It’s him.”

Her mom beamed, her face carving into the deep lines of someone who had managed to find plenty of laughter throughout their life. “Did you say hello to him?”

“Yeah, Mom. Sure did.”

She caught Brinley staring at her from behind their mom’s shoulder, her eyes wide with the unspoken expression of a sister who’d been left in the dark. Sage shook her head, silently promising Later .

“How’s your hotel?” Sage tried to listen to her mom and Brinley argue about the conventional air freshener the cleaners had used in their room, but her eyes had found David, who was standing among the players and their families on the other side of the lobby.

He was already watching her. She could feel his gaze on her in the way that two people who are somehow attuned to each other notice such things.

David looked at her without any hesitation, like he knew that they would go home together at the end of it all. And then his smile spread across his face, and Sage felt warm. Warm and good and right , like she was right and he was right and they were right together.

“Why is he looking at you like that, Sage?”

Sage snapped her eyes over to her mom, who watched her with that sharp, almost bird-like pointedness that had always signaled trouble.

Brinley let out a huffed exhale. “Mom, leave her alone.”

That only seemed to fuel the ire of Cheryl Fogerty, who rounded on her older daughter with a pointed finger. “What? I know about men like that.” She glanced back over at Sage, who was trying to use telepathy to tell the stupidly handsome man across the room to stop fucking looking at her . Her mom went on. “They come in all big and good-looking and powerful with their age and wisdom and convince you that you can’t live without them.” She shook her head. “Don’t fall for it, Sagey.”

It wasn’t her mom’s fault that she didn’t know what had happened between Sage and Evan White. In the eyes of Cheryl, Coach White had been an inspiring mentor who took a special interest in Sage’s future. The truth was that the situation her mom was warning her about had already happened. It had happened when she was young and naive and so jaded about love that an older man giving her attention had felt life-saving at the time.

That wasn’t what she felt about David. That wasn’t who David Hughes was.

“Mom, he’s not like that,” she argued, keeping her voice low to avoid being overheard by the people around them.

Her mom gave her a wry, almost pitying smile. “That’s what they all want you to think. They see a strong and beautiful young woman like you and try to capture your shine all for themselves. Don’t do it! Don’t give up your freedom for anyone!”

Sage felt a throbbing bloom behind one of her ears.

Brinley stepped closer and put a hand on their mom’s shoulder. “Mom, stop it,” she hissed.

“I won’t see her hurt, Brinley.” Cheryl was wild-eyed as she looked between her daughters. “I won’t see her make the same mistakes I did. Your father was just like that, Sage. He was handsome and older and seemed to have it all figured out.” She wiped at her nose with the back of one hand, the various beaded bracelets she wore rattling against one another. “It started small, with me giving up little things to make our lives work together. First it was going dancing with my friends, and next thing I knew it was my career! My financial independence. And then when he left us, I had nothing. There was nothing of myself left.”

“Jesus, Mom,” Brinley snapped. “Can you please stop putting your own baggage on her? Sage is perfectly capable of making her own choices.”

“Fine, fine.” Their mom waved her hands in surrender, her eyes once again kind and so recognizably maternal. “Just be careful, okay?”

Sage could do nothing but nod. Her body, which had just been so full of warmth and confidence and certainty, was cold.

Cold, hollow, and numb.

But still she’d gone with them to dinner at a local spot Brinley had found, and they fell into familiar conversations and jokes and laughter. She’d shared Brinley’s bed in their hotel, claiming it was easier to crash with them than to go back with the team.

And once their mom had fallen asleep, the two Fogerty daughters shared a whispered conversation that lasted late into the night. Sage told her sister about seeing Evan again. About going to him after the game and the pain and closure she’d come away from the situation with. She told her about kissing David, and about what she hoped was going to happen when they got home.

Brinley told Sage about her boyfriend, Rohan, who was so deeply devoted to her. She talked about how he cooked for her, confessed his fear of disappointing his father, and loved her in a way that was so shockingly selfless that neither of them could believe that he was real.

At some point they’d both fallen asleep.

When she’d given her rushed goodbyes that morning after oversleeping, Brinley had held Sage tightly against her, holding her in place long enough to whisper:

“Live your own life, Sage.”

Her sister’s words still echoed in her head as the roar of the engines pulled her into sleep.

* * *

When they got back to Southeastern, Sage exchanged farewells with the players, making numerous promises to meet in the gym to shoot and play pick up. If any of them noticed that her smile was forced or her mind was elsewhere, they didn’t comment. Her bullshit was her own, and she didn’t want to take away from what these guys had just accomplished. She remembered what it had been like in the hours following the ending of the season.

Her mom’s words had thrown her off of her axis. Rants like those from Cheryl Fogerty were nothing new, but there was something different about hearing it directed at her. To realize that there were perceptions about any situation where an older man was pursuing a younger woman.

Sage honestly hadn’t taken that into consideration.

Of course she was aware of his age. She had the internet — she’d looked at what years he’d been in college. But beyond that fact, his age hadn’t come up in their lives in any meaningful way. Sage took pride in being herself, in owning her body and her actions and moving through the world with confidence.

But she did give a shit about people thinking she was weak or unable to take care of herself. Is that what people would think if she and David were together as a couple? Would they think that Sage saw David as an easy ticket to a comfortable life?

Fuck .

Somehow she managed to dodge a frowning and determined David and finally, Sage was safe in her car, driving home. She didn’t turn on music, needing the silence to try to tease through the tangle in her head.

As soon as she was home she got in the shower, turning the water hot enough that it smarted the surface of her skin. Once she was out and dry she sought out her comfiest clothes: old sweatpants, a hoodie, and thick wool socks.

She grabbed her phone from her bag. Guilt curdled her stomach as she bypassed the ten text messages from David, but she wasn’t ready yet. She just needed a little bit of time.

Maggie answered on the second ring. “Hey, what’s up?”

“Can I come over?”

There was a moment of quiet. “Are you okay?”

“Not really.”

“Come on then.”

* * *

Maggie’s place was about 15 minutes northwest of town, in a second floor apartment in a building that looked like it hadn’t been painted in the past twenty years.

“You made it,” Maggie said, holding the door wide open.

Sage gave her friend a grateful smile. “Thanks for having me.”

The apartment was cozy and reflected a level of interior design that Sage could only dream of possessing. Between the colorful rugs, bright paintings, silver-framed mirrors and at least seven different-colored orchids all in full bloom, it was easy to ignore the out-of-date appliances and the cracked formica floors.

“I love your place,” Sage said.

Maggie, who was dressed down in cotton shorts and a white men’s undershirt, shrugged, adjusting the ponytail on the top of her head that looked like a fountain. “It’s not much, but it’s mine and the rent’s good.” She pointed to the long futon couch, covered in a floral patterned blanket. “Go. Sit. I’ll get snacks.”

Any doubt that Sage had felt about calling on her relatively new friend evaporated at the mention of snacks.

Minutes later, they were both bent over a plate of carrots, bell peppers, and potato chips, along with a tub of some sort of creamy dip that Maggie had made.

Sage swallowed a bite, licking a drop of stray dip from the corner of her mouth. “How’ve you been?”

Maggie’s face softened. “Good. Really good.” She stretched out one of her legs, wiggling her painted toes. “Work at the bar is good, school is good —”

“School?” Sage looked at Maggie, incredulous. “You’re in school?”

“Beauty school,” Maggie said, obviously trying to downplay it.

Sage threw a pepper at the other woman, who shrieked when it fell down the front of her shirt.

“Beauty school is badass, Maggie. How long have you been going?”

“About six months now.”

Sage shook her head. “Seriously, that’s so cool. I’m unfortunately underskilled in the beauty department.”

“Shut up.” Maggie rolled her eyes. “You’re a natural blonde and you’re hot. Now tell me what’s goin’ on with you?”

Sage’s smile faded. “My mom said some things that got under my skin and now I’m ignoring David.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not really.”

Maggie hummed. “Want to watch Grey’s Anatomy and forget about the world?”

A relieved laugh burst from Sage’s chest. “Fuck yes.”