Page 86 of What He Never Knew

Only now, it was because of Sarah.

Just like that day, she made me feel alive. She made me feel young, and limitless, and wild and free. It’d only been a few days since we’d surrendered to each other, since the night we crossed every line that still stood between us. I wanted her, and she wanted me, and we had so much still to figure out but nothing else mattered outside of the fact that we were together.

She was the light I never thought I’d see again, the purpose I thought I’d lost forever.

The last few days had been a blur of piano lessons that didn’t last long enough and kisses stolen between songs. After she stayed out all night that Saturday, she’d been trying to be more careful, returning home to her uncle’s as soon as our lessons were over. For three whole days, she’d been all I could think about, and yet we hadn’t had more than a few hours together each day.

But tonight, she was mine.

She told her uncle she was staying at a friend’s after work, and for the first time since Saturday, I was going to have her all to myself again. It was enough to make me bounce in the shower as I scrubbed my hair, my body, wishing I could fast forward through the night to when we were coming home together.

I liked me better when I was with her.

Rojo was sprawled out on the bath mat when I got out of the shower, still dripping. She glanced lazily up at me, as ifIwere the inconvenience as I stepped around her for my towel.

“You actually going to share the bed tonight?” I asked her with a smirk, scrubbing the towel over my hair.

Rojo just huffed, flicking her tail a few times before she gave me an exaggerated yawn and spread out on the mat even more.

I chuckled. “Guess not.”

I turned on the same Pearl Jam album from my favorite childhood memory as I got ready for work, singing along with Eddie Vedder to the best of my abilities. I felt like a high school kid again, bouncing around, singing and smiling and floating like a damn fool because of a girl. I wondered idly if Sarah and I had gone to high school together, if she would have been interested in me.

I knew without a doubt that answer was no.

I was a little shit, and I didn’t know how to treat a woman back then. Hell, maybe Ineverlearned that lesson. Judging by the way I’d done Blake, the way I’d tried to steal Charlie from Cameron — I didn’t exactly have the best track record.

But I’d change that with Sarah.

It was a vow I’d made to her, to myself. I knew how the odds were stacked against us. I knew it wouldn’t be easy. But, I also knew I’d make it work. I’d find a way.

I had to.

For the first time since my family died, everything felt right. I cared for Sarah, and she cared for me. It was reciprocated, which I found was entirely different than anything I’d ever experienced with any woman in my life before. She made me feelright— for the first time since I lost everything… maybe for the first timeever.

And tonight, after work, I’d get to see her again.

I’d get to hold her, kiss her,bewith her outside of our lessons.

I just had to make it through one short shift.

Checking my watch, I snatched my wallet off the table and rubbed Rojo’s head where she was now sprawled out on the couch. “Be good,” I told her, plucking my keys from the table next. “I’m bringing your favorite person home later.”

Rojo just stretched out farther, eyes lazily drifting closed. I smirked, swinging my front door open and wishing I was at the part of the night where I was walking backinsideinstead of out. I paused at the sight of a familiar car in my driveway, tilting my head to the side as hope fluttered through my chest.

Sarah?

Maybe she couldn’t wait until after work, I thought. But it wasn’t her who stepped out of the old Toyota.

It was her uncle.

I frowned, something tugging at my gut in warning as he watched me from under bent brows once he was out of the car. I swallowed, locking up behind me before I trotted down the stairs and across the drive.

“Evening, Mr. Henderson,” I greeted, offering a warm smile. “How are you tonight?”

Randall returned my smile, though it was tight at the edges as he slipped his hands into the pockets of his slacks. “Good evening to you. I’m doing well, all things considered.”

He didn’t ask how I was.