Promise Me This (Wilder Family #3)

It took me a long time to move from where she’d left me, staring at my hand curled into a fist on the surface of the table. Something felt off. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but under the surface of my skin, it was almost like someone turned a wrench one too many times, and the pieces inside me didn’t fit together right, straining at the edges from too much force.

Upstairs, I could hear Sage and Harlow move around, the water in their bathroom flipped on and off, the low hum of their conversation inaudible as I finally got up and moved from the kitchen, wandering into my bedroom and shutting the door behind me with a quiet click. For a moment, I sank against it and let my head rest on the hard surface.

Outside, the wind picked up, strong gusts that caused creaking in the joints of the roof and walls. It only added to that unease inside me that was churning louder and louder, a steady buzzing in the back of my head. I busied myself by putting away a load of laundry and stripping the sheets off my bed. The front door closed with a slam, and I knew Sage had left for the night.

I’d been so worried that I overstepped with Harlow, and not only was that not the case, I couldn’t help but worry that the growing disquiet stemmed from somewhere—something—else between us. Anxiety over what that was gnawed at the edges of my mind, leaving behind a knotty mess that I didn’t want to look too closely at.