Chapter 27
SAGE
I lie in bed, and I can’t stop thinking about Dalton—where he is, what he’s doing.
If he and Toby’s mom have decided to get back together, if they want to create a real family for Toby, which I would understand.
I truly would. Family is the most important thing in the world, and a kid deserves to have a mom and a dad, especially one as cute as Toby.
I roll over in the bed and close my eyes. I need to think about something else, anything else. I decide to grab my phone and start scrolling. I see that I’ve got a text message from an unknown number, and I frown.
You can’t get rid of me that easily, the text reads, and my heart thuds.
I have a feeling it’s Parker. I hate that he keeps texting me from all these new numbers, and even though I keep blocking him, he keeps finding new ways to contact me.
I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to tell Dalton.
I don’t want him to think he has to be my protector, but I don’t want him to think I can’t take care of myself—because I really can.
You need to leave me alone, I text back.
My phone starts ringing, and I startle as I think it’s Parker, but I smile when I see it’s Dalton.
“Hi. You’re up late,” I say as my eyes clock that it’s one a.m.
“Hey. I hope I didn’t wake you up,” he says. “I just got home.”
“Everything okay?” I don’t really know what to say. I don’t want to pry, and I’m not going to ask him again. I’m not going to ask him or beg him to tell me what’s going on with Toby’s mom.
“What are you doing right now?”
“You’re not trying to have phone sex with me, are you?”
“No. Really, Sage?”
“I’m just saying, you asked me what I’m doing, and when someone calls you at this time in the morning, it usually means …”
“No. I was wondering if I could see you.”
“Now? You mean, like FaceTime?”
“I was wondering if I could come over.”
“Oh.” I look at the time, and then I think about the fact that Izzy and Rosie are in bed. “I don’t know. Izzy and Rosie are here, and I don’t really want to disturb them.”
“You can come over here,” he says.
“But aren’t Toby and Lucia there?”
“They’re sleeping.”
“Yeah, but what if they wake up? I don’t want Toby seeing me in the bed.”
“And what if I come and pick you up?” he says. “We can go for a walk on the beach and look at the moon.”
“What? Look at the moon? For fun?”
“Don’t you like walks on the beach under the moonlight?” he says, teasing me.
“I do.” But how could he possibly have known that? We’ve never talked about it. My heart pounds for a second, but I don’t say anything. “I can be ready in ten minutes if you want to come and get me.”
“Okay, great. I’ll be there in ten seconds.”
“What?”
“I’m sorry. I’m actually downstairs already. I was thinking about you, and I was hoping you’d pick up and I could see you.” He sighs. “It’s been a long night. Can you just come downstairs? I need to hold you and touch you and feel you next to me.”
“But I’m not even dressed.”
“I don’t care. You always look beautiful to me.” His voice cracks.
I get out of bed. “Fine. I’m coming.” I hang up.
I grab a brush and quickly try to brush my hair.
I look at my reflection in the mirror. I look like I just got out of bed.
My hair is messy. I have no makeup. I’m wearing baggy shorts and a T-shirt, but I don’t care.
Dalton sounded like he needed me, and I want to be there for him like he’s been there for me.
I grab some flip-flops and a baggy sweater and hurry out of the apartment to the elevator.
I see him standing in the lobby, waiting for me. He looks disheveled and tired. I amble over to him, and he opens his arms and wraps me in a huge hug. I hear his heart beating double time as I press my head against his chest, and then I look up into his eyes.
“You look so pretty, Sage,” he says as he kisses me on the forehead.
I lean up and kiss him on the lips. “Is that okay?” I ask, not wanting to overstep any boundaries.
“It’s more than okay.” He smiles at me. “You had a good evening?”
“It’s been cool,” I say as we head out of the lobby.
His car is parked outside.
“I’ll drive us to the beach if you want.”
“Okay, but about that, Dalton. I have a question.”
“What is it?” he asks as he opens the door for me.
“How did you know that information?” I ask, even though I already know the answer. I think I’ve known for a while. “Are you on the app? Did we chat? Are you—”
He groans. “I was going to tell you later. I’m Bradley.”
“You’re who?”
“I’m Bradley,” he says as we both slide into the car.
“I know you might hate me. I know you might want to jump out, but I’m the Bradley you were speaking to on the app.
It was a fake profile that I created. I was curious to see what you had to say.
I just …” He shrugs. “I don’t know. I don’t really know how to make it sound better.
I created a fake profile because I wanted to check in on you and chat with you without you knowing who I was.
And, yeah, I guess I read that you like midnight walks on the beach. ”
I stare at him and shake my head. “You lied to me.”
“You hate me.”
“I should.” I’m tired and annoyed. “And why would you do that? Why would you call yourself Bradley?” I frown. “And that photo, you totally catfished me.”
“Number one, it’s a photo from when I was younger that I used an app to change slightly.
And number two, I know what I did was horrible.
That’s why I stopped communicating with you.
” He looks down and runs his fingers through his hair.
“I’m sorry. If you want to go back upstairs, I won’t hold it against you. I understand.”
“You’re not getting off that easy, Dalton.” I grab his hand. “Why do you look like that?”
“Why do I look like what?”
“You look like you’ve been through hell and back. Is everything okay?”
He shakes his head. “Not really.” He looks over at me. “But I don’t want to dump on you. You don’t deserve that.”
“You don’t have to worry about dumping on me. You already know what I’m going through. Drive to the beach, and we’ll talk there.”
Suddenly, I feel like our roles are reversed.
Suddenly, I feel like the strong one. I feel like the one who’s taking care of him, and it makes me feel empowered, even though I’m still annoyed about the fake profile.
He had a point. He had stopped communicating with me as Bradley.
And while that didn’t make it fully better, my subconscious is telling me that now is not the time to be mad at him for this.
He drives silently toward the beach, pulls into the parking lot, and stops the car. We exit the car, and he heads over to me.
“Can I hold your hand?” he asks boyishly.
I nod. He takes it in his. We make our way down to the beach. It almost feels like we’re teenagers on our first date, sneaking out.
He offers me a small smile. “Just being with you makes me feel a little bit better right now.”
“Really?” I say, not wanting to tell him the same thing, but it is true. I was anxious and worried all night, and now he’s here with me, and I feel better. “So, what happened? Are you and Toby’s mom getting back together or …”
He lets out a long, deep sigh. “It’s not what you think, Sage. None of it is what you think.” He stops and pulls off his shoes. “Want to walk in the water?” he asks.
“Is that your way of asking me to skinny-dip?”
“No, I just feel like having something cold to shock my system right now.”
“Okay.” I slip off my flip-flops, and we head down to the water.
The cool waves lap against our feet and ankles, and he lets out another deep sigh.
He pulls my hands so that I’m now next to him, and he reaches down and grabs my face.
He grabs my neck and leans down and kisses me hard, passionately, like he never wants to stop, like he’s about to go off to war, and this is it, our final kiss.
I finally pull back, gasping for air, looking at him and his manic expression.
“What’s going on? What’s wrong?”
“Just in case I never get to kiss you again, I wanted to have a kiss that I could remember you by, that you could remember me by.”
“What do you mean? What are you talking about? What’s going on?”
“So, Toby’s not my son,” he says.
My jaw is on the floor.
“What do you mean? You’re his dad. I’ve heard him call you Dad.”
“I adopted him,” he says, his eyes searching mine, like he needs my forgiveness, but I don’t know what for.
“That’s good. You used to date his mom or—”
“I never met his mom until tonight.”
I frown. “Wait, I’m so confused.”
“I used to be in the Mafia,” he says. “I was a made man. My dad was Mafia. Jimmy the Fish was Mafia. It’s all I grew up with.
We did some bad things—primarily my dad.
I was going to take over from him. We had a land dispute.
Well, let’s just say, a dispute with the Russian mob, known as the Bratva. ”
“I’m sorry, but I really don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“It’s okay.” He strokes the side of my face. “I’m glad you don’t. Let’s just say, there was a territorial dispute. I was already starting to think that this wasn’t the life I wanted. Igor, Toby’s dad, he ambushed my guys and me one night, and let’s just say, my dad, well, he killed him.”
“What? Like, actually killed him?”
He nods slowly. “Igor pulled a gun on me and was going to shoot me. My dad saw and got him first. Then we found out that he had his son in the car, just a baby. I felt like shit. His dad was gone. Turned out there was no mom in the picture. Luckily, I had a few connections. I decided to adopt him. I felt like the least I could do was give the boy a home, give him a family, but I knew that, one day, he’d want his mom.
I had Brett looking for her. Finally, he found her, and I thought maybe she’d want to be in his life.
Not that I wanted her to have him—he’s my son, and I love him—but I thought maybe she’d want to see him, maybe take him to lunch or dinner or spend time with him.
Turns out, he’s got some siblings that … ” His face turns bleak.