Chapter 14
SADIE
I wake up hungover and happy. Any normal day, that wouldn’t be possible. But today isn’t normal. And the clit-pulsing, head-throbbing conflict going on in my body doesn’t know whether to moan or groan.
Because no matter how much my head is cursing the second or was it the third bottle of champagne – thank you, sis! – my lower belly is all about the memory of what Theo did.
Actual. Freaking . Theo.
And it was… it was mind-blowing.
Serve-my-wildest-fantasy-on-a-platter kind of mind-blowing.
But it wasn’t perfect.
Because in the cold light of day, one quiet truth remains:
He didn’t kiss me.
Not once.
He made me come so hard, I didn’t just see stars, I saw the whole galaxy. Twice. But he didn’t kiss me.
And I don’t know what to make of that.
But one thing’s for sure, next time I take my pleasure, he’s coming with me…
Because there will be a next time. Now that he’s leapt over the moral line he drew in the sand forever ago, there’s no going back.
I want as many ‘take your pleasure’ lessons from Theo as he’s willing to give.
Don’t get me wrong though, I’m not about to get all lovey-dovey. Because falling for Theo all over again, only to be rejected all over again, would be a sorry end to an even sorrier tale. And I’m sick of being sorry.
I’m taking all the good I can squeeze out of this new lease of life – and my temporary one with Theo – and moving forward.
Danny’s still out there, I know. But I’ve quit letting him control me from afar, and it feels damn good.
I roll over in bed, a slow smile spreading… then do a double take. There’s a fresh glass of water on the nightstand, a bottle of electrolytes, and a strip of painkillers. All accompanied by a note. I reach out, fingers unsteady as I pick it up:
Just in case, T x
My smile grows even as my head protests the sudden surge of warmth.
Theo, Theo, Theo …
I pop two pills and take a sip of water. Tap my phone awake and almost back up. 9a.m.!
Lottie never sleeps past six. Ever .
I throw off the duvet and launch upright. Ow, big mistake. I grip my throbbing temple and the mattress edge. Take a shallow breath and try not to die. Then I…
Sta-nd…
Put one foot in front of the o-other…
And open the door, ears straining for signs of life.
But there’s no thundering of feet, no clatter of toys, no raised voices.
Just the distant hum of the TV and the soft burr of Theo’s voice.
I pad towards it and find him cosied up with Lottie on the sofa, Kids TV on the box, though neither of them are watching.
They’re both absorbed in her favourite dino book.
Okay, okay, okay.
Heart, give over.
Ovaries, too.
It is one of the sweetest sights I’ve ever seen – but not one to get all goo-goo-eyed over.
It’s all about the fun, remember.
Not, future family or forever.
Just fun!
And what fun last night was…
The memory sends my cheeks blazing – because yes, I asked for it, and yes, he delivered – but without the confidence-boosting champers in my system, I’m not feeling quite so cocky now.
Plus, I must look like hell.
Last night, the bubbles made me feel like Beyoncé.
This morning?
Like a gremlin who ate after midnight.
I fork my hand through my hair and it gets stuck in my day-old curls – ugh!
What was I thinking, leaving my room without glancing in a mirror?
I briefly consider tiptoeing back, but then his head turns and?—
‘Morning!’ I blurt, tugging the hand from my hair to raise it in a self-conscious wave while the other pulls on the hem of the Guns N’ Roses tee I threw on before bed.
‘Mummy!’ Lottie grins, her bunny-slippered feet kicking, though she doesn’t budge from Theo’s side. And really, who can blame her? If I had Theo’s arm wrapped around me, I wouldn’t move either.
Dangerous, dangerous thoughts.
‘Hey,’ Theo says softly, his eyes full of sympathy for my self-inflicted pain.
And to my horror, I get the weirdest urge to cry.
Ridiculous, I know. But compassion… for my hangover?
Danny would’ve laughed. Maybe tossed me a paracetamol like a dog treat – after I’d nursed his hangovers with pancakes and bacon and no complaint.
Or am I misreading Theo entirely?
Mistaking guilt for compassion in that overly warm gaze?
Is he worrying over what we did – what I demanded and he delivered?
I replay it all – every word, every touch, every feeling – and it shoots straight to my pulse, the throbbing ache almost as acute as the banging in my skull.
‘You okay?’ he says, his intent gaze stripping me bare.
‘Yeah.’ I grin too hard, too bright, desperate to show him I’m good. Because last night wasn’t just good. It was everything . ‘Thanks for the meds.’
‘You’re welcome.’
His gaze dips to the hem of my tee, lingers, then lifts – darker, hotter. His throat shifts. Maybe I’m not the only one reliving last night…
Then I remember how I look and?—
‘Is there coffee?’ I ask weakly.
He nods, and I scarper with a swift, ‘Great. Thanks.’
Coffee. Then shower. Then humanity once more.
‘I’m just going to speak to your mum a second…’
Oh no. Something in his tone to Lottie makes my stomach flip.
Is this it? The part where he tells me it was a mistake? That he’s sorry?
I’m nowhere near human enough to survive that.
Especially not while we’re standing in the exact spot where he… gulp .
I grab the biggest mug I can find and tug the coffee off the hotplate. My ears tingle as his footsteps approach. My spine too.
‘You sure you’re okay?’
He’s so close, I can feel his heat through my tee, his cologne threading through the steam rising off the coffee as I pour. It’s a heady mix that sends my lashes closing as I breathe in deeper.
‘Sadie?’
‘100 per cent!’ I chirp, plonking the carafe back. ‘Or I will be once these meds kick in and I’ve showered.’
I skirt around him to the fridge, letting my hair fall like a shield around my puffy face, but when I swing the door shut, he’s right there. Close. Brooding.
‘Jesus, Theo!’ I blurt, heart thudding.
‘Steady,’ he murmurs, catching my arm. His grip warm, gentle, sure. God, he looks good. Like, Coca-Cola advert, mouth-wateringly good. White tee, blue jeans, smelling of heaven… or sin, depending on where your head wants to go.
And me? I’m a walking ad for how not to look after being gifted the best two orgasms of your life.
It probably wasn’t desire darkening his gaze.
More likely regret – the kind that follows clarity, daylight… and a gremlin sighting.
‘Promise me you’re okay.’
I force myself to meet his gaze and nod. Though the intensity in his eyes, the tightness at their corners… it isn’t me I’m worried about. ‘Are you?’
‘This isn’t about how I feel. It’s about how you feel. I thought I made that clear.’
My heart stumbles. He did. Abundantly. Twice.
And now, the way he says it – low, certain, fervent with care – it hits me in the chest, the stomach… lower.
Then his thumb starts to circle over my skin – dizzying, distracting, delectably divine…
‘Sadie?’
‘I promise you, I’m fine.’ I breathe. ‘More than fine…’
I lick my lips, and his eyes track the motion. His thumb stills. His mouth parts – an invitation or an impulse? Either way, I’m hooked and ready to plunder.
If I’d thought to brush my teeth, that is. Bugger.
‘Thank you,’ I say instead.
‘ Thank you ?’ he echoes, brow furrowing.
‘For last night.’
‘You don’t need to thank me…’ He drags in a breath, his eyes lingering on my lips and then he’s stepping back, his eyes snapping up. ‘But I do need you to pack.’
‘ What ?’ My gut crashes down on the low-burning heat, snuffing it out cold. I close the distance he created, glance at Lottie – still engrossed in her cartoon – and lower my voice. ‘You want us out ? I know last night was?—’
‘No,’ he cuts in, hand raking through his hair as he puts the centre island between us. ‘This has nothing to do with what happened last night… unless you count the idea Mum put in my head.’
The flicker of a smile crosses his lips, but it doesn’t touch his eyes. And it’s those green depths that have me teetering on the edge of all-out panic.
‘What idea?’ I ask, setting the milk down before I drop it and clutching my head.
‘To take you and Lottie away.’
‘ Away ?’
He nods.
‘ Where ?’
‘Pembrokeshire.’
I blink, hand flying to the counter before I fall on it. ‘You want to take me and Lottie… to Pembrokeshire ?’
‘Yes. Today.’
‘ Today ?’ I gawp.
Either my hangover is scrambling the words coming out of his mouth, or this really is as mad as it sounds.
‘What am I missing?’
‘Nothing.’ He shrugs as he looks away. I can’t tell if he’s looking at Lottie or past her, but I get the impression he’s just not looking at me.
And can you blame him, Ms Gremlin?
‘I loved my summers there as a kid. And I think you’d love it too.’
‘I’m sure I would, but?—’
‘Look, I know you said Lottie’s settled here, but she’d get so much more out of being there. Having the beach on her doorstep, rock pools to explore, woodland trails, too. Real space to just… be a kid.’
Yeah, it sounds idyllic. But it’s so left field. And why the sudden urgency?
‘What about your work?’
‘I can work just as easily from my place there. It’s remote but not that remote.’
‘I was going to meet the girls at the coffee shop this afternoon, maybe we could?—’
His jaw twitches. ‘It’s better for me if we set off this morning.’
‘Right, this morning…’ I drawl, nodding slowly, still convinced I’m missing something. I just can’t work out if it’s a good thing, or a bad.
‘It’ll be a holiday for you both, Sadie.’ His eyes come back to me, his tone shifting into something softer, more persuasive. ‘You and Lottie deserve that after everything you’ve been through. I should’ve thought of it sooner, but now I have, let me do this for you. For both of you. Please.’
And here come the tears again…
Because Lottie and I have never had a holiday together. Not one. Unless you count the room above the pub Danny booked for a friend’s wedding. And even then, it was to squirrel us away while he drank the night away with his mates. Close enough to keep an eye on, but not too close.
And this is Theo – workaholic Theo – with his ordered life and meticulous routines, the same ones we’ve been derailing ever since we got here, now offering to take us away and derail it even more.
But for the first time since arriving, I don’t feel bad about it.
Not if it means he’s going to take a long-overdue holiday too…
‘We go on one condition,’ I say.
His mouth lifts to one side, eyes sparkling. ‘ You’re setting the conditions now?’
I cross my arms. ‘I think it’s my turn.’
‘Name it.’
‘You take some time off too.’
‘Deal.’
No hesitation. No qualifiers. Just that.
My arms fall to my sides, body going slack with surprise.
‘Really?’
‘Really.’
Then he runs a hand through his hair again, and I’m struck by the memory of doing the same – fingers tugging, twisting, nails raking…
‘Stop overthinking it, Sadie. And get packing.’
‘You really are serious?’
He grins, but there’s still tension around his eyes – a heaviness I can’t quite place.
‘Have you ever known me to be anything else?’
I think about how serious he’d been last night when he told me I could come again. And mentally relive the highlight: me, spread wide on his kitchen counter, reaching for the stars he promised…
…and claiming every single one.
* * *
Theo
I watch Sadie walk away, fingers clasped tight behind my head, every muscle taut with the urge to chase after her.
She came undone on me just hours ago – shaking, gasping my name, body giving me everything. Trusting me. And fuck, I want her. So badly, it burns.
But that burn is nothing compared to the truth I’m holding back.
Because while I was making her see stars, he was out there. That bastard Danny. He slipped under everyone’s radar and cornered Taylor outside her building. Left her shaken but she walked away unharmed. Thank God.
Sadie wouldn’t have been so lucky.
And that’s what guts me.
Because she’s finally dragging herself out of the wreckage he left – laughing again, pushing boundaries, owning her pleasure… She’s shining. Coming back to life in front of me. And he came this close to destroying it all. He is this close to destroying it all.
Because the moment Sadie learns of it…
No . My body spasms. Just no.
He doesn’t get to take from her any more.
Not a fucking drop.
Not on my watch.
And the sooner I can get her and Lottie out of here, the better.
My phone buzzes in my pocket and I pull it out, jaw already locked.
Taylor .
I glance at Lottie, still engrossed in the TV, and back up into the kitchen before answering. ‘Hey.’
‘Hey…’
I flinch at the sound of her voice. So brittle. So unlike her.
‘Can you talk?’
‘Yeah. She’s packing. How are you holding up?’
‘I’ll be a lot better once you’ve got her out of the city.’
Still that tremor in her voice. The terror. Just the thought of him breaking Tay the way he broke Sadie – two of the most important women in my life – I can’t bear it.
‘We’ll be gone in a couple of hours.’
‘Good. That’s good.’ A pause. ‘Though even then… what’s to say he won’t?—’
My fist clenches around the phone. Nails bite into my other palm.
‘He won’t find us. He has no way of tracking us there.’
Her breath shudders down the line. ‘He said he could smell her on me, Theo.’
Ice slices through my spine.
‘Actually smell her. Said it was her perfume, her shampoo… The freak said he’d know it anywhere.’
I swallow down bile, even as my inner voice accuses me of the same twisted skill. I’d know her anywhere. Difference being, I’d never hurt her. Not ever.
I’d kill for her, though. And that man…
‘His days are numbered,’ I bite out, teeth grinding so hard, it hurts. ‘Axel’s onto him, the police too. They’ll get him.’
They have to. Because I can’t think about the alternative.
‘Until they do, she can’t know about this,’ Taylor whispers. ‘You understand? If she knew he got to me, how close he’d come?—’
‘I know,’ I cut in. ‘I know.’
Because I do know.
It would destroy everything she’s fought so hard to rebuild.
And I’d rather choke on the truth than see her broken again.
‘Thank you, Theo. I don’t know what we’d do without you.’
‘Not a problem you need to worry about. You’ve got me. You both have, for as long as you need.’
And forever more too. Because one thing’s brutally clear – now that Sadie’s back in life, my heart won’t let her go without a fight.
What that means… I’m too fucking terrified to admit.
But this isn’t about how I feel. I tell myself the same as I told her. It’s about how she feels.
Her life. Her freedom. Her and Lottie’s path.
And whatever comes next, I’ll walk it with them – even if it tears me in two at the end.