Chapter 26
DANNY
An hour after my last message, Sadie finally texted me back to tell me she was home.
She didn’t mention the morning-after pill, but I assumed she got it.
I didn’t sleep at all last night. Instead, I kept replaying our fight and dissecting what I should have said instead of what came out of my mouth.
Restless and tired as hell, I’m in a foul mood when I finally give up sleeping and get out of bed. Everyone is still in snooze town—no surprise, since it’s only five past six. I drink a glass of orange juice and stare into space for a minute.
“Fuck. It’s groveling time.”
I get dressed quickly and head to Sadie’s dorm, hoping she’s there. I have no way of getting inside her building, and judging by her radio silence, I have zero hope she’ll answer my call this morning. So I wait in front of the door until someone walks out.
Ten minutes later, a dude who looks like he barely got any sleep steps out, and I slip in before the door shuts again.
My heart is hammering loudly as I take the stairs two steps at a time.
I have no idea what I’m going to tell Sadie, but our story can’t end like this because of a fucking broken condom.
In front of her door, I knock softly at first. When I don’t hear any sound inside, I pound harder and call her name.
“Hold on,” a female voice says, irritated.
Not Sadie. Shit. It must be her roommate.
A disheveled short girl opens the door a sliver. Her makeup is smeared, and I can smell her rancid breath from where I stand.
“Who are you?”
“I’m Danny. Is Sadie in?”
“No. She didn’t come home last night.”
Fuck. I rub my chin in frustration as I wonder where she could have possibly spent the night.
“Do you know where she might be?” I ask.
“No. We don’t keep tabs on each other. Can I go back to sleep now?”
“Sure. Sorry to bother.”
She shuts the door in my face without another word. I can’t even complain about her rudeness. I did come in at an ungodly hour. I pull up my phone and call Andy, hoping he picks up. He does so after the fifth ring.
“Danny, you’d better be dying in your room to be calling me this early.”
“I’m not home. I came to see Sadie and grovel like you suggested, but she didn’t spend the night in her dorm. Do you have any idea where she could have gone?”
“Maybe she went to her dad’s.”
There’s no way she’d have gone to him.
“Probably not.”
“Then I’d start calling her teammates. Start with Vanessa since she’s the captain.”
Duh. I’m an idiot. I don’t know why I didn’t think about that before.
“Do you happen to have her number?” I ask.
“Yeah. I’ll text you. Good luck, bro.”
He ends the call, but a minute later, he comes through with Vanessa’s number. I wait until I’m back in my car to place the call; in case she does pick up the phone, I don’t want anyone eavesdropping on my conversation, even if campus is currently a ghost town at this hour.
To my surprise, Vanessa answers after the second ring.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Vanessa. It’s Danny. Sorry to bother you so early. I was wondering if—”
“Yeah, she’s here. Sleeping now. Do you need my address?”
Wow. That was easy.
“Sure.”
“I’ll text you.”
Before she hangs up, I ask, “How angry is she still?”
“Honestly, I don’t think she was ever mad at you. But you definitely should talk. I’d suggest you stop on your way to grab coffee and some unhealthy breakfast. And since I’m being so helpful, you’d better bring me some too.”
I chuckle. “Sure. I can do that. Thank you, Vanessa.”
“No problem.”
* * *
Thirty minutes later, I’m standing in front of Vanessa’s house.
It’s not far from where Troy and Charlie used to live.
Last year, there was a moment when Andy considered moving into their place while they were traveling, but in the end, he decided to stay put and avoid the hassle.
Jane has a room there, but she spends most of her time at our place.
I realize I’m stalling, which means the coffee is getting cold.
I’m about to get out of the car when Heather, Vanessa’s twin sister, walks out dressed in workout clothes.
She has her sunglasses on and doesn’t seem to notice me parked in front of her house.
She heads straight to her car on the other side of the road.
I wait until she’s gone to step out. The fewer people who know about what happened between Sadie and me, the better.
I hate being the subject of gossip and Sadie does too.
I text Vanessa, letting her know I’m outside. I could knock or ring the doorbell, but just in case Sadie is up already, I don’t want her to ask Vanessa not to let me in. I’m banking on surprise, which could backfire. It’s not like I have a lot of options though.
Vanessa opens the door and tells me Sadie just got up. She’ll be out in a second, and she doesn’t know I’m here.
“Thanks.”
She takes the greasy bag and tray with coffee and sets them on the kitchen counter. I remain standing in the middle of her living room, feeling awkward. She grabs a random cup from the tray and takes a sip.
“They’re all the same. Coffee and milk. No sugar.”
“Perfect. Just how I like it.”
“Do I smell coffee?” Sadie asks from the hallway, but she halts when she sees I’m in the house. “How did you find me?”
“A hunch.”
She narrows her eyes and turns to Vanessa. “Did you call him?”
“No. He called me. I wasn’t going to lie and say you weren’t around.”
“Traitor.”
“You need to talk. I’m just going to drink my coffee in my room. Have fun, kids. And please don’t break anything.”
Sadie crosses her arms and watches her friend leave.
“I’m sorry,” I blurt out. “I said a bunch of things last night that I shouldn’t have. I don’t believe for a second that your vagina has thorns.”
Her eyes widen a fraction right before she shakes her head. “I’m not angry about that comment anymore. I know you didn’t mean it. I acted crazy, I know, and I’m sorry.”
My heart fills with hope, and with that sentiment spreading through my chest, I dare move closer to her.
“Please tell me we’re good, Sadie.”
She drops her gaze to the counter and sighs loudly. “This isn’t about the fight anymore, Danny. It’s about what I want—what we both want.”
“What do you know about what I want?” I ask, wary now.
She glances at me. “You want to play for the NFL. You don’t want drama, and last night was nothing but drama.”
“True, but it was an extenuating circumstance. I like being around you. I didn’t plan on it. I didn’t expect to meet someone I could potentially fa—”
“Don’t say it. Please.” She sounds pained, and it drives a screwdriver through my chest.
“Sadie….”
She rubs her forehead, shaking her head again. God, if that isn’t a sign that I’m about to receive the biggest turndown in the history of turndowns, I don’t know what is.
“I can’t do this. I can’t start a relationship with you, or anyone, for that matter. Yesterday, it was a condom that broke. Tomorrow, it will be a cheerleader who gets too friendly with you. I just can’t deal with the drama of dating someone so visible, so popular.”
“Are you kidding me? You don’t want to date me because I’m popular?”
“It’s not only that. Please, Danny, don’t make this any harder than it already is.”
I’m trembling from anger and frustration. After I swore off getting involved with someone, I had to go and fall for a girl who’s more stubborn and unattainable than I thought I was.
“So that’s it, then. We pretend nothing ever happened between us and we go back to being just friends.”
She watches me with regret in her eyes. “I don’t think staying friends is possible for us anymore. We tried, Danny, and it backfired. We should just go our separate ways.”
Andy told me to grovel, and I was prepared to do that. But I can’t do it. I can’t humiliate myself when it’s clear that what I’m feeling is one-sided.
“Message received loud and clear. I’ll stay out of your way and won’t bother you anymore.”
I turn around and walk out, fighting the urge to look back.
I don’t expect Sadie to change her mind, but there’s a small part of me that wonders if this end is killing her as much as it’s killing me.
I can’t risk a peek though. If I find nothing in her gaze that shows she cares, then it will be even worse for me.