13. Sage
13
SAGE
L eo stuck to her like glue and Sage was exhausted from babysitting. Shouldn’t it be the other way around? Wasn’t her job to annoy him so much that he’d leave her alone?
Sure, she didn’t leave the house much, but she occasionally went to coffee shops. Or met the girls for brunch when Tavy was in town. And the grocery store, which is the setting of her current frustration.
“These are horrible for you!” Leo said, reading the package of ramen she’d tossed in her shopping cart. They were in the local Mom and Pop grocery store instead of driving thirty minutes to the big city down the road. Sure, Sage wanted to go there. Target, Barnes and Noble, and a pedicure were calling her name, but the idea of Leo Camaro accompanying her to all those experiences made her want to rip her hair out.
“Please go away.”
“No can do,” Leo said, tossing a bag of trail mix into the cart. “After that brick-through-the-window incident,” he whispered the last words like they were some giant secret, “I have orders to keep both eyes on you.”
“Your phone can do that.”
“It tracks you, but it doesn’t allow me to see what’s going on around you. What if there are other baddies trying to cop a feel? Who will break their wrists for you?”
Sage groaned and hit the back of his heels with the cart. “How about I Facetime you? Go home or wait in your fancy car and let me just do my shopping in peace.”
“Absolutely not,” Leo said. “I am here preventing serious death and destruction. You’re welcome, by the way.”
“What could you possibly be saving me from?” Sage asked, rubbing her temples. She had not been sleeping well. Sure, insomnia came in bouts, but she’d been playing more regularly and her stream analytics and views were rising like crazy. She was feeling the pressure.
“Those chips have radioactive ingredients and this cheese sauce, if you can call it that, is made of plastic.”
Sage made a show of putting the items back. “There. Crisis averted. Now go home.”
“Tess’s condo is being fumigated for a cricket infestation.” Leo then proceeded to tell her an entire backstory on that but it mostly involved Tess adopting some exotic frogs and spilling their food— live crickets —all over the kitchen floor.
“Ugh, then go hang out with your family or something.”
“Can’t do that. Mother is having her book club.” Leo shuddered .
“And that’s a problem because…”
“Because her book club consists of women of all ages falling over themselves trying to get my attention.”
Sage snorted then paused. He actually looked disappointed. Like that was a real thing that happened.
“Scared the old ladies will objectify you to death?” Sage asked, trying to add some humor back into the conversation.
“No,” Leo said, not looking at her but instead reading another ingredient label. “No, my mom just wants to set me up with one of her friend’s daughters. She used to be covert about it but now she’s borderline obsessed. I think she’d be happy if I found a husband at this point, so long as he was local.”
“Why don’t you? Sounds like a romcom in the making.”
“I don’t want to settle down here.” Leo rubbed his eyes. “I don’t want to settle. For anything. Or anyone.”
“Is that why you have to be perfect?” Sage paused at the avocados, looking at Leo carefully.
“Nothing is perfect.”
What had he just admitted to? He had a great mom and dad and family life for all she knew. Leo came from wealth. He was fit (she meant this in the most non-objectifying way—he was in good shape, okay?) and he had a high-paying job. But things didn’t look so rosy now.
“What do you want?” Sage asked quietly, breaking the tension.
“I don’t know,” Leo said. It seemed like a confession. Then he went right back to scrutinizing what was in her cart, pulling out the radioactive chips again. “Seriously?” he asked, all melancholy gone from his voice. Back to that arrogant know-it-all. “Fun fact, these chips were just banned in Canada due to their harmful ingredients. Do you want to grow a third eye?”
“That could be useful.”
“No!” He tossed the chips on a shelf.
“You are unbelievable.”
“I will not have you stocking the house with junk food. What am I supposed to eat?”
“It’s my house! It’s my kitchen! You’re eating me out of house and home. Pitch in.”
“Hey! I bought those Girl Scout cookies last week.”
“With my money!”
He had been lounging on her couch downstairs when he hollered up to Sage (who was in the middle of a cozy gaming stream) to tell her there was an emergency at the front door. Sage, in her panic, leaped off the couch, and raced downstairs to see what on earth the problem was. She had thought Squash had tumbled off the couch and broken a leg or something.
No. Leo simply didn’t have cash on hand to pay the Girl Scouts for cookies.
“Okay, so you chipped in,” Leo said.
“And you ate them all!”
“Not true! The new flavor is trash. Those are for you.”
“But they’re trash!” They were absolutely horrendous raspberry-filled things.
This conversation was going nowhere and her headache was getting worse. He had been hovering for days. He literally only went home at night and only when he was certain the cameras were perfect. Sure, he went out and about sometimes, mostly the gym or running, but sometimes he forced her to go on a walk with him. He actually threatened to unplug the internet or something like that. She wasn’t sure if he could do that but she wasn’t about to risk it.
“Why are we out here?” Sage had asked when he dragged her from the house for a walk. All she had wanted to do was nap.
“Fun fact: walking increases blood flow to your brain and can improve mood. And because it’s ten in the morning and you haven’t seen the sun in probably two days.”
It was annoying because he was probably right.
“It will make you feel better. You look like a car wreck.”
“Classy as always.”
The worst was that he had been right. She did feel better after a short walk in the cold sunshine. The jerk.
But she missed her space. She missed someone not eating all her food. She had to go grocery shopping more than ever now and this guy was healthy . Sometimes she just needed a plate of lukewarm pizza rolls and an energy drink to feel like a real human.
“I want the radioactive chips and I want my space and I want a pedicure.” This time she stomped her foot and the few shoppers around them looked puzzled.
“You can go have someone fondle your feet whenever you want,” Leo said, taking the chips out of the cart again. “Just put it on the calendar so I can join.”
“I don’t want you there!”
Leo rolled his eyes. “For a woman who puts her entire life on the internet to see, you’re actually shy about your feet? Come on, I’ve seen you at your worst.”
“I’m not shy! And my whole life isn’t blasted on the internet for everyone. And when am I really at my worst?”
“Each morning you look like you were fighting for your life and lost. Seriously, who hates sleep that much?”
Okay, so the nights were rough. She tossed and turned for hours on end. “I just want a pedicure.”
“And you can have one.”
“Alone. Please wait in the car.”
“Sure.” Leo shrugged. “I could do that.”
Sage groaned. “But you won’t.”
Leo shrugged again. “Only one way to find out.”
Sage stormed off, running over his feet as she passed him with the cart. “I’ll just paint my nails at home for crying out loud.”
“Oh, come on,” Leo shouted from behind her. “Your toes can’t be that bad!”
The stares she got made her want to die a little inside. “Go away,” she whispered when he caught up to her.
“I read an article about pedicures once. It was actually about Latin roots and the study was ‘pedi’ but I digress. My fun fact is that pedicures are correlated with a boost in confidence. The competition making you nervous?” Leo asked, pulling out the other chips she had tried to sneak into the cart.
“No!” But maybe yes.
“Don’t get your knickers in a twist.”
Knickers? In a twist? That guy had a stick so far up in his butt it could scratch his brain.
She knew how to have a good time, she just hadn’t had a chance to let loose in who knows how long since he became her constant shadow. Maybe she was wound up a little tight, not that he needed to comment on it though. He was getting too comfortable, which was evidenced by him paying for and loading up the groceries. What a gentleman, the absolute butthole.
When they got home—no, rephrase. When they got to her home, she texted her friends.
Sage: Clifford’s?
Tavy: For real? It’s spring break, it could be crazy busy but I am SO down.
Roz: Like you could get away from your parents, T.
Tavy: I told them I’m meeting up with a study group. Should I pick you guys up?
Sage: Yes, please! I have so much to tell you.
Roz: good or bad?
Sage: I’ll let you know after I have a few shots of tequila in me.
Tavy didn’t drink. Not that she didn’t want to, but her coaches were strict. So strict that they would probably disown her if they ever found out that she ever set foot in a bar. She took a hit off of a vape pen once (just the fruity flavor) and nearly had a panic attack over the idea of her dad finding out. But she loved to dance and let loose until the guilt of not being a perfect princess crept in and ultimately consumed her alive .
Roz was a free spirit who knew how to let loose and was a great balance to the group. She would be the one with the loudest opinions about the whole bodyguard situation.
Sage wasn’t totally sure why she had kept this little piece of information a secret. Maybe because she didn’t want them constantly checking in on her about it? They were already amazing and called and checked in on her often after George passed, but life had been busy for all of them these last months because they all had new men in their lives. Tavy was secretly dating this total bad boy who her parents would absolutely hate. It was adorable. Roz has this rich older guy she’s fake dating to impress her parents and help him out and the fake dating was definitely turning into more real-life dating.
And Sage. Well, the only man in her life wanted to get pedicures to make fun of her feet and force her to take walks.
The sun had already gone down when Leo bid her goodnight, but not before checking the security cameras and announcing he was locking her in for the night.
Sage got dressed, topped off Squash’s food and water, and waited on the couch for Tavy. She had asked her to park at the end of the street and in no time Sage snuck out of her own house out the back where she thought the cameras had the best chance of missing her and hopped in Tavy’s car. In another ten minutes, they had Roz in the back seat. Perks of a small town.
Oh. And Sage had left her phone at home. Oops.
Clifford’s was the only bar in town. The negative part of a small town. But, as far as bars went, it was a pretty good one. The lights were low, there was ample seating, and a giant space in the middle of the floor where line dancing took place every Wednesday and Thursday night. And luckily for them, it was a Thursday.
Sage felt a pang of guilt for not telling Leo where she was, but she pushed it away. This was her being spontaneous. This was her loosening up. This was her untwisting her knickers. Besides, she’d be back before he ever found out she was gone.
True to Sage’s word, after she had a few shots of tequila in her (and some cherry-flavored thing Roz enticed her into drinking—which was absolutely foul) she spilled her guts.
“It’s Leo Camaro,” she cried when she slid into a booth, a little flushed from dancing.
“Wait what?” Tavy asked, sipping on her Shirly Temple, looking equally flushed. She loved dancing more than anyone.
“He’s my bodyguard if you can call it that…” Sage mumbled the last bit.
“How on earth did that happen?” Tavy asked. They knew Lily sprang for security but that? They gaped at her. For once, Roz was stunned silent.
Tavy pulled out her phone and tapped away on it. “Unacceptable. What’s the company called?”
“Sentinel Security Agency,” Sage said. “I already talked to Lily about it?—”
“Did you tell her everything?” Tavy asked.
“Well, no?—”
“If you did, maybe she’d be more willing to accommodate the situation.” Ever the logical one .
“Is he the guy with a smile like the sunshine?” Roz asked through slurred words. So much for stunned silence.
“Roz!” Tavy yelled over the blaring music. “But yeah, he’s always been good-looking. Too bad he’s the absolute scum of the earth.”
“Too bad,” Roz said. “I mean, did he bring up, you know, what happened?”
Sage shrugged. “Sort of. I mentioned not graduating and he just apologized. The jerk!”
“I might need some clarification about that,” Tavy said. “Isn’t apologizing a step in the right direction?”
“He’s only sorry because it’s awkward between us.” Her friends nodded at her, understanding the absolute jerk move. “And now I’m the bad guy because I don’t want to give him a free pass?”
“So ridiculous!” Roz said. She slammed her hand on the table. “Another round for these sorry ladies. Let’s drink our high school years into oblivion!”
Someone shouted “amen” from across the bar.
“Wait, look at this,” Roz said, holding up her phone. A TikTok played. It was a short fourteen-second clip of a fight—if one could call it that. A man in a suit quite literally dove over a park bench to place his body in between a woman and a knife-wielding crazy person. Not only that, but the man in a suit managed to wrestle the bad guy into an armlock and subdue him, all while the crazy man (likely hopped up on drugs) thrashed about like a fish. It was professional. It was precise. It was brave. It was Leo.
“Are you kidding me?” Tavy gasped, grabbing the phone for a closer look. “That’s the wife of some mobster who was put under protection for testifying or something. I think this was actually a hit attempt or something. Wait. That’s Leo!”
“Oh my gosh.” Sage threw back another shot of that gross cherry drink. “See what I have to deal with? An actual professional who takes things way too seriously. She is a witness in some big case! I am merely a case of nerves. I get scared of shadows! I do not need this killing machine hanging around me.”
“Well according to the comments, he hasn’t killed anyone I guess,” Roz said in her floaty voice. “But people keep calling him Suit Daddy?—”
All three made a face.
“And he’s going viral on Booktok. I think this happened about a year ago too. Wild,” Roz said.
“Just great,” Sage mumbled. Would anyone recognize “Bob” as the Suit Daddy or was the flannel enough camouflage?
“I’m sorry,” Tavy said. “This whole thing just sucks.”
Sage sighed. “Yeah. I’m just ready for this whole competition to be over, then things can slow down. I mean, I was so excited about it but now it just seems like too much. Maybe I’ll take a break for a few weeks and actually get the place in order.”
“Oooh, I do love an organizing party,” Tavy said.
“I don’t know. I think it might be good to keep yourself busy. Might help with the transition to life without George,” Roz said in a rare moment of wisdom. “Besides, that house is creepy. You could use a bodyguard for the ghosts at the very least. Still a bummer because he’s hot.” And the wisdom was gone as soon as it came. Bless her buzzed little brain.
“Hot or not, I just need to make it through these next few weeks.” Sage sipped on her tequila soda.
“You’re tough,” Tavy said. “I know you’ll handle it. I mean, at least he’s not staying in your house right, or making you move to a hotel or something.”
“No, you’re right. I need to stop being a wimp and get a grip.”
“You’re allowed to feel all the feelings,” Roz said, sloshing her drink when she raised her glass in what was supposed to be a toast. Then she glared at Tavy. “That goes for you too. Relax a little. Feel things. That’s allowed, you know. Having feelings is normal.”
“I do!” Tavy yelled. Then the conversation devolved into making fun of Tavy and her clean girl aesthetic and her strict parents and tennis and then Roz managed to drag everyone to the dance floor and learn a new line dance which ended up being a tangle of limbs when Roz got her left and rights mixed up again.
Sage was beginning to relax and actually enjoy herself. Her friends shouldn’t be her friends considering how different they all were, but it was a good balance and she didn’t question it.
Watermelon Crawl was just coming over the speakers (and Roz was properly freaking out because they hadn’t heard that song in forever) when a familiar face entered Sage’s field of vision. Well, it wasn’t exactly a familiar face. It was Leo Camaro, and he was looking…angry. More than angry, the guy looked furious. His jaw was clenched and he scanned the crowd with intensity, and when his eyes locked onto Sage he looked positively murderous.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Leo demanded when he finally reached Sage through the throng of people lining up to dance.
“What does it look like I’m doing? Knitting?” Sage tried to sound tough but there was something in the attitude of Leo that made her nervous.
“You have a lot of explaining to do,” he growled through gritted teeth. Despite the loud music and the stomping of boots (and Tavy’s sneakers, seriously who wore sneakers to go line dancing?) Leo’s voice cut through the noise. “Come with me.”
“Wait, what’s going on?” Sage asked, letting herself be drug from the dance floor. Despite Leo’s anger, he wasn’t rough with her, if anything, he was gentle as he guided her from the chaotic crowd, large hand on her lower back. But there was something different in the way he carried himself. This wasn’t the almost bored security guard. This was a guy on alert. This guy meant business.
“Hey!” Roz called after them, dodging people and trying to make it through the crowds, having a much more difficult time than Leo had. It was like his anger emanated off of him and people gave him a wide path.
“Stop!” Roz called again, finally meeting Sage and Leo. “What do you think you’re doing, Mr. Sunshine Boy?”
“What?” Leo asked.
“Yeah!” Sage said, finally gathering her wits. She wrenched her arm from his grasp with unnecessary force and stumbled back a few steps. “What’s going on? ”
“Who is this?” Leo jerked his head to Roz.
“I’m her best friend, so listen up buddy, you’re not allowed to be mean to her.” She leaned into Sage, attempting (and failing) to whisper. “Oh my goodness he really is cute though!”
Leo rolled his eyes. “Okay, Best Friend. Do you have a ride, ‘cause I need to take this one home. Something came up.”
“I’m her ride,” Tavy said, joining the group.
“What are you doing?” Sage asked, slightly embarrassed as if a parent had caught her sneaking out or something.
“We have a situation,” Leo whispered. “Let’s go.”
“Let me grab my bag at least.”
“Your friends will get it, we need to go. Now. Besides, I know you don’t have your phone or anything important in there.” He had his hand around her arm again and was leading her out of the bar. Some part of Sage wanted to revolt and demand answers, but she also didn’t want to make a scene…and this felt different.
Sage shook Leo off of her when they got to the parking lot but he kept his hand on her lower back, guiding her to the car like it was a dance and he was an experienced leader. He led her to his car and opened the door, ushering her in, and closed it promptly behind her. Leo hopped in the driver’s seat and locked the car behind him. He stared out at the bar for a moment while inhaling a long breath. Then he let it all out, “What on earth were you thinking?”
“What is going on?” Sage asked, completely ignoring his question .
“Of all the stupid things you could do, seriously, what were you thinking?” Leo growled.
“I don’t know what’s going on, where are we going?”
“To the police station.”
“What!” Her stomach churned.
“While you were out dancing the night away, a guy tried breaking into your house. I got the alert and managed to get there before he got away. I called the cops but got there first and held him until they came and took him away. You need to make a statement and press charges.”
“Oh, my goodness,” Sage mumbled. “Who was it?”
“Jimmy Slade.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know his background. I would have had a chance to do some research if I hadn’t spent the last hour tracking you down. Now answer me, what on earth were you thinking?”
Suddenly embarrassed, Sage did what she did best: deflect. “Did that Jimmy guy want to, you know, hurt me?”
Leo paused for a moment, let out a sigh, and then said, “Jimmy Slade is a skinny kid, not even seventeen. Maybe weighs twelve pounds. I think he’s a weird fan who managed to find out where you live. Now answer my question. What. On. Earth. Were. You. Thinking?”
“I needed to get out!” Sage said. “I wanted to go dancing with my friends, feel normal, you know? I didn’t want you looking at my feet or making fun of my music or judging me for growing a third eye because I love those horrible chips!”
“Nothing about your situation is normal! There isn’t going to be a normal for the next few months for you! Why didn’t you tell me where you were going?”
Sage leaned against the window, watching the moon reflect on the damp streets. “I don’t know,” Sage admitted. “I figured you had my location on my phone, isn’t that enough?”
“That means nothing, especially if you don’t have your phone.”
“Oops.” She meant it to be a snide remark, but instead, it just sounded like a pathetic apology. An admission of guilt.
“That’s all you can say right now?” Leo was fuming.
“Well, I could say I’m sorry.”
“Are you?”
“I’m not sure,” Sage admitted. “I think I am. It was not very nice of me to ditch the phone like that. I do feel bad. Mostly I’m just confused and overwhelmed. I just want a break.”
Leo scoffed. “Well, that is definitely not going to happen now. Clear out the guest room, Love. You officially have a roommate.”