Chapter 12
SADIE
Nash is dressed as a trophy or maybe an Academy Award for Halloween. The way he went all out has me smiling my face off.
He’s wearing gold tights, gold shorts, and a fitted gold shirt—no comment on how good it looks on him. But the best part is the gold body paint that covers every inch of his skin and hair. From across the party, he really does look like a human-sized trophy. And every so often, he poses in the classic trophy position.
Not that I’m watching him.
I just love Halloween and respect anyone who puts effort into their costume. Where’s the fun in it if you don’t dress up?
I’ve been this way since I was a little girl, and it’s like everyone close to me is boring and lazy during this holiday. Last year, I begged Stetson to dress up with me. I needed a partner so we could be Jack and Rose from Titanic— minus the nude drawings.
I’ve only been planning this year's zombie costume since May. That’s why I was thrilled when Reggie announced last week that he was hosting a Halloween party at his apartment. I needed a place to wear my epic costume.
“I can’t even take you seriously with all that scary makeup on your face.” Nash fills his plate with a few hors d'oeuvres. I knew if I stood by the food table long enough, I’d have a good chance of accidentally talking to him. “You must be going for the best costume of the night award.”
“I’m a zombie.” I lift my chin, proud of the final product. “If there is a costume contest, I’ll definitely win.”
“I hope you do.” His eyes glimmer. “Winner gets to take home the trophy.”
“Let me guess. You’re the trophy I get to take home.”
He doesn’t need to answer. The gloating in his eyes says enough.
My phone vibrates in my leggings, but there’s so much zombie fabric hanging all over me I can’t get to it.
“Hey, I was wondering. Have you ever seen a professional football game?”
I abandon the search for my phone, partly because of my costume and partly because the call ended. “No, I haven’t.”
“I have two tickets to Sunday’s game.” Suddenly, Nash is all fidgety and nervous, and it’s adorable. “I thought maybe you’d like to go. You know, see Soldier Field.”
“With you?”
“It’s not a date. It would just be two co-workers hanging out.” His lips pull into one of his mischievous grins. “Actually, now that I think about it, it could be a date. It’s our day off, so technically, I won’t be your boss that day.”
“So you’re only my boss when we’re at work?”
“That’s right. Outside of work, I’m just the cute guy from the Cubs game. Or now I can be the cute guy from the Bears game.”
I laugh at his logic.
“So what do you say? Would you like to hang out with me outside of work?”
“I don’t know.” I scratch my ear, wanting to say yes, knowing I probably shouldn’t. My eyes catch something familiar behind Nash. “Stetson?”
“Oh, come on. Don’t pull the boyfriend card on me. The guy’s been absent since you moved to Chicago.”
“No, Stetson is here.” I push past Nash and rush to the door where Stetson stands with Harper. “What are you doing here?”
“Sadie?” His brows drop. “I didn’t recognize you with all that makeup.”
He wraps me into his arms, spinning me around, giving me the perfect view of Nash’s stoney eyes.
“What are you doing here?” I repeat.
“I missed you.” He shrugs.
“Why didn’t you just call?”
“I hate how things are going between us, and I felt like I needed to come here and fix everything face to face.”
“How did you find me?” My eyes quickly dart to Nash. His clenched jaw says a lot.
“Your mom has your location. She gave me the address.”
My head is having a hard time catching up. “You drove here?”
“Yeah, all day. I just got in town. Came straight to you. I tried calling a minute ago to give you a warning.”
“I couldn’t find my phone because of my costume.”
“What do you think of my costume?” Stetson beams.
He’s wearing a suit. Like he always does.
“I’m a lawyer. Get it?”
“Yeah, you’re a lawyer.” My smile is fake, but it’s there.
He hugs me again, planting a quick kiss on my lips. The last time I kissed Stetson was almost two months ago when I was home for Tate’s funeral.
“Are you surprised I’m here?”
“Yes, I wasn’t expecting you at all.”
“I just know how much you love Halloween, and I wanted to do something special. It’s been too long since we’ve seen each other.”
It’s the effort and the grand gesture I’ve always wanted him to make. So why, in the back of my mind, am I worried about Nash?
“Are you going to introduce me to your friends?”
“I only know the people I work with. Everyone else is a stranger.” I spin, looking around the crowded apartment. My gaze stops on Nash again. This time, he gives me a tight smile, tipping his head as if he’s happy for me that Stetson showed up, but I know he feels as blindsided as I do.
Stetson showed up like a reminder that I have a completely different life waiting for me back in Skaneateles. I’m pulled in two different directions. I love the freedom and unpredictability of my life in Chicago, but it feels like my future is in Central New York. I may push against the life plan laid out for me, but it’s still the plan. It still has elements of what I’ve always wanted—a marriage to Stetson, taking over my dad’s business, settling in Skaneateles, and raising a family.
Those dreams have been at the root of it all ever since I was a little girl.
Am I really prepared to give all that up because Nash makes me want and hope for different things?
I don’t know, and I definitely don’t know how I’m supposed to figure it out.
NASH
I’ve kept my distance from the happy couple all night.
Am I pouting? Maybe.
Am I pissed? Yes.
But I don’t want Sadie to know, so I pretend I’m having the time of my life across the room from her. Because, really, I have no reason to be upset. I’ve known about Stetson from day one. And it’s not like she invited him here. He just showed up, and he’ll leave again, hopefully. I don’t want this weekend to be the time they get back together or rekindle their relationship.
I’ve been holding out on pursuing Sadie the way I want because of the internship, but there are only two months left, and I plan to start slowly shifting things between us. Hence the invite to the Bears game, which obviously she won’t be going to now that Stetson is here.
My eyes drift to them. Stetson is trying to dance to the techno music but looks like an idiot doing it. Honestly, he seems like the type of guy whose ego enters the room before he does.
I will never understand why Sadie still holds on to him, especially after he broke up with her for pursuing something important to her. I mean, what kind of guy does that?
The music fades, and Stetson gets everyone’s attention.
He’s going to make this about him.
“Hey, I’m sorry I crashed your party. I don’t know most of you, but I drove a long way to be here with my girl.”
My girl?
Dude, he gave Sadie up the second he ended things.
He takes Sadie’s hands, facing her. “I fell in love with you in the third grade. Back then, you had two long pig-tail braids and buck teeth, but I thought you were the cutest thing I’d ever seen.”
“Awww.” Harper sighs from the corner.
This sounds like the beginning of a proposal or some kind of love confession. I straighten, hanging on Stetson’s every word.
“But the woman you are today is even better than anything I could’ve imagined. Sadie, I’ve shared every big life moment with you since I was eight, and I want to share every other moment with you for the rest of our lives.”
Oh, crap, it’s a proposal.
Stetson drops to one knee, and the weight of my feelings for her sinks my heart down in despair. He pulls out a gigantic diamond ring and holds it up. My eyes shift to Sadie. It’s hard to tell with all the zombie makeup, but she seems surprised, maybe even torn.
“Sadie, will you marry me?”
I’m a guy, and even I know this is the least romantic proposal ever.
Her eyes flick to me, and everything I’ve ever wanted, my future happiness, hinges on her answer. I’m inwardly screaming don’t do it , but it’s not enough. She dives into Stetson’s arms, saying yes on a whim.
I’m shocked.
How did Stetson go from a kind of boyfriend she barely thinks about when she’s with me to her fiancé? None of it makes sense.
The guests cheer while I escape to the kitchen.
I’d leave, but Lindy dropped me off and took my car to her work Halloween party and will come back to pick me up.
I’m completely heartbroken and stuck.
I spend the next hour doing Reggie’s dishes, cleaning up the mess throwing the party caused him.
“I’ve been looking for you.” I turn, already recognizing Sadie’s voice behind me. “I thought maybe you’d left.”
“No.” I chuck my dish rag onto the counter. “I’ve just been helping Reggie clean up a little.”
“Oh.”
“I guess congratulations are in order.” A better man would do a better job feigning happiness or excitement.
“Yeah, it was a total shock.”
“You’re telling me.” I hate the edge of bitterness that escaped with my words.
“I didn’t know he was coming.”
“You couldn’t have foreseen that he’d propose to you on Halloween? The most romantic holiday of the year.”
She must sense my mockery because she fires back, “I love Halloween, and Stetson knows that. It’s perfect for me. For us.”
“Bull crap. No woman on the planet wants to get engaged dressed like a freaking zombie.”
“I put a lot of effort into this costume and?—”
“Why did you look at me right before you said yes?” I step toward her.
“I…I…didn’t. You must’ve imagined it.”
My body pitches forward, closing in on her space as I whisper, “Why did you say yes?”
Her head lifts. It would be so easy to hook my finger under her chin and pull her lips toward mine—make a mess of that ridiculous zombie makeup and her stupid proposal.
“You know why I said yes.”
I shake my head like her answer doesn’t cut it. “You haven’t even been together the last four months, and then he just shows up here with a ring, and you say yes.”
“Stetson and I have a history together. I don’t need the last four months to tell me it’s right. Marrying him has always been the plan.”
“Whose plan?” My eyes dance across her face. “Yours or someone else's?”
“It’s my plan. I wouldn’t say yes if this wasn’t what I wanted.”
“I thought you were feeling…” I lean in even closer, feeling her warm breath against my lips. My words are left unspoken between us. What good would saying them now do? It would only hurt her. So I take a step back, my jaw turning hard. “Forget I said anything.”
“Nash—” she begins but is interrupted by Lindy’s sing-song greeting.
“Hellooooo!” Lindy spins as she enters the kitchen, letting her Little Bo Peep costume twirl around her ankles.
I take another step back, resting against the counter opposite of Sadie.
Lindy’s smile falters when she feels the obvious tension in the room. “What’s going on here?” Blue eyes bounce to me for some answers.
“Lindy, this is my intern, Sadie.” I gesture between them. “Sadie, this is my cousin, Lindy.”
“Oh, my gosh!” Lindy squeals, quickly shuffling forward to hug her.
Sadie’s brows jump as my cousin squeezes her to death.
“I’m so happy to meet you.” She pulls back, keeping her hands on Sadie’s shoulders. “Nash won’t stop gushing about you.”
I rub my brows in an attempt to ease the awkwardness.
“No, seriously!” Lindy laughs. “Every day, it’s Sadie this and Sadie that. Or you should’ve heard what Sadie said today. Or Sadie looked so?—”
“Lindy!” I try stopping the rolling snowball that is my well-meaning cousin. “She’s engaged. Sadie’s ex - boyfriend showed up unexpectedly tonight and proposed to her.”
Lindy looks at me over her shoulder. “On Halloween?”
I nod.
She turns back to Sadie with lowered brows. “No, no, no. I thought you and Nash were?—”
“Lindy.” I shoot a withering glare to my cousin. “What’s done is done.”
She morphs her frown into a smile, hugging Sadie again. “Congratulations!”
“Thanks,” Sadie says.
“Well”—I heave out a giant breath—“should we go?”
Lindy knows me well enough to see I want to get the heck out of here.
“Yep, let’s call it a night.”
I nod once at Sadie as she stands in the center of the kitchen, then I leave without a glance back.