5. Sawyer #4
My head fell back as I laughed. Something Beckett took as my consent to keep going. I threaded my fingers through his hair and sighed. “Alright. I’ll stay.”
As the morning sun peeked through the curtains, I turned back to take one final look at Beckett.
He laid on his stomach, head turned in the opposite direction.
His arm was outstretched toward the spot I’d just vacated.
It was probably still warm. I could slip back in if I wanted to.
Maybe even get another orgasm out of it before he followed through with his promise to take me home.
But I couldn’t stay.
I shouldn’t have stayed last night.
That was why I snuck to the bathroom twenty minutes ago and sent a text to the only person I knew would not only be awake at this early on a Saturday, but wouldn’t ask questions if I asked for a ride. Though I was willing to question how well my theory would hold up once I got in the car.
I looked down at my clothes. Last night, Beckett had given me a shirt and a pair of his boxers to sleep in. It would be rude to steal them, but I’d never had a chance to find my own underwear and didn’t really want to go commando beneath my white dress, so I decided not to change out of them.
If his cabin was determined to steal my panties, then I’d just have to steal his. It seemed only fair.
Gathering my belongings, I tiptoed down the stairs. Glass from the broken picture frame was scattered across the floor, and I narrowly avoided the potentially loud crunch beneath my sandals as I quietly opened the door and closed it behind me.
Olivia Hart-Bennett’s sleek SUV idled in the driveway. I could just make out her shit-eating grin through the window.
Yup. This was going to come with questions.
I hadn’t known Olivia long, but I’d known of her a hell of a lot longer.
Former CEO of one of the country’s biggest independent record labels, she was Pinecrest royalty.
Her family put this town on the map. She came back to her hometown after her uncle got sick, ultimately deciding to move back for good when he passed away last year.
Thanks, in part, to the love she found with my boss, Duke.
I was thankful the two of them had found one another.
“Well, this is new,” Olivia sang as I opened the door and slid inside, silently reaching for the seatbelt and clicking it in place. Then I piled my clothes on my lap and looked straight ahead.
“Thank you,” I muttered. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know who else to call—”
Olivia held up her hand and placed the car in reverse. “No, no. Don’t you dare apologize for calling. That’s why I gave you my number in the first place. I’m just surprised you used it.”
When Olivia started working with Duke at the bar, she programmed her number into my phone. I vowed I’d only use it for work emergencies, and so far I’d kept that promise. Until this morning.
“You gave me your number so that you could pick me up just shy of six in the morning?” I asked, lips twitching.
She shrugged. “I mean, maybe not this exact scenario, but it’s a hell of a lot more exciting than a call about a lime shortage.” I could feel her gaze on me, feel her barely restrained enthusiasm with the need to ask me what happened, but for some reason I didn’t want to tell her.
I wasn’t ashamed of anything that happened, but if I kept it to myself, it felt special.
Like it was some kind of secret that only Beckett and I shared.
We didn’t even know each other’s last names, which was how I wanted it.
If I knew too much, it’d be easy to look him up on socials.
Then I’d probably obsess and spiral over what I would find, which didn’t sound healthy for anyone.
No, Beckett would remain anonymous.
After a moment of silence, Olivia cleared her throat. “I just need to ask you one question, and then I won’t bring it up ever again.”
“What’s that?” I asked.
She rolled her lips together. “You’re okay, right? Nothing… bad happened?”
I loved her for asking. This wasn’t the norm for me. I didn’t make reckless decisions or burden people with the consequences of my own stupidity. I rarely liked asking for rides when my grandma’s clunker of a car broke down.
“No,” I said, quickly. “It was a great night. I just wanted to go home and get a few hours of sleep before my shift this afternoon.”
Olivia nodded once. “I just want to make sure you know that we’re there to help you if you ever need it.
I know it’s none of my business, but you can come to me with anything.
Duke and I couldn’t make anything work around here if it wasn’t for you.
The help with Frank’s and with the girls.
You’re not just our employee, Sawyer. You’re our friend. ”
I knew that. God, did I know that. Duke had been willing to give me a job when no one else would, and he paid me more than he had any right to. And Olivia, well, she’d been the breath of fresh air Duke, and the bar had needed to turn things around.
“I know. Thank you, Liv.”
We didn’t talk the rest of the way home. Instead, she turned up the volume, and we hummed along to a pop playlist all the way back home to the trailer park.