27. Chapter 27
Cole
I had no idea where Sadie had gone. I’d called for her and walked through the house twice. Maybe she’d gone out back. As far as I knew, she hadn’t bonded with my brother’s wives, so I doubted she was at theirs.
Sadie didn’t have a car, so she couldn’t get too far. That brought Alyssa to my mind. She was sixteen. Did she have a license? We might need to look into that.
“Sadie?” I called again.
My phone buzzed. It was a text from Sadie. “Can you take the corn out of the pantry?” I read aloud. “Corn?” I mumbled. “Do we have corn?” We hadn’t been grocery shopping, and we’d been living off restaurant food.
Sadie hadn’t gone to the school until after three, so maybe she’d gone shopping. But with no car?
I pulled open the pantry door, and Sadie jumped out.
“Boo!”
I let out what I hoped was a manly yell and jumped back, hand to my heart.
She burst into laughter.
“What the heck, Sadie!” I said, leaning on the island to ground myself.
“Your face was priceless,” she said, still laughing.
I loved the twinkle in her eyes.
Once my breathing was under control, I took a step toward her. “You’ve chosen poorly,” I said, locking my eyes on hers.
She laughed and bolted from the kitchen. I was right behind her.
She ran down the hallway and up the stairs.
“No point in running!” I called. “You’re going to hit a dead end eventually!”
I let her get farther ahead even though I could have caught her before she reached the stairs.
She giggled and ran toward her room. She darted inside and tried to slam the door, but I stuck my foot in the way, and it bounced back.
She shrieked, and I ran in after her.
“Now what?” I asked in my creepiest voice.
She backed into the far corner of the room, and I walked toward her slowly.
“Okay, time to stop,” she said.
“You don’t get to call that,” I said, getting closer.
She giggled again and jumped onto the bed.
I grabbed her foot, and she toppled into a pile of pillows. She tried to crawl away, but I had her ankle.
“Let go!” she laughed.
“Never.”
I climbed onto the bed and started tickling her.
She squealed and twisted, trying to tickle me back through her own laughter. “Stop! Stop!” she gasped.
I pulled back and sat on my heels. “Bet you think twice before jumping out at me.”
She grinned and lunged for my stomach. I flexed and gave her a straight face.
“Doesn’t work on me, sweetheart. Muscle isn’t ticklish.” I wasn’t sure if that was true. I’d never been ticklish. Not even as a kid.
She tried harder.
“Cute effort,” I said, reaching out to tickle her stomach again.
“What is going on in here?” Alyssa asked, pushing the door open.
Sadie yelped and rolled off the bed.
Alyssa stepped inside as Sadie popped up from behind the bed, her face bright red.
“I don’t even want to know,” Alyssa said. “Will one of you sign my disclosures online? There’s one for every class.”
“I don’t think Cole can sign them,” Sadie said, standing. “He’s not a legal guardian.”
“Then can you do it? Soon? It’s part of my grades.”
“Yep,” Sadie said, pulling out her phone. “Show me where they are.”
“You have to set up a parent or guardian account like at my last school.”
Sadie squinted at the screen.
“I’m going to go,” Alyssa said. “I hate how you read all the small print. That’ll take at least an hour.”
“An hour?” I asked. I wondered if I sounded as pathetic as I felt.
“What’s wrong with that?” Sadie asked without looking up. “Did you need me to do something?”
I sighed and flopped back on the bed. “They’re just disclosures. No one actually reads them.”
Sadie glanced at me. “I do.”
“Thanks a lot, Alyssa,” I said. “I was about two seconds away from a really nice make-out session with your sister.”
Sadie kicked me. “You were not.”
“Oh, I was.”
Alyssa glared. “Gross, Cole. Can you not?”
“Are you moving in?” I asked, trying to shake the almost-kiss energy from my head. Not that it had been almost. It had definitely been heading somewhere.
“Nope. Tiffany said I can stay as long as I want. And she has a hot tub.”
“You can’t stay with her forever,” Sadie said, glancing up.
“Maybe not forever,” Alyssa said. “But I might stay until you two get the weird… whatever you’ve got going on out of your systems.”
I folded my hands behind my head. “It’s here to stay.”
“What?” Sadie asked.
“The weird whatever. So you better get used to it, Alyssa.”
Alyssa laughed. “I’m glad you two are crazy in love, but it’s awkward sometimes.”
“And it’s not going to change,” I said. “In fact, I think it’s only going to get worse. Or better. Depends on who you ask.”
Sadie smiled, dropped her phone, and practically launched herself at me. She kissed my cheek, then found my lips.
“Oh my heck, I’m still here!” Alyssa protested. “I’m leaving. Text me when you’re done, Sadie.”
The door shut.
I deepened the kiss. We were incredibly good at this. We could probably win awards.
She pulled back but didn’t let go of me. “You are so perfect sometimes.”
“Sometimes?” I asked. “What about the rest of the time?”
“Let’s not discuss those times right now.”
I chuckled. “Let me know when I hit those imperfect moments.”
She gave a half smile. “I might.”
I ran a hand over her cheek. “No might. You tell me. Am I already bugging you?”
She smirked. “Only because you’re talking and not kissing.”
“See? Tell me the problem, and I’ll fix it.” I kissed her again.
I had a suspicion that something was bothering her, but I wasn’t sure what. I was paying attention. Trying to see what made the light in her eyes dim, but sometimes it occurred when nothing had happened, and she was good at recovering fast.
Sadie’s phone beeped, and she pulled back. “That’s my alarm.”
“What alarm?” I asked, kissing her cheek.
“I’m going dress shopping with your sisters and your mom. For your mom’s wedding.”
I groaned. “Right now? In the middle of chemistry kissing?”
She giggled. “Chemistry kissing?”
I kissed her softly. “What else could you call it?”
She wrapped her arms around me and rested her head on my shoulder. “I’m usually so good at setting goals and making sure I stick to them. The friends first thing was an absolute fail.”
“But sometimes failing is nice,” I teased, kissing her head.
“Too nice,” she agreed. She pulled back and stared at me. “I’m failing at so many things, though. It’s making me nervous.”
“What are you failing at besides keeping your lips to yourself?”
Her mouth turned down. “I’m letting you fix too many things for me. I’m used to holding Alyssa and me together, and now I’m putting too much on you.”
“You aren’t putting anything on me. All I did was give you a place to live and a super awesome last name.”
I thought she would laugh, but she raised her brows. “And two million dollars.”
“And that. But Grandma Vera just gave me money. It’s not like I earned it.”
“I guess I just feel like there is an imbalance. I’m not bringing anything to this deal.”
I ran my finger down her nose. “Sure you are. You’re helping me by doing pep club and soon the gym. That’s something I’d have trouble with alone.”
She nodded, but didn’t look convinced. I had a new goal. Let Sadie know how much she was helping me.
“I’m not joking,” I said. “I’d be overwhelmed right now without you.”
A car honked, and she jumped up. “That’s probably your sister. I need to go.”
“Have fun.”
She smiled. “Don’t do anything you shouldn’t while I’m gone.”
I grinned. “No promises.”