6. Sarah
Sarah allowed Alexis to prattle on as they walked. Seeing Theo had thrown her. And the way he’d looked at her… God… the way he’d looked at her made her want to bury her face in his chest and just live there for the foreseeable future.
She sighed and sipped her latte. She should have expected it. Between the dreams, her mother’s tarot cards, and the fact that Sarah’s life was actually running pretty smoothly, she should have known. The universe had a way of tossing landmines in her path just when she felt like she was on a smooth road. She felt a prickle of awareness on her neck and looked over her shoulder, but nothing was there.
‘Are you okay?’ Alexis asked, giving her a curious sideways glance.
‘I’m fine, why?’
‘A lot of sighing going on over there. Something you want to talk about?’
Did she? Yes… and no. Alexis didn’t know the history between her and Theo. She didn’t know about Byron or about their secret communication or the fact that Theo had asked her to date him… or that she had rejected him.
Why had she done that again?
Oh, right. Insecurities. Hers, not his.
Sarah knew there was always a reacher and a settler in a relationship, and with her and Theo, she would definitely be the reacher. She had been in that position once before, and she’d spent the entire time worrying about the inevitable moment when he would see someone who was more on his level and leave her. And it was exactly what happened, but worse. Simon had cheated on her. It would be ten times more painful with Theo. He had a fucking fan club, for God’s sake. So not only would she be worried about him leaving her for someone better, but she would also be the target of netizens who had an unhealthy obsession with a man who didn’t even know they were alive.
‘I’m just tired,’ she replied belatedly. ‘Work has been a lot.’
‘But the salon is doing well, right?’
Sarah smiled at her friend. ‘Yeah. Almost too well.’
Alexis put a hand over Sarah’s lips. ‘Wash your mouth out,’ she said sternly.
Sarah pulled her friend’s hand away and laughed. ‘I don’t mean it. Of course I’m ecstatic about how well it’s going. As I said, I’m just tired.’
Alexis watched her thoughtfully for a moment. ‘And it has nothing to do with the tall, dark, handsome guy that we just ran into?’ She punctuated the question with a waggle of her eyebrows.
Sarah snorted. ‘Don’t be ridiculous. You know Theo and I don’t even like each other.’
Alexis widened her eyes at that. ‘Um… that was not the impression I got when we picked you guys up from Byron.’
‘I’d had a good night’s sleep in a comfortable bed and had enjoyed a delicious breakfast before a refreshing dip in the pool. Of course I was feeling good.’ Sarah didn’t add that multiple orgasms had a way of making a person feel like all was right with the world and that she’d had a couple of spectacular ones the night before.
Alexis wasn’t buying it, so Sarah deployed the only weapon in her arsenal—deflection. ‘What about you? How’re things in Levexis world?’
‘Levexis world? Seriously?’
‘Alevi world?’
Alexis shook her head, but she was grinning from ear to ear. Sarah hadn’t been convinced at first that Levi would be a suitable partner for her bestie, but he had proved her wrong. Alexis was glowing, and Sarah hadn’t seen her friend so content in years… maybe ever.
She wasn’t jealous… not exactly. Envious, maybe. But who wouldn’t be? Alexis was living the dream. She was working in a job she loved and was adored by a man who thought she hung the moon. Meanwhile, Sarah was working like a dog and going home to an apartment that now smelled like Lynx body spray. And there was the small annoying detail that she didn’t know just how many twenty-something-year-old boys would be camped out in her living room when she walked in the door after a jam-packed day at work. If it wasn’t for the fact that she was paying off a loan from the bank of Mum and Dad to one day own the apartment, she would have moved out herself and left it to her brother. As it was, she had to humour him and their parents for a little while longer. It wouldn’t be so bad if it was a two-bedroom apartment, but the one-bedroom place wasn’t quite big enough for her, her brother, and his never-ending parade of friends. She looked over her shoulder again, sure that someone was following them, but no one was there.
‘I’m worried about you,’ Alexis said.
Damn. Her distraction hadn’t worked.
‘I’m fine,’ Sarah replied.
‘Any idea when Gabe is moving out?’
Sarah grimaced. ‘Not any time soon, unfortunately.’
‘You know you can always come and crash at ours if you need a break?’
‘Thanks, but no.’
Sarah couldn’t think of anything worse. Not that Levi and Alexis’ apartment wasn’t to die for, but she didn’t think it would be any less irritating living with a couple still in the honeymoon phase than it was living with her brother.
‘What about a weekend away? We could all go camping?’
‘All?’
‘Yeah. You, me, Levi, and Theo.’
‘Didn’t I just tell you I wasn’t Theo’s biggest fan? And camping? I do hope you mean glamping, at least. You know I consider anything under four stars camping. And I need somewhere to plug in my curling wand.’
Alexis laughed. ‘Okay, so maybe not camping.’
Sarah sighed again. ‘I would love to, but I can’t afford to take weekends off. Saturdays are my busiest days, and I spend Sundays catching up on bookwork.’
‘You should employ someone to do that for you.’
‘I will. I just want to get through the first year, and then I can look at outsourcing the admin stuff.’
‘Well, don’t forget to take some time for yourself.’
‘That’s why I have a day off during the week,’ Sarah replied.
‘And what did you do on your day off this week? I bet you spent it cutting your mother’s hair before running around doing errands for the salon.’
Sarah shrugged. ‘It’s the life of a business owner.’
‘Maybe, but you need balance too.’
‘I know, I know. But this is just a season, okay? It will all settle down soon, and then I can find that balance you’re talking about. Mum even predicted it.’
Alexis glanced at her and laughed. ‘Since when do you believe anything your mother predicts?’
‘Hey, she’s right sometimes, and believe it or not, she predicted Theo’s return.’
Damn. She should not have said that.
‘What?’
‘Yeah. The other day. She said I would run into a tall, dark, handsome man. And ta-da! Just like magic, I ran into Theo this morning.’
‘That’s kind of a weird thing for your mother to predict,’ Alexis said warily.
‘Well, it is Mum. Besides, isn’t the generic tall, dark, and handsome man a must when being a fortune teller?’
‘Are you sure there’s nothing going on with the two of you?’
‘What would be going on between us? Okay, maybe I was being a bit harsh when I said I didn’t like him, but honestly, we hardly know each other, and he’s been out of the country for six months.’ Six months, thirteen days, and twelve hours, Sarah didn’t add.
‘Well, you are going to get to know him a lot better now,’ Alexis said, and Sarah choked on her coffee.
‘What?’
‘Now that he’s back, the four of us are going to be hanging out… a lot.’
Sarah cleared her throat and wiped her mouth. That shouldn’t excite her. Her insides should absolutely not be doing somersaults right now.
‘You know how busy I am?—’
‘No. I’m not going to let you wriggle out of this. You need a break. I’m not saying you should abandon your salon, but you absolutely will take some time for yourself, and that means spending time with me.’
‘I know what you’re trying to do, and I assure you, I’m fine.’
‘I’m not trying to do anything. I’m just looking out for my bestie. Besides, I’ve missed you. I’ve missed hanging out.’
‘Yeah well, that’s not exactly all my fault,’ Sarah said and then coughed Levi into her hand.
‘Ha-ha, very funny. But okay, I admit it. I’ve been a little… distracted lately. But that’s going to change now. I’ve been neglecting my friend, and I’m determined to make up for it.’
Sarah sighed for the third time… or was it the fourth? There was no deterring Alexis when she had a bone between her teeth. It was easier to just go with it. If it meant hanging out with Theo, well… they were both adults, and Sarah was sure they could deal with it. But it wouldn’t go any further than that. They could be friends. Just friends. Not friends with benefits, and certainly not more than friends. Sarah didn’t think she could survive getting her heart broken by the best-looking guy she’d ever met. And it wasn’t just his looks. She’d had a glimpse of the real Theo that night and… and he was far more dangerous to her heart than the Theo who stared back at her from the pages of the glossy magazines in the salon. Had she secretly kept all those magazines? Sarah refused to answer on the grounds she might incriminate herself.
‘Fine,’ Sarah said, tucking her arm through Alexis’. ‘Bring on the foursomes.’
‘Yay!’
Sarah looked over her shoulder again, but this time someone was there, and they barrelled right into her, knocking her to the ground.
‘Ow.’
‘Rude!’ Alexis called after the jogger as they kept running without looking back. ‘Are you okay?’ She leaned down to help Sarah to her feet.
‘Yeah. Thankfully, my coffee was empty.’
Sarah dusted herself off. It wasn’t as if there wasn’t enough room on the path for him to go around, even if she and Alexis were walking side by side.
‘Some people have no manners,’ Alexis said, hooking her arm back through Sarah’s. ‘Let’s go.’
Sarah allowed Alexis to lead her on, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something strange about the jogger who’d run into her.
But maybe she was just imagining things.