Shawn twirls a bar towel around with his hand, eyes focused on Sawyer and Willow. “You seem to think she’s his girlfriend, but he was here just last week, sitting right where you are now, talking to that very same girl …” He nods in the direction of the booth I know Sawyer and Willow are sitting in. “And I happened to overhear that he was very much into some girl and thought he’d messed it up.”
Piper’s face screws up in concentration. “You think he was talking to Willow about Hadleigh?” She taps the bar with her finger. “Maybe that was after he almost kissed you in the workroom the first time.”
“I’d bet money on it. I remember something to that effect.” Shawn bobs his head while he wipes down the bar with the rag. “If I’d known it was you they were talking about, I would have said something sooner.”
Madison furrows her brow and turns her body to face me. “Why did you think he’s dating her, Hadleigh?”
Holy. Crap. Have I had this messed up in my head this whole time?
A whisper of hope moves through me. “I … I just assumed. I mean, he—I thought …” I drop my head into my hands and groan a little. “I must have misunderstood who she was to him.”
Shawn glances up. “Incoming.”
My eyes slam shut as Sawyer sidles up to the bar next to me. From beside me, I hear him rumble, “Hey. How’s everyone tonight?”
I clutch at Madison’s thigh.
She answers for both of us. “We’re doing great tonight. Especially Hadleigh, here.” She pats my hand where my fingers are pressing into her so hard, I’m surely going to leave marks on her leg. “I’m Madison—we met briefly at school during your tour—and this is my boyfriend, Shawn.”
Sawyer’s deep voice sets a tremor rolling through me. “Hey, man. I’m Sawyer. I’m student teaching with Hadleigh right now.”
With a deep breath, I open my eyes and give Sawyer a tight smile. “Hi.”
Our gazes connect for a few seconds before he drops his head next to mine and whispers in my ear. “I think we had a misunderstanding. Can we talk?”
I ease back so I can see his dark eyes glittering at me. “Um. Yes.” I nod.
Chapter 19
Sawyer
I place one hand on the small of Hadleigh’s back, take one of her hands in my other hand and help her down from the stool. With a nod at her friends, I assure them, “We’ll be right back.”
Along with the buzzing of thoughts in my head about what I need to say to her and the murmurs of her friends from behind us, I can also sense a fire building within me. I hope I can make her understand because she may be the only one who can soothe the burn. I guide her down the back hallway until we get to the end where a staircase goes up to the left. I encourage her to sit down on one of the steps before I crouch in front of her, putting my hands on her jean-clad knees.
“So.” I expel a drawn-out breath that ends on a chuckle. I look directly into her beautiful brown eyes. “Like I said, based on your last text to me, I think we’ve had a misunderstanding.”
My teeth clamp down on my lip as I wait for her to say something, but when she doesn’t right away, I go ahead and continue. “You haven’t answered your phone or responded to a text since that last one you sent about me and Willow looking good together.”
Now it’s her turn to bite her lip. “I turned my phone off. I needed a quiet night with my friends.”
“Do me a favor and turn it on.” My voice sounds gruff to my ears.
She lets out a controlled yet shuddery breath. “Why?”
“You’ll see.” I squeeze her knees, glad that she’s at least letting me touch her.
She shakes her head, but pulls the phone out of her bag and powers it on.
Notifications for a ton of text messages and missed calls light up the screen. “What the hell?” she mumbles under her breath.
“Yeah.” My tongue darts out to lick my lower lip. “I’ve been trying to reach you.” I hate that I’ve upset her unnecessarily. Stupid, annoying spider. “Go ahead. Read through them.”
She thumbs open her text app and cringes when she sees all the messages.
I squeeze her knees with my hands again and murmur, “Read them.”
She bows her head and begins to read, her eyes flicking quickly back and forth. Hadleigh glances up with a sniff, a soft look reaching her eyes before she looks down to finish reading.
I remember every damn word I’d sent her and what she’s seeing on her screen. It’d gone something like this:
Me: Hadleigh, I don’t know what made you think Willow is my girlfriend, but she’s not.
Me: She’s been my best friend for a long time.
Me: She’s the one I told you about, the one I’m living with while I’m student teaching.
Me: I cook, she cleans. Remember?
Me: Please talk to me.
Me: I feel like when we got interrupted by Willow’s spider freak out that you were expecting me to say something about what had just happened between us.
Me: I don’t want to question it. I know what I was feeling. I wanted it to happen—I wanted to kiss you again.
Me: I still do.
She swallows hard. “You still do.” Her eyes remain on the screen as she scrolls back up to look through what I’d written again.
My chest is tight, and I feel like I can barely pull in a breath. I hope this clarifies things for her and answers whatever questions she thought she had about who I am and what I want.
“And the voice mails?” She still doesn’t look up when she asks. She is blinking furiously, and I can tell she’s trying to keep herself under control.
“More of the same.” I catch her chin with my fingers and tip her sweet face up toward me. “Look
