“All right, buddy. Here we go.” I set everything down on the little mat Hadleigh has on the floor. Apparently, Space Ghost is already a master mess-maker. “How long do you think it’ll be before your mama gets home?” I wait a beat before I answer. “Not sure, huh? Me neither.”
I kick off my shoes and settle in on the couch. After locating the remote in a basket on the coffee table, I pull up the guide and click on the History Channel to see what’s on. My phone buzzes with a text.
Willow: You staying with Hadleigh tonight?
Me: Yeah, sorry. You’re on your own for breakfast again.
Willow: Don’t apologize, Sawyer. I’m excited to see you so happy.
Me: :)
I’ve just finished watching The World Wars when I hear Hadleigh’s phone go off in her bedroom. Well, shit. I hate that she’s out without her phone, but at least she isn’t the DD tonight, and I know she’ll have a safe ride home with her friends.
I pluck Space Ghost up off of my chest and set him down on the couch. He doesn’t even stir as I get up to go find her phone. I stop at the doorway, scanning the room, and finally land on it where Hadleigh must have left it on her dresser. I pick it up and glance down at it as I head back out to the living room. A notification is visible on her locked phone screen.
Ed: Doesn’t he know you’re mine?
What the fuck is this? A tiny photo notification shows up immediately after that, and my eyes widen, unable to believe what’s on the screen. My jaw clenches and unclenches as I try to process. The image of Hadleigh wet and naked hits me like a freight train. My stomach churns and my blood begins to boil right in my veins. I take a deep breath and blow it out through my nose. My lips form a grim slash across my face, and I try to control the caged monster inside of me who wants to leap out, find Ed, and tear him limb from limb.
I swallow and set the phone down, unable to handle seeing any more. My heart sinks like a heavy stone in my chest, and my mind races to all sorts of horrible conclusions. Has she gone back to him? She’s his? Was our complicated relationship just too damn much for her to handle? She could have fucking said so. Has she been cheating on me … with him?
This can’t be happening. She wouldn’t do this. I thought—I thought I knew her better than this. After everything we’ve shared with each other about our past relationships, this is what I get? I clutch my head in my hands. No. She wouldn’t do this.
The unknown proves to be too much for me to take. On a strangled growl, I grab my coat and head home.
Chapter 29
Hadleigh
From the front door, I call out to Sawyer as I let myself in. “Sawyer, are you still here?” We’d called it a night at eleven because the girls knew I wanted to get back and tell him what’s been going on. Hopefully, he won’t be too upset because it’s way past time for me to spill everything, lay it all out there, and see where we go from here. I have a good feeling about it, though. In my heart I know Sawyer is the kind of man who will stand by me.
I smile when Space Ghost comes trotting up to me and bend down to give him a rub on the back of his neck. I raise my voice. “Sawyer?” I look around for a second, searching for any sign that he’s here. The TV is on in the living room. I worry my lip with my teeth as I look around. I guess he fed the cat and went home because Space Ghost is watching the History Channel all by himself.
“Why would he have gone home?” I wrinkle my nose in confusion and then remember I need to check my messages since I’d left my phone on my dresser before I went out. I head to my bedroom to retrieve it, but it’s not there. I make a slow turn around the room, frowning. “Well, shit.” In a huff, partly because I was finally ready to talk to Sawyer tonight about everything and he’s not here and partly because I can’t find the damn phone, I march back out to the living room.
“Ah-ha.” I spy it on the coffee table … where I know for sure I didn’t leave it. I’m filled with dread as I cross the room and snatch it up. Instantly, I know Sawyer must have seen something on my phone. Ugh, how many times did I think to myself that I need to change the settings on my phone so pictures and messages aren’t immediately visible?
And sure enough, when I look at the locked screen, there are two new messages from Ed, one of which is another nude photo. The third message is from Sawyer.
Sawyer: You could have just told me you were with him again.
Oh, no. No, no, no, no, no. I moan and lift a shaking hand to my forehead. Well, that’s confirmation that Sawyer saw the nude photo … and the text where Ed said I’m his. But I’m not and won’t ever be again, thank you very much.
I quickly click on Sawyer’s contact info and put a call through to him. It rings several times and then goes directly to voice mail. Shit. I rub at my face in frustration. The last thing I’d wanted was for him to find out about the photos this way. And I definitely see how he could assume the worst from the text. Damn, damn, damn.
“Sawyer, pick up. I need to talk to you. There are things I need to tell you. I’m really sorry
