Page 149 of Unloved

I shake my head with a smile. “Thanks, guys, I really appreciate it. But I’m actually going on a date tonight.” I tuck my hair behind my ears and bite down on my lip. “With Freddy.”

Sadie laughs and nods. “I knew it. You owe me, like, thirty bucks, hotshot.”

Rhys blushes furiously and shakes his head. “I swear, Ro, I did not bet on you and Freddy—”

“Right—you bet against it. You owe me.”

Rhys smirks down at her, eyes dancing. “You wanna do this now, Gray—”

There’s a flurry of knocks at the door before both Sadie and Rhys look over their shoulders, both of their expressions softening as someone opens it.

“Hey, bud,” Rhys says.

“Can someone please play with me?” It’s Liam, his little voice tugging at my heart. “Oliver is with his new girlfriend and won’t play—”

“I’ll come,” Rhys says, kissing Sadie twice, once on the cheek and one on the corner of her mouth, before making ayuckface at Liam and sliding off the bed.

“Girls are so gross,” I hear him say just off camera, inciting Liam’s infectious giggles. Sadie sticks her tongue out at them both as I hear a door close.

“New girlfriend?” I ask through a giggle myself.

Sadie shakes her head. “Liam won’t stop with that. It drives Oliver up a wall—it’s a new friend of his that happens to be a girl. He’s barely mentioned her, but God forbid Liam misses an opportunity to annoy his brother.”

“Aww.” I grin. “I miss the little nuggets.”

“We miss you, too. Now, important stuff.” Sadie walks into a bathroom, setting the phone against the mirror and turning on the faucet to wash her face as we talk. “What are we wearing to said date?”

My eyes go wide. “You don’t have questions? About—”

“About you dating Matt Fredderic? Hmmm, let me think.” She rubs her chin dramatically, pursing her lips before deadpanning, “Is he nice to you?”

“Yes.”

“And you like him?”

“A lot, yeah.”

“And you’re happy? Having fun?”

I blush, nodding silently. A rare smile pulls at Sadie’s permanently stained lips, and she nods. “Then no, I have zero questions. And I’m super happy for you.”

“Me, too,” I say. “But for you. You seem relaxed, finally.”

“Forced relaxation,” she grumbles. “Rhys won’t let me do anything with my ankle wrapped. He’d probably have a conniption if he realized I even walked myself in here.”

“Don’t tell me he’s been carrying you to the bathroom every morning.”

Sadie blushes, her pale skin flaring red. “No comment.”

I burst into laughter and shake my head, standing and angling the laptop toward my closet and the mess spilling from it onto the floor.

“Okay, show me your options.”

I’m pacing my apartment, nervous excitement thrumming in my veins until I’m a live wire twitching and popping electricity with every movement.

Which is a little ridiculous, considering it’s still twenty minutes before he’s supposed to be here.

Knock, knock, knock.

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