Page 138 of In Your Dreams, Holden Rhodes

Tonight, I’d tell Sadie how I felt. I wouldn’t ask her to stay, but I’d tell her the truth.

I knocked on the door and waited. Footsteps approached and the door swung open. Sadie blinked at me with confusion.

“Hi.” She glanced at the flowers. “What are you doing?”

“Picking you up for our date.” I handed her the bouquet and she blinked at it. A smile grew on her pretty face but her mouth dropped open. “I thought we were going to watch a movie.”

I didn’t answer, just smiled and stepped inside the foyer to grab her coat before holding it out. She slipped her arms into the sleeves and I leaned over her shoulder to kiss her cheek.

“Is this the mysterioussurpriseyou’ve been planning?”

“Maybe.”

Her eyes sparkled and she clapped. “Yes. Finally.”

I laughed. “Come on.”

She grabbed her bag and paused before pulling on her boots. “Should I wear something nice?”

“Nope. Casual.”

“Good. I like wearing these boots.”

It made my chest squeeze, hearing her say that. Watching her love the presents I bought her and taking care of her settled something in me that had been restless for a long fucking time.

My dream girl.

She closed the front door behind her before she followed me to the driveway. When she saw the emerald green Porsche, she stopped short.

She whistled. “Nice ride.”

When I had asked my dad to borrow the car tonight, he handed the keys over without hesitation. Last year, as Wyatt borrowed the car to pick Hannah up, I had wished so fucking hard to have someone in my life who I wanted to take on dates and shower with love and attention.

Now, I had her. It was Sadie, all along.

I held the door open for her and she got in.

“We’re still on the wholetrusting mething, right?” I asked her.

She raised an eyebrow. “Yes?”

“You don’t sound sure.” The corner of my mouth ticked and she laughed.

“You confirming it like that makes me a little unsure.”

I winced and pulled the scarf out from under my seat. “I need you to wear a blindfold.”

Her eyebrows rose way up and she offered me a bemused smile. “Is this a sex thing?” She wiggled her eyebrows up and down.

“No,” I choked out, laughing. “I don’t want you to see until the right moment.”

She studied the scarf. “Fine,” she said with a sigh. “This better not awaken anything in me.”

I grinned as I tied the scarf around her eyes, careful not to snag her hair.

Nervous anticipation flowed through me as I drove through the forest and into Queen’s Cove.

What all of this was in my head? Panic twisted my gut. What if Sadie had this sparkling, warm connection with everyone she met and I was so fucking lonely I clung to it like a life raft, and created an entire life with her in my head like some psycho?

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