Page 51 of Love Legacy

She takes a deep breath and looks up from her food to meet my gaze. Her eyes were rimmed red, shining with unshed tears. “Is that what you really think of me?” she repeats, a little louder this time. “Do you really think I’m unable to have a relationship? That I’m just using you until I get bored?”

I swallow the lump that formed in my throat. “You heard all that?”

Sage nods. “Every last word.”

I let out a sigh. “Yes. No. Maybe? Honestly, I wasn’t sure. I was hoping this was different, that I was different, but there’s been a nagging voice in the back of my head telling me I was just another notch on your bedpost and I would just get hurt.”

Sage winces at my confession. “Ouch. I knew my reputation was… questionable, but I didn’t know it was that bad. Especially if that’s the impression that you have of me, and you just got here.”

“Well, what am I supposed to believe?”

“I thought my actions would speak for themselves,” she says in a small voice.

“It’s only been you, Naomi. I’ve told you how I’ve felt about you. I’ve opened up to you. I’ve shared things about me, about my past, that I haven’t told anyone. I haven’t hooked up with anyone else, kissed anyone else, I haven’t even looked in another woman’s direction since I met you. But I guess this was the out you were looking for, so there you go,” she says, the frustration evident in her voice as she gets up, cleaning up her garbage.

“What are you talking about?”

She turns on her heels, looking at me. “I’ve been waiting for you, Naomi. I’ve been really damn patient, allowing you to set the pace and tone of whatever we have going on. But I can’t shake the feeling that this is just a phase for you.

That I’m the first woman you’ve been with, the first person you’ve been with, and you will just move on from me. Whether that’s moving on to a man or even another woman. I’ve given you everything I’ve had, and I’ve just been waiting for you to destroy it all.”

That felt like a punch to the gut. I didn’t realize how hurt Sage was, but having her standing in front of me, laying it all bare for me, I could see the pain in her eyes, hear it in her voice. It was all beginning to make sense now.

I get up from the counter, crossing the kitchen to stand in front of Sage. “Is this why you’ve been distant since Friendsgiving? Because I told Anthony and Cora that we were still figuring things out?”

She averts her gaze, unable to meet my eyes, but nods. “I started spiraling, second-guessing our connection. I was worried that if you were still ‘trying to figure things out’ at this point, you might not ever figure it out. That things will end between us, and it’ll just be me getting hurt.”

My heart breaks a little to hear how vulnerable she was. She had a point though. I have been the one in the driver’s seat of our relationship, and I think this has been a long enough detour.

I reach out for Sage, taking her hand in mine and intertwining our fingers. I reach up, gripping her jaw lightly, turning her head to force her to make eye contact with me. I’ve never seen Sage so upset. Her usual spark has just vanished completely. “I’m so, so sorry, Sage,” I say softly, pressing my lips to hers gently. I plant soft kisses to her left cheek, then her right. Her forehead, thenher jawline. I can feel the tension still radiating off of her. She doesn’t say a word, as if she’s bracing herself for impact.

“Sage, I’m sorry that I’ve hurt you. This wasn’t my intention at all. I was just so afraid, so hesitant, to fully accept what this is between us. Not because I don’t care for you, not because I’m not falling for you, but because this is all so new to me. Being in a relationship where feelings are actually involved. Being in a relationship with a woman.

Yes, you were right. I am exploring things with you. But not so I can move on to someone else, but because I want to do things rightwith you.I want this to work out between us, so I wanted to make sure I had no hesitations. I needed to be a hundred percent sure about us, about how I felt, before diving in fully.”

“So are you?” Sage asks, finally meeting my gaze.

“Am I what?”

“Are you a hundred percent sure about us and how you feel now?”

I give her a small smile, staring deep into her eyes. “Absolutely. I want you, Sage. I want to be with you. Officially.”

A smile begins to spread slowly across her face, her normal joy and playfulness returning to her eyes. “Officially?”

I match her grin. “Yep, officially. Sage, you wanna be my girl?”

She laughs, wrapping her arms around my waist. “Oh, so romantic,” she teases.

I shrug, draping my arms around her neck. “I just thought, what would Sage do?”

Sage shakes her head. “I do not talk like that.”

“So, is that a yes?”

“A yes to what?” she asks slyly.

I playfully roll my eyes, realizing Sage just wants me to repeat myself.

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