Page 68 of The Perils of Pretending
My pulse skyrockets. “Are you having a hard time keeping to your side of the room?” I tease. Does he want to climb into bed with me and kiss me all night?
He slowly shakes his head. “No,” he says sheepishly. “You snore.”
I raise my head off his shoulder, staring into his eyes.My behind he doesn’t joke around with me.“I do not snore!”
He covers his mouth like he’s afraid to talk. “I have proof.”
My eyes widen. Do I really snore? My cheeks burn. “I’ll sleep on the couch so you can have total peace and silence.” I scramble off his lap. “I’ll go get my pillow and one of the other blankets on the top bunk to use as a sheet.”
This time Max doesn’t pull me back to him. “We can stay out a little longer if you’d like.”
“Nah. I want to give you plenty of time to settle in.”
“Princess, I didn’t mean it like that. And you don’t need to sleep on the couch. We can keep sharing the room. It’s fine.”
We absolutely cannot keep sleeping in the same bedroom. I’m mortified. If I want to get a good night’s rest from here on out, I need to make sure I’m by myself. Otherwise, I’ll be so stressed about not snoring that I won’t sleep at all. “It’s all good. I promise.”
“I shouldn’t have said anything. I’m sorry. Please stay in our room. I’m sure you brought some melatonin or other sleeping medicine. I’ll take that and sleep like a log.”
I shake my head, heading inside. “I do have medicine, but you don’t need to take any. I’m happy to take the couch.”
Max frowns. “I don’t like it,” he says, following me into the cabin. “Can we rewind to five minutes ago, before I opened my big mouth?”
“This is for the best.” I guess Brody and I should have switched beds when Max got here.
“I’m sorry, Sadie. Let me take the couch.”
I put my hand on his arm. “You’re the one doing me a massive favor by using your vacation time to save me from morons. You have nothing to be sorry for. I’ll see you in the morning.”
I get my bedding and set myself up on the couch. It isn’t too bad, and this way both Max and I will sleep better.
My mind wants to fixate on the way Max responded when I told himI wouldn’t date anyone who works at school, but I wipe the memory away instead, visualizing Captain Big Rack’s impressive body standing in the water tonight.
Yes, a moose is safe enough for my troubled heart and mind.
Chapter 26
Max
IsSadie’ssnoringreallykeeping me up at night?
A little. It hasn’t been as bad since the night she got sick from picking berries. But I shouldn’t have said anything to her about it. Not only did I force her out of her room, but I embarrassed her as well. I delete the video on the phone. I went too far.
Idiot. You’re not acting any better than Dorian right now.
As horrible as my behavior has been, I am slightly happy to be away from Sadie. I need space from her peach shampoo, big smile, and huge heart. I told Brody the truth when he asked if I was falling for her. At the time, I really did see Sadie as only a friend. But after that kiss? After our talks? That line erased itself as easily as a dry erase marker on a white board.
Just like after dinner when I wasn’t sure if or how to tell Brody, I’m still unsure what to do now. I want to see what Sadie and I could be for real. But she won’t date someone who works at a school, and I won’t give up my career. I love what I do, and while I like Sadie, and wouldn’t mind another mind-blowing kiss, I don’t love her. But it totally sucks, because for the first time in a long while, I found someone I want to be with.
And I can’t have her.
Rather, she doesn’t want me. It’s new for me. I’m usually the one who breaks off relationships. My pride stings. Meeting women has always come naturally and easy to me. When my relationships get hard, I bail. Isn’t love supposed to be easy? My parents made it seem that way.Hanging out with Sadie feels that way. Except now I don’t know what to do about her fear. For the first time, I don’t want to walk away or give up so soon. There’s something about the way Sadie doesn’t take my crap, laughs easily, and shows me that she does still have that free-spirited side to her that makes me want to fight for her—for us.
I toss and turn all night.
Do I try to persuade Sadie that I’m worth the risk, or leave our relationship as fake, accepting we’ll never be anything but friends?
Two hours later, giving up on sleep, I look up if fish dream and find they don’t. But what really occupies all my time is looking at different breeds of dogs mixed with poodles. Sadie’s right. They’re adorable and look like teddy bears. All the videos online show them acting like human babies. It makes me want a dog sooner than I realized. It seems like Aussiedoodles are good with kids, easy to train, have energy, but are also cuddly which is exactly the kind of dog I’d want.
