Page 70 of Powerless
Within a few strides, I’m standing right beside her, staring at the elevator door.
“Fourth floor,” she says rigidly.
“Okay.”
“One king-size bed.”
“That’s fine.”
“No. I’ll sleep on a roll-away cot. They’re going to bring it up.”
“Sunny, that’s really not necessary. It’s just a bed. We slept together the other night.”
She hikes her bag higher on her shoulder and tips her nose up. “Yes, well, that was before I embarrassed myself and decided I was pissed at you. So I’ll take the cot.”
I resist the urge to roll my eyes. I’m glad she’s not being the doormat she was with that dickhead, but I’m also not accustomed to her being angry with me.
When the elevator dings, I gesture her ahead of me, letting my eyes drop to her ass as she walks inside. Only a day ago, I watched her walk into the lake in her underwear, but it feels like it’s been weeks.
I guess it’s been years.
“You heard from your dad?” I ask as the doors slide shut.
“No. I mean, well, yes. He’s messaged. And called. And emailed. But frankly, I’m not a fan of his tone, so I’m ignoring him too. At least until he asks me how I am or if I’m safe rather than just demanding I come back.”
“Fair.”
I hear her teeth clank together over the soft elevator music. “Come to think of it, I’m kind of done with men in general right now.” One hand waves up and down in my direction. “The whole lot of you.”
“Also fair.”
She spins toward me now. “Why do you have to be so fucking agreeable, Jasper?”
“Because I’m your friend, Sunny. Nothing will ever change that. If you need to bitch about something, even if that something is me, I’ll be that person for you.”
“What if I go back to Sterling?”
My entire body stills.Not a fucking chance.I know she’s goading me. And it’s working. “No.”
“You think you can just waltz in, tell me you’re”—her hands form sarcastic air quotes as she carries on—“kind of interested mere weeks after I was meant to get married, and I’m going to take your hand and skip off into the sunset? After these past couple of weeks, I must seem really stupid to you, but I’m notthatstupid.”
The door opens, and she surges out of the elevator and down the carpeted hallway, irritation wafting off of her. She laughs. Actually laughs.
Because of course she does. Only she would laugh at a moment like this.
“This is insane,” she mutters as she turns the corner and finds our room. One swipe of the key and she’s into the space, tossing her bag onto a chair. She storms toward the windows where she stands with her hands on her hips, silhouetted by the whiteout on the opposite side of the glass.
“You’re not going back to him.”
She shrugs nonchalantly. “Maybe I will. You don’t tell me what to do, Jasper.”
Not yet. But I will.
“You’re not.”
She spins, her voice cutting across the room like she’s thrown a dart right at my chest. “And why not?”
“Because he sucks the life out of you!” She rears back, clearly shocked by the volume of my voice. “And I want to breathe it back in.”
