“I think that’s why it hurt so much. She’d done nothing but lie to me. It took me a long time to get over it.” I skim my thumb back and forth across the back of her hand. “But then seeing a certain pretty brunette at a bar helped in ways I couldn’t have imagined.”
Hadleigh’s face slowly lights up, and she questions softly, “You mean me?”
I nudge her knee with mine, then leave it touching her, liking the way it feels. “Who else would I mean?”
She smiles, the first real, true smile I’ve seen from her all day. If only she knew. I’d do anything to make sure she has no reason to do anything but smile from now on. And if that means I have to take this whole matter with Ed into my own hands, then I will. I’d do just about anything for her, and that realization should scare the shit out of me given how fast it’s all happening, but it doesn’t. It just doesn’t.
We work our way through the rest of our meal, and I try to steer conversation back to light, easy topics. I eat everything on my plate while she mostly sticks to her fries and only manages to eat half of her burger. “You know, I promised myself I was just going to take you out to dinner to try to get your mind off of things, and I feel like I did a terrible job of it.” I reach across the table for her hand.
She groans, scrunching up her nose. “It’s okay. You’ve helped a lot. I just can’t stop thinking about how embarrassing that whole scene was in the workroom earlier. And with Damon and Jake walking into the middle of it, too.”
“Everyone has shit days. I’m sure they both understood. They were mostly just concerned. They both inquired after you when you went to the bathroom, you know.”
“Oh, jeez.”
I wave it off. “They didn’t care about Ed. Like I said, they just wanted to make sure you were okay. Come on. Let’s get out of here.” I toss enough money to cover the food and a tip on the table and stand, then hold out a hand for Hadleigh.
“Thank you.” She takes it and scoots off the seat. I think I surprise her when our fingers intertwine and I don’t let go of her hand because she frowns up at me.
“What? We aren’t anywhere near school, and I haven’t seen a soul in here I know. Have you?”
She purses her pink, pouty lips. “No.” She squeezes my hand tightly.
“Good.” We walk out the door and around the corner of the building to where I parked my truck. When we get there, she reaches for the door handle, but I put my hand firmly against the door. She turns to me, wavy strands of her dark hair peek out from under her knit hat and whip around in the wind. I put my hands on either side of her head, tipping her face up to mine. I could gaze into her dark eyes forever. No matter what kind of day we’ve both had, the fact that she’s here with me makes everything better. I can only hope she feels the same way.
With a smile on my lips, I cover her mouth with mine. The kiss is soft and slow at first, creating heat where there was none out here in the cold air. Her fingers clutch the front of my coat and pull me to her. She moans when I deepen the kiss, my tongue meeting hers. It’s a sensual sound that has my dick hard in three seconds flat.
Reluctantly, I break the kiss, not wanting us to freeze out here. I pull her against my chest, wrapping my arms tightly around her before I let her go and open the passenger door for her.
She climbs up into the seat, but before I can close the door she asks, “How are you not already taken, Sawyer Rivers?”
Without hesitation, I step closer, and my lips find the soft skin of her neck. The taste of her goes straight to my head. “I am, Hadleigh. By you.”
Chapter 27
Hadleigh
I look around the table at my girlfriends and smile. “I’m so glad we could get together this weekend. I love it here.”
The cider mill we’d decided to come to for my birthday is just perfect, like a rustic wood cabin on steroids. The main building is huge, as they make hard cider right on the premises, and they have the whole second floor open for events and tastings. Glancing around, I’d say they do pretty steady business.
“Sophia, this place is going to be perfect for your wedding reception this summer. Did you get a good look at the view outside?” Zoey looks out the huge picture window on her right, which overlooks the apple orchard. She turns back to us with a big grin on her face. “It’s just apple trees for miles.”
“Yeah, Heath and I knew it was perfect when we came here just after Thanksgiving for their grand opening. The owner, Liam, is really nice, too. When he heard we were planning a wedding, he checked their calendar, and though it was already filling for events, the date we wanted was still available to reserve. We went ahead and jumped on it.” She wrinkles her nose. “I was so excited to show it to you guys. Hadleigh, I hope you don’t mind that we combined your birthday with a little wedding-venue exploration.”
“Not at all. Like I said, I love it here. It’s just gorgeous. You are going to have the most beautiful day ever. I can’t wait.”
Our attention is caught by a man approaching us. “Hi, there.” He looks directly at Sophia. “It’s Sophia, right?”
She grins. “Yes, that’s me. I brought my friends to check out everything with me.” She quickly gestures to each of us. “This is, Zoey, Madison, Piper, Quinn, and Hadleigh.” We smile and wave as our names are called. “And it’s Hadleigh’s twenty-sixth birthday today, so we’re celebrating, too. Girls, this is Liam.”
Liam smiles and nods. “Thanks for coming out, ladies. The next round is on me. And happy birthday, Hadleigh.” He winks in my direction. “Would you like another round of the same or would you like to try something different?”
“What’s your favorite? They’ll try whatever you like best.” Quinn shoots him a smile.
“That’d be the Orchard Classic. I’ll bring some out for you.”
Quinn nods her approval with a distinct twinkle to her eye. “I guess I’ll have to come back some other time for more than a taste. I’m driving tonight.”
I swear, Quinn is turning on the charm. Funny.
“Absolutely. We’d love to have you come back.” He gives her a warm smile.
A chorus of thank yous goes up, and Liam moves away to chat with another group of customers.
Piper waits until he’s far enough away before she says on a giggle, “Dang, Sophia, you hadn’t told us he’s a total hottie.”
Madison laughs next to her. “She was probably too busy with Heath to notice.”
A full-out snort-laugh erupts on my left from Quinn. “You mean just like you are so completely obsessed with everything Shawn these days?”
Madison’s face picks up a pretty pink color. “Maybe.” She winks back at Quinn. “And what was that vibe you were throwing out there just now?”
“I don’t know what you are referring to.”
Zoey’s brow wrinkles as she focuses her attention on me. “Well, what’s up with you, birthday girl? No commentary? I would have thought you’d be all over this conversation.”
With a swift shake of my head, I lift the bottle of cider to my lips so I don’t have to say anything right away and take a nice, long drink. When I set it back on the table, all five pairs of eyes are glued to me, mouths parted in surprise. I know I’m not behaving like my usual self. I can’t help it. I don’t know how to act. I don’t know what to say. I don’t know if I should say anything.
Things have been amazing with Sawyer this week, but every time I turn around, Ed is texting me another nude photo. Tormenting me. Provoking me. Taunting me. Sometimes, the shots are zoomed in so you can’t tell it’s me, but in others, my face is included for anyone to see should they be sitting next to me when the text comes in.
Right before we’d been seated tonight, he’d sent me a photo of my nipple. My freaking nipple. I’m so done with him I don’t know what to do with myself. The idea that he’d eventually send these to someone else is almost more than I can take. And what’s coming across loud and clear is that he expects me to stop seeing Sawyer. He’ll use whatever means necessar
y to hurt me since I don’t want to be with him. I fully expect him to send the photos to Sawyer first, and if that doesn’t work, he’ll go to the administration to get me removed as Sawyer’s mentor. This is why I’m on the verge of just telling everyone what’s going on. It’s all going to come out anyway. Better to get ahead of it. Besides, I need advice. Big-time. I’m just not quite ready.
Piper lowers her voice, “Is it Ed again? I know you told us he was still bugging you when we got back from break. And … Jake kind of mentioned something about him arguing with you in the workroom the other day.” She grimaces. “I wasn’t supposed to tell you I knew about it, but poor Jake was worried.”
“He’s been a pain, yeah. He—” My throat goes dry just as Liam shows up with our fresh bottles of cider, saving me from spilling. I’m a frickin’ mess.
“Sorry to interrupt. This is our Orchard Classic Cider.” As he hands them out around the table, he says, “It’s our most popular, as well as my favorite.” He folds his arms in front of him as we sample it. “You should be able to taste notes of pineapple, honey, and tart apple.”
Quinn takes a small sip, her eyes on Liam. “I kind of love it. Refreshing.”
Liam inclines his head with a wink. “I’m glad you approve.” He looks around the table as he backs away. “I’ll let you get back to your conversation.”
We thank Liam, and as soon as he’s out of earshot, Sophia turns with her mouth hanging open to Quinn and pokes her. “What was with that look you gave him?”
“He’d do nicely.” She glances around our circle as she hands off the rest of her cider to Sophia. “What? Girls, my lady parts haven’t seen a man in so long, they are as dry and dusty as the Sahara. I swear there are cobwebs in there. I wouldn’t mind if he gave me a hand in rectifying that situation.” She shrugs and gives us all a theatrical wink.
Zoey snorts a little, and the girls dissolve into giggles. I’m relieved that attention appears to have shifted from me to Quinn. As far as I’m concerned, it can stay there.
No such luck. It’s not even ten seconds later when Piper snaps her attention right back on me. “So, what were you going to tell us, Had? And what's up with your lack of lewd jokes and bawdy comments?” She takes a sip from her bottle and eyes me carefully.
Suddenly, I have the urge to go ahead and tell them everything. As I look around the group, I know I can trust every single one of these women. My pulse kicks into high gear and my palms sweat. “I feel like I need that sign that’s in your office, Zoey.”
Zoey looks confused for a second while Piper glances at her and wrinkles her nose. “The one I gave her for the Secret Santa exchange, you mean? About it being a safe place to spill the tea?”
I grit my teeth together, nodding. “Yeah, that’s the one.”
Madison’s eyes widen. “Does this have to do with Sawyer?”
“Yes and no. I mean, at this point, I just want to air out all of my dirty laundry because I’m tired of trying to deal with it all on my own. I’m not handling it very well.”
Sophia reaches for my hand. “We could tell you’ve been having a hard time lately. You haven’t really been yourself.”
I take a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “So, things have progressed a lot further with Sawyer.” I glance up at them and wince. “I know you said it was a bad idea, but I slept with him.”
Madison looks at me funny. “Well, we kind of all figured that from that night when he dragged you away to talk and then you left together. And, um, Piper and I may have filled everyone else in about that.”
Questions shoot from Sophia, “Just the once, or …?” and Zoey, “Wasn’t it any good? What’s wrong?” at the same time.
“Twice that night after we were at the bar. The next morning, later that day … and several times since. And, yes, it’s better than good—that’s not the issue. Sawyer knows what he’s doing. The only thing wrong with the sex is that little problem of him being my student teacher.”
“Damn girl.” Quinn lets out a low whistle. “I’m not jealous at all. Of the sex or the other stuff, just to clarify.”
Madison snorts and gives Quinn a little shove. “You are so jealous of the sex.”
Piper, clearly the one keeping us on track tonight, looks me right in the eye. “I’d say it’s about time. I’m the only one of us who sees you two interact with each other on a daily basis, and I see two people who are very right for each other, despite the difficult circumstances surrounding it.”
“Well, that’s actually good to hear.” Sophia smiles. “Are you okay?”
“I—that’s kind of a loaded question.” I bite my lip, casting my eyes down.
Zoey frowns. “Spill the tea, sis. It’s okay.”
Quinn taps my foot under the table. “No judgment zone.”
“Okay. The problem is with Ed.”
Madison stops with her bottle halfway to her lips, her brows drawing together in confusion. “But I thought you were done with him.”
“That’s the problem. I keep telling him I don’t want to see him anymore, don’t want to date him, don’t want anything to do with him, but he can’t seem to get it through his thick skull.”
Sophia rolls her eyes, and I swear they almost make it up to the decorative wood beams of the ceiling. “He’s an ass. Maybe we all need to go have a chat with him.”
I shake my head quickly. “No. You can’t. I mean, I don’t want you to. Um. So, here’s the thing. Two things, actually. First, he suspects that Sawyer and I are together, and he’s threatening to tell the administration about it. You know, exactly why you all thought maybe this was a bad idea in the first place. He’s so pissed I’m with Sawyer that he’s threatening my job over it.”
As I look around, I take in the shock on everyone’s faces.
“That … that … that … douche canoe!” Piper’s eyes flare wide as she slaps her hands over her mouth.
Quinn catches Liam’s eye from across the room, and signals that we need another round. “I think you all should go another round or two.”
I couldn’t agree more, but I also know that it gets even worse from here. There’s an excellent chance that by the time I’m done explaining everything, I’m going to need to tap one of the hard cider barrels and just drink right from the spigot.
Everyone has been talking around me for several seconds while I’ve been lost in my head. Finally, I hold up a hand. “Wait. Before you all go crazy plotting how to fix this, I’m not done. It gets worse.”
Zoey takes a large gulp of her drink and moans a little. “How the hell could it be worse than Ed threatening to expose the fact that you’re having hot sex with your student teacher?” She holds up a hand. “Still not judging. Promise. I’m just terrified of what else you’re about to say.”
Liam comes by with our drinks, giving me a few seconds to figure out how to say this.
All too quickly, though, everyone’s eyes are on me again. They smile at me encouragingly, though their expressions hold a certain degree of apprehension and fear.
Sophia grabs my hand again. “It’s okay. Whatever it is. You can tell us.”
Madison gives me a sad smile. “I think you’ll feel better if you get it out.”
“And we’ll be able to help you.” Quinn grimaces. “I hope …”
Finally, the words erupt from me. “He has naked photos of me. He’d supposedly deleted them, but he didn’t,” I huff. “I didn’t know this until he started texting them to me after we were already broken up. He’s basically been threatening me with them, saying he’s going to show them to people or e-mail them to the school or something. Then he got wind of Sawyer and me, and that seems to have made things worse because now he’s threatening to show them to Sawyer, too. I go back and forth, I’m not sure which part of the whole mess is worse. Sawyer seeing the pics? Having the pics e-mailed out for everyone to see? Or having Ed tell everyone I’m with my student teacher.” The last bit comes out pretty shrill, and when I’m done, I cover my face with m
y hands, not wanting to see everyone’s reactions.
“Nooooo.” Madison is the first to respond. “No. No. Just no.”
Piper and Quinn speak up at the same time with the same exact question. “What the fuck?”
“That bastard.” Sophia shoots me a flustered, apologetic look.
Zoey goes for her drink again, draining it. “There’s more to this story. I mean, how did this happen? You thought he deleted them? Sweetie, did you pose for these pics?”
I cringe, pulling my hands from my face. “Yes … sort of. But not. No, I mean, no.” I blow out an exasperated breath. “Let me explain.” I grab my bag and dig through it, looking for my phone. “Shit. Well, I was going to show you one of the photos and the texts, but I think I left my phone at home.” I grit my teeth and suck in air through them. “Anyway, I definitely didn’t know he was taking actual photos. I’d been hanging out at his place and had taken a shower. When I went to get out, I realized I’d forgotten my towel in the bedroom. He came in to see why I was calling for him, but he wouldn’t give me my towel, he just kind of stood there staring at me. I may have said something smart like, ‘Take a picture, it’ll last longer.’ I never thought he’d actually take photos. That’s when he started joking around, acting like he was a photographer and I was a model, holding up his phone like it was a photo shoot.” I groan. “I may have posed a bit, thinking it was all just a game, so some of the photos look like I posed for him on purpose. When I realized what he was doing, I told him to stop. I told him to delete them.” I’m embarrassed to see my hands shake as I bring them up to tuck my hair behind my ears. My cheeks heat as blood rushes to my face and stains them a deep red. This is mortifying. “Guys, he told me he deleted them, but obviously, he didn’t. He keeps sending them to me as a reminder that he could show them to people if he chose to.”
Fight for You (Flirting with Forever Book 2) Page 15