Once she does, I find her meal plan next to the one she’s been following. “Sage, this is perfect for your weight. What’s the issue?”
She doesn’t respond, and I set the plate down before settling on the bed with her.
“You need to follow your meal plan from now on, or don’t follow it, but don’t eat less than you should.”
“But–”
“No, Sage.No.” I try my hardest to stay patient with her, but I refuse to debate or negotiate this. “Do not make me threaten to tell your agent, Sage. Trust me, if it's between your health and modeling, I don’t care if you never walk another stage.”
She keeps her eyes on mine, and they looktorn. “Did you not just threaten to tell her?” Her voice lacks her usual joy, and it throws me off. She inches away from me, and I let out a defeated breath, knowing I fucked up.
“Dory–”
“I’ll follow my own meal plan.” She still sounds numb as she takes the plate from beside me. She doesn’t make another sound as she takes the smallest bites of food. I study her for a minute, but I’ve never seen her this quiet, and it’s killing me.
I lay beside her and plant a soft kiss on her thigh. “Please don’t be mad at me.” I glance up at her, but she keeps her eyes on her plate. When I kiss her leg again, she still doesn’t budge. “I’m not the bad guy here, Sage. I only meant that your health is more important than modeling.”
Nothing.
A small sigh escapes me as I lean against my elbow and draw small shapes on her leg. We sit in silence, and I steal a few kisses on her arm and leg, but when I hear her sniffling, I glance back up at her.
She has her eyes up to the ceiling and I briefly close my eyes before sitting up. “Tell me what’s hard about this so I can help you, beloved.”
“I just don’twantanymore.”
I almost give in and let her have her way, but I refuse. She barely ate any of it and if she passed out in the shower, then she clearly didn’t eat much before she went on stage.
“I’m sorry, I really am, but I’m not letting you go to sleep hungry, Sage.”
She squeezes her eyes shut, and I suck in my breath as I feel a pain in my gut. She presses her palms to her eyes like that’ll stop her from crying, and I genuinely feel horrible.
“Come on.” I pull her hand softly. “Let’s finish it together.”
She lets me take her hand away from her face, but when I see her watery eyes, it physically makes me sick. I lean forward and softly kiss her cheek. “You're perfect, Dory. Eating this won't change that.”
She sniffles quietly, and I lean down a bit to kiss her neck. “You're flawless.” I make my way lower and kiss her above her heart. “And pure.”
I glance up at her as I kiss my way down to her stomach, but she still looks so upset. “Incomparable.” I kiss her stomachagain, and a small smile grows on her face, so I kiss the rest of her belly. “Pristine.”
She laughs softly, and I smile at her.
“Are you running out of words?” She teases, but her smile is back, so she can bully me all she wants.
“Maybe.” I kiss my way to her thighs, and she lets out a laugh. “Impeccable.” I kiss her other thigh as she giggles. “Immaculate.”
She laughs harder, and I resort tothingsthat are as perfect as her rather than words.
“You're the sunset when it meets the ocean.” I kiss my way down her left leg.
She sort of pouts, and I notice her eyes watering.
“You're beautiful.” I kiss her again. “And you're insanely cute, like Periwinkle's yawn.”
“Awe, stop it!” She covers her face, and when she shakes, I can't tell if she's laughing or crying, but I kiss my way up her right leg.
“You're Sunday afternoons.”
She peaks through her fingers, and I can see her teary eyes.
