“You love Sunday afternoons.”
Yeah…
I pull her hand and kiss the back of it. “You're like…” I search my brain for the right words. “When you wake up two hours before your alarm goes off, and that relief you get when you realize you have more time to sleep.”
She lets out a loud laugh, and I pull her into my arms, kissing her on the top of her head. “I can go on for hours, pretty girl. Eating this isn't going to change anything about you, so let's finish this meal, okay?”
She nods gently against my chest, and I kiss her head again before pulling away and grabbing her plate. I bring a fork full to her, and she looks like she might throw up, so I eat it instead.
I don’t say anything else and eat a few more bites and after a while, she grabs the spoon. “Can I just eat the mac and cheese?”
“Sage–”
“There’s a lot of mac and cheese, Lee.”
I don’t think she knows what a lot is, but I don’t tell her that. This is bad. This is really bad, and I feel like a dick for how I was acting earlier because she isn’t just being careless and skipping a few meals. She has a serious eating disorder, and I know she doesn't want her agent to know, but how can I not say something?
“Eat the mac and cheese with the steak, and I’ll leave you alone.”
“Allof the steak?”
I don’t answer her and stab a piece of meat. I take a bite out of half of it before giving her the other half, and she eats it without complaint.
“Youlikeit, Sage. Try to finish; you’re almost done.”
She doesn’t respond as she eats her mac and cheese, and it’s like she’s just trying to get this over with.
“You’re doing so good, beloved.” I kiss her cheek twice and hold her straw to her lips.
She takes a small sip before holding out a spoonful of mac and cheese to me. This is cheating, but she watches me like I might save her damn life if I eat it, so I do, and her smile is back. When she offers me another spoonful, I go to tell hersheneeds to eat all of the mac and cheese, but she’s still smiling at me, so I open my mouth for her.
She looks down at her plate and her smile widens as she realizes we’re almost done, and she’s feeding me most of it, but she ate a lot more so I don’t comment on it and get her to eat the rest of the steak.
“I really am full now.” She turns her head to the side, but I follow her with the fork.
“It’s the last piece, Sage.”
She shakes her head, and I fight the urge to sigh and eat half of it. When I hold the other half to her, she shakes her head again. “Okay.” I lean forward and bring my lips to hers.
“Look at how good you did.” I gesture to the plate before kissing her again and she smiles over at me. “Finish your juice.” I get up to get rid of the plate and she barely touched the mashed potatoes but finished the rest with my help. Considering I’m pretty full, I know I ate most of it, but I let her have this win.
When I walk back into the main room, she’s lying on her stomach, kicking her feet as she scrolls through her phone. I keep my eyes on her, and when she laughs at whatever she’s watching, it’s like the last thirty minutes didn’t happen. Her smile somehow makes the whole room seem brighter, and I’d do just about anything to keep her happy, but she cries when I make her eat. I’m not letting her starve herself, and it makes me feel like I’m dying to see her cry, but I guess I’m going to die trying to help her with this disorder.
I lay next to her on her bed, and she turns her phone to me. “Look at this!”
I watch an edit of her from today's runway show and I’m surprised by how fast her fans are. “How did they even get that clip of you? The show was just a few hours ago.”
“I have no clue, but these people are talented.” She goes through a few more edits and comments on all of them with a smile. I keep my gaze on her and take in a deep breath before nudging her arm.
“We need to talk.”
She looks over at me, and I can see the worry in her eyes, but I quickly reassure her. “I’m not going to tell your agent.”
She lets out a breath she must’ve been holding, and I study her for a beat before adding, “But you need to talk to someone aboutthis. If you work on it with your brothers or someone else, then I won’t say a word.”
She watches me for a second before shaking her head, disappointedly almost. “An ultimatum? Really?” She moves to stand from the bed, but I grab her hand.
“Do you expect me to do nothing?”
