“That's for you to figure out.” She smiles just as her alarm goes off. “Feel free to text me if you are in a situation where you lost your temper before our next call.”
I tell her I will and hang up when there's a knock on my door.
I look through the peephole, and it's only Moon. I walk away, but he knocks again.
“Sage doesn't like it when you're mean! Open.”
I roll my eyes and grab the damn door. He keeps using Sage against me. Last week, he did it to get information on Capri, and I genuinely thought Sage wanted to know, so I sat here for an hour and talked about my mom's nurse with him. I can't believe I didn't notice sooner that he was lying.
When I open the door, he's laughing. “Whipped.” He covers his words with a cough as he walks in.
“What do you want?”
“I just need my hoodie.” He walks over to the couch before slipping it on. “I'll see you later. I have to go meet up with Sage.”
“Where are you guys going?”
“The arcade in–”
“I want to come.” I grab my jacket, but Moon stops walking before turning to me.
“You don’t even like arcades?”
“Sure I do.”
“Jordan and I invite you to Dave & Buster’s all the time and–”
“I don’t care for the arcade, Moon. I want to go because Sage will be there. If she was going to sit in the lobby and sort through her junk emails, I would want to go down there and watch her. You are here simply to help me. Why didn’t you think to invite me?”
“Because–”
“I already know your answer is going to piss me off, and I'm minimizing my yelling to once a month. I'm not wasting it on you so how about this, she wants you to stay here. I still need help with her. If you actually do what the hell I brought you here for and invite me out with you guys and get her totalkto me, I’ll genuinely buy you a car.”
He studies me, but I’m not kidding, and I see the moment he realizes that. “Any car?”
“I’ll get you two if she has a full conversion with me tonight.”
“Let’s go.” He finally shuts up. I follow behind him without a word and pet the cats goodbye, but then I wash my hands in case I get the opportunity to touch Sage.
When she opens her door, her face lights up at the sight of Moon, and I hate that her smile falters when she sees me. If she hates me, I need to know, and I need to know soon because I saidI wouldn’t leave without her, but if she genuinely hates me and doesn't want me here, I’ll consider leaving her alone.
Moon elbows me and I don’t punch him in the back of the head because I no longer have the energy. “Change your face,” He whispers before turning to Sage. “I want Liam to join us. Do you mind?”
She barely glances at me as she shakes her head.
We walk to the elevator in silence before Moon turns on his heels. “I left my phone. I'll meet you guys downstairs!”
He rushes off, and when I turn to look at him, he winks at Sage. I look back over at her, and the way she chews on her lips tells me she wants to say something, but she doesn't. It isn't until we get inside the elevator that she turns to me. “How's your mom doing?”
I'm stunned for a breath before I shake it off and answer her. “She's okay.” I nod a few times like an idiot. “I spoke to her yesterday.”
She nods in return, but before whatever this is ends, I add. “You look pretty. I love your hair.” I'm almost certain she's wearing her natural curls, and I love it when she does.
“Thank you.” A smile touches her lips and it makes the entire elevator feel hotter, or maybe I'm blushing, I don't know but I don't even care.
She turns to me again, and it's embarrassing how eager I am for her to speak to me again. “Do you mind me asking what she's sick with?”
I feel my previous eagerness fade at her question, and all it does is unpack sour feelings. I glance forward, and almost out of habit, I prepare myself to ride down in silence, but I actually want to talk to her about it since I've only been focusing on my anger with Rose.
