“Puzzles are great! I saw one that was all white and missing one piece. That'd be a cool gift.”
I feel him shaking his head from behind me. “You lied about being good with gifts.”
I stifle a laugh as I elbow him. He tickles me in return, but as I squirm in his lap, he stops. “Okay,” he grumbles as he holds my hips firmly. “I need you to stop moving so much if you want your friend to stay so damn bad.” He keeps his voice low, and I feel my brows furrow but go still when I feel him getting hard through his pants.
I feel a heat come to my face, but when I glance at Moon, he's zoned into whatever show he's watching on my iPad.
“Tell him to leave,” Liam mumbles so quietly that I barely hear him over my racing heart.
“Get a custom-made puzzle.” I ignore him and swiftly go back to what we were discussing. “You can order it online and submit the picture you want the puzzle to be.”
He doesn't respond, and when I turn to look at him, he squeezes my hips. “Sage,” He warns, and I bite back a laugh as I turn back around.
Deciding to put him out of his misery, I get up to sit beside him instead, but as I rise, I instantly need to sit back down when my vision goes completely dark.
“What's wrong?” Liam grabs my hand before turning my face to look at him.
“Nothing.” I shake him off, but my vision is still blurring, and my blood is running warm.
“It doesn't look likenothing. Are you dizzy?”
“Just a bit.” I try to convince him that I'm okay, but he isn't hearing it.
“You probably just need to eat.” He walks to my kitchen, and I, again, try to tell him I'm okay and I'm not hungry, but he completely ignores me as he raids my cabinets.
“Maybe your blood sugar is just low. You need sweets.” Moon nonchalantly hands me a marshmallow, but I decline and turn back to Liam.
“Liam, really-”
“Why are you being so weird about this? You looked like you were about to pass out; just eat.”
He has his back turned to me, but my eyes still fall to the ground, and I don't say anything else as he makes me a sandwich.
Just eat.He says it as if it were as easy as breathing, and I feel a knot form in the back of my throat because itisn'tthat easy.
When he hands me the sandwich, I mumble thanks, and since he has his eyes on me, I just take a bite of the damn thing and force it down. After a few minutes and very small bites, Liam gets a phone call and says he has to go. Moon tries to stay, but Liam pulls him up from my couch and drags him out.
I sit back down in front of the huge sandwich and eating with the girls earlier opened my appetite, but considering I barely ate in two days, I'msohungry it's nauseating. I force myself to take another bite, and it's as if there's something physically blocking me from swallowing because Ican't swallow it.I try to force it down with water, and when it finally flows down my throat, it feels like I'm swallowing thick, wet cement, and tears sting the back of my eyes.
I take a deep breath and force myself to take another bite. I know I need to eat this, but every bite feels harder than the last.
“You're being ridiculous, Sage. Just eat it,” I whisper before compelling myself to take another bite. I clear my mind of everything, and the mental barrier fades as I swallow. I nod to myself as I take a small sip of water, and I get on my phone to distract myself. I take another bite as I scroll through my feed. Tapping on the 99+ likes and comments, my eyes land on one.
Lucky8797: That color is not flattering on you. Or maybe it's just the dress. No hate, but have you thought of going on a diet?
Everything in my stomach bubbles, and it feels like acid is seeping down my throat as I force another bite. The replies are defending me, but when I see another person agree, the sandwich in my hand sends a wave of disgust through me, and I'm suddenly standing over the garbage as it all comes back up.
Chapter Fourteen
Liam
“Idon’t see why Icouldn’t stay.”
I ignore Moon as I type out a message to Capri but pause to steal a glance at him. “Did Sage seem weird?”
“What do you mean?”
“When I asked her to eat after she got dizzy. Did she seem weird?”
