Page 56 of Never Let Me Go

I shake my head as my cheeks burn. “I told him that I thought he was everything.”

“Aw.”

“No, not aw, because he stormed off to his room and left me and the dinner I made for him sitting in the dining room.”

“Have you talked to him at all today?” she asks and I shake my head as I take a sip of coffee. I feel so stupid that I was so giddy and happy about this man when the truth is, he is a stranger. For all I know, the man I saw last night is who he really is and he has been putting on one hell of a show since I met him.

“No. I couldn’t sleep all night because I was worried about him and wondering who had hurt him so badly. Around four, I just got up and started walking until I found this place.” I motion to the park and she sighs, taking a sip of her coffee as she relaxes into the seat next to me.

“Well… what do you want to do about him now?”

I shake my head. “I don’t know yet. I’m tempted to just go pack up my shit and use my credit card to get a hotel.”

“And let Gavin find you?”

“I think he already has,” I tell her, shrugging my shoulders and she scowls at me. Why is it that on my list of problems, Gavin finding me seems so much less important than what happened last night? I mean, I was engaged to Gavin but the idea of him finding me and trying to convince me to come back to Miami just doesn’t bother me and I can’t decide if it’s because I feel like I’m home here or because of Sawyer.

“How do you know?”

“There was a man outside of your office yesterday taking pictures of me.”

She gasps. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

“Nope.”

“Oh, hell no. I’ll hire security for you or something, babe.”

I shake my head, flashing her a look. “I don’t need security. It’s just Gavin.”

“And what if he shows up here? What are you going to do then?” she asks and I tilt my head to the side as I think over her question. So what if Gavin does show up here? I’m not going back to Miami and I’m done feeling guilty for that. Baton Rouge is my home and where I’m supposed to be. My mind drifts back to Sawyer and I sigh.

“If he shows up here, I’ll tell him to go back home.”

“I don’t know if it will be that easy,” she says and I turn to look at her. “He called me two more times after you left yesterday.”

I shrug. “Let him come. What is he going to do? Force me back to Miami? I don’t think so.”

“You know, I was really worried about you when you first told me you lost your memory but look at you, kicking butt and taking names.”

“Do I remind you of the old me?”

She shakes her head. “Yes and no. I don’t think you should be so concerned with who you were and just focus on who you want to be now.”

“I couldn’t agree with you more.”

Before she can say anything else, the roar of a bike fills the air and we both turn toward the street, watching for a second before a man I recognize all too well pulls into one of the parking spaces.

“Oh, here we go,” Mercedes whispers like she is settling in to watch her favorite guilty pleasure TV show. I shake my head as I cross my legs and watch him climb off of his bike and grab a colorful bouquet of flowers off the back of the bike. “Two points for pretty flowers.”

“Are you grading his apology?” I ask, trying not to laugh and she glances back over her shoulder and nods, a grin on her face. We both turn back to Sawyer, who looks like he’s about to shit a brick as he approaches us. But damn if he doesn’t still look like I could eat him alive - a perfect mixture of swaggy bad-ass biker and the kind of guy you can see yourself settling down and having babies with.

“Two points for the very convincing “I’m sorry I’m a piece of shit” face,” she whispers and I smack her in the back.

“Stop it.”

Sawyer meets my gaze and my heart leaps into my throat, pounding like a bass drum as butterflies flutter through my belly.

Aw, hell.