Little Secrets:Unexpectedly Pregnant(25)

"She's a little prickly." His sister frowned. "Maybe that's not the right word... Scared? Vulnerable?"

"But do you like her?" Tyce persisted.

"Yes, I suppose I do." Lachlyn frowned again. "We were supposed to have  dinner this week but she postponed. I've sent her a couple of texts  trying to reschedule but she's booked up at the moment."

Tyce frowned at the note of hurt he heard in Lachlyn's voice. Trying to  reassure her, he put his arm around her shoulder and hugged her close.  "I have heard many mutterings of a picky Saudi princess who can't make  up her damn mind."         

     



 

They turned the corner onto Sage's block and, like a homing beacon,  Tyce's eyes were drawn to a slim figure at the end of the street,  wearing black pants tucked into black boots, and a scarlet coat. Sage  was looking down at her phone and wasn't paying attention to her  surroundings.

Tyce nudged Lachlyn. "Sage is home early-her meeting must have been rescheduled. Let's catch up with her."

Lachlyn looked anxious. "Let me give her a heads-up, tell her that I'm here."

"Nah, let's just go," Tyce insisted. "It's too cold to hang around."

Lachlyn shook her head and pulled out her phone, pressing buttons. Tyce  looked down, saw that her phone was dialing Sage's number and looked  across the road. He watched Sage look down at her phone and when she  grimaced, he knew that she had read the caller ID. Instead of answering  Lachlyn's call, she shoved her phone back into her coat pocket.

His temper bubbled and when he clocked Lachlyn's miserable expression,  it burned a hole in his stomach. His sister blinked away her tears and  tried to smile. "Yeah, so I guess it's me and not work that's the  problem."

"Lach-" Tyce said, at a loss for what to say. He looked down into her  bewildered face and, in that moment, his baby sister was wearing the  exact expression that was a feature of her childhood spent with their  mother.

I love you-what's wrong with me that you can't love me back? Do I make you sad? Am I the problem?

Lachlyn reached up to kiss his cheek. "It's okay, Tyce. Maybe she's not  ready for me." Lachlyn patted his arm. "I'll talk to you later, okay?"

Tyce watched Lachlyn walk away, anger and disappointment rolling through  him. He looked across the street, all his anger directed at Sage, who  was walking, head down, toward the front door of her place. Tyce took  his own phone and dialed her number...



Sage looked down at her phone and saw Tyce's name flash on her screen.  Lifting the phone to her ear, she stopped and turned toward the side of  the building, putting her back to the wind. "Hi."

"Hey." Tyce's voice sounded funny but Sage thought that it could just be the wind playing tricks with her ears.

"I'm with Lachlyn and I thought that we could come to the apartment for coffee. Are you going to be home soon?"

Yeah, he definitely sounded weird. Almost angry, Sage thought. Sage  rubbed the back of her neck, trying to massage the tension away. Her  princess had arrived ten minutes late for their meeting and stormed out  in a huff after another five, declaring that Sage's designs were all  rubbish and plebeian and that she hated every one.

She felt battered and tired and all she wanted was to climb into a hot  bath and to go to bed early. She didn't want to talk to anyone, not even  Tyce, tonight. She felt like she hadn't had a moment alone for the  month and all she wanted was an empty apartment and some quiet.

"Sage? Are you there?"

"I'm still at work." The lie ran smoothly off her tongue even as it  burned a hole in her stomach. But if she told him the truth, then he'd  demand to know why she needed time alone, what was bugging her, why she  was avoiding him and his sister. She just didn't have the energy to deal  with any of it.

"I'm going to be working late so-" she hesitated "-maybe you should stay at your place tonight?"

"Okay then."

Sage looked down at her dead phone and winced. God, she hated lying and  wished she hadn't. She should've just told him that she needed some time  alone; of everyone she knew, Tyce was the person most likely to  understand that. And he was a big boy; if he asked what was wrong and  she said that she didn't feel like talking, he'd understand. There was  no need to lie...yet she'd done it. Sage felt acid coat her throat,  feeling thoroughly ashamed of herself.

She'd have to confess the lie and that wasn't going to be fun.

But she was a big girl and she'd done the crime, so she'd take the consequences.

Sage looked down at her screen and saw the "missed" call she'd ignored  from Lachlyn and remorse swamped her. And she felt guilty for blowing  their plans, for using work as an excuse to avoid her.

Sage sucked in some cold air thinking that it was bad timing, that she  did need to get on top of work; she didn't really have the time to start  a new relationship. With Tyce living with her and taking up her time at  night and the tiredness from the pregnancy hormones, and the horrible  weather...

And the famine in the Sudan and the bomb blast in Pakistan and the phase of the moon...         

     



 

God, she was just one crazy, twisted knot of excuses.

The truth was that she was scared. No, terrified. Scared of what she  felt for Tyce, scared of what she could feel for Lachlyn. Scared of  being hurt, left alone, lost.

But, most of all, she was scared to live. To love.

Sage wrapped her arms around her waist as she walked the last yards to  her building. A series of pictures flashed into her head and they were  of the last vacation she'd spent with her parents. They'd flown to  Hawaii and she remembered they'd all taken surfing lessons. Her brothers  had picked up the skill immediately but she and her dad had struggled  to find their balance. On the cinema screen in her head, her mom, who  was a Californian girl, was skimming down what looked like, to her, a  monstrous wave. Her dark hair was flying, she was whooping like a maniac  and she had the most enormous smile on her face.

Her dad had looked at her and grinned. "That's your mom, Sagie. Wild and free, so in love with life."

Sage wiped a tear off her face and thought that she might look like her  mom but she wasn't anything like her. She was cautious and closed off  and a slave to her fears. Yes, she'd experienced incredible personal  loss but she'd survived it and if it happened again, she would survive  that too. Hearts might get dinged and broken but they didn't actually  kill you.

She could, Sage realized, spend the rest of her life in a cage where it  was safe and, yeah, boring, or she could break out of jail and start to  explore her world. She was young, rich and reasonably smart; she could  have a wonderful life if she found a little bit of her mom's courage,  her bold spirit.

Someday, not today, she would have to try. She owed that to the memory of her parents, to Connor...

"So, working late, huh?"

Sage let out a low scream as Tyce appeared beside her, a yard from the  steps leading up to the front door. Sage slapped her hand against her  heart as she caught her breath. "Dammit, Tyce! I hate it when you do  that!"

"Yeah?" Tyce's eyes were as hard and cold as frozen coal. "Coincidentally, I hate it when you lie to me."

Oh, crap, she was so busted. Sage scratched her forehead, looking for  the right words. Tyce didn't give her a chance. "So, who were you  blowing off? Me? Lachlyn? Both of us?"

Sage shoved her shaking hands into the pockets of her coat. Before she  could reply, her phone rang and she pulled it out. Blessing Linc for the  interruption since it gave her a little time to construct a decent  apology, she answered his call. Linc was hoping for a date night with  Tate and was wondering if she could babysit Shaw and Ellie.

"Sorry, Linc, not tonight. I'm exhausted and I have a headache and all I  want to do is climb into a hot bath and go to bed early." Sage forced  herself to look at Tyce, sighing at his hard expression. This is what  she should've said to him instead of that stupid lie. "I just need some  time alone."

"No worries, I'll ask Beck and Cady. Later."

Sage disconnected the call and before she could speak, Tyce did. "So,  you need some space, huh? No problem." Tyce started to walk away but  Sage caught his sleeve and tugged, her actions asking him to stay.  Suddenly she didn't want to be alone. She just wanted to step into his  arms, allow his strength and solidity to suck the tension from her. In  his arms, she realized, was the place she felt safest.

"Tyce-"

Tyce's snapped-out swear was the perfect accompaniment to his pissed-off  scowl. "I am so mad at you, Sage. You lied to me and that's a pretty  big deal to me. I don't deal in lies. But worse than that, you hurt my  sister. I'm not sure what games you are playing, but she wants to get to  know you, to be your friend, that's all she's asking." Tyce pointed to a  spot down and across the street. "We saw you walking. Lachlyn called  you and you pulled a face when you saw her name on your phone. That was  strike one. You let her call ring out and Lachlyn watched you do it.  Strike two."