Chapter 28 - Sadie
1034 Words
The fire burned lower as the night went on, the flames settling into something steadier, the light softer but still strong enough to hold everything together. The noise didn’t disappear, but it shifted—less sharp, more blended, like everyone had settled into the night instead of moving through it.
I didn’t realize how much I had relaxed until I stood up.
It wasn’t all at once.
Just… a slow easing.
My shoulders didn’t feel as tight. My thoughts weren’t running as fast. For a few minutes, I had almost forgotten to be on edge.
Almost.
“I’m gonna walk for a minute,” I said quietly to Maddie as I passed behind her.
She glanced up at me, her eyes scanning my face like she was checking something without asking. She held it there a second longer than she needed to.
Then nodded.
“Don’t go too far.”
“I won’t.”
I stepped away from the fire, the warmth fading behind me with every step, the night closing in again—cooler, quieter, the sounds of voices softening the further I went.
The ground shifted under my feet, gravel giving way to dirt, then to something softer. The light from the fire didn’t reach as far as I thought it would. It flickered through the trees, uneven, leaving more shadow than light the further I moved.
It felt different out here.
Not bad.
Just… quieter.
More honest somehow.
I wrapped my arms around myself without thinking, more out of habit than cold, my eyes adjusting to the dark again. The trees felt taller out here, the spaces between them deeper, like the night had more room to settle.
For a second—
everything felt still.
Too still.
Then gravel shifted behind me.
I turned.
Rhett.
He didn’t rush up to me. Didn’t close the space all at once. He just stopped a few feet away, steady, like he had been walking toward me the whole time and never questioned it.
“You always do this?” he asked.
His voice was low, even, like he wasn’t trying to pull anything out of me—just noticing.
My brow furrowed slightly. “Do what?”
“Step away when it gets too easy.”
The words hit quieter than they should have.
But they landed.
My chest tightened just a little, something small and unexpected pulling there.
“That obvious?”
“Yeah.”
I let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding, shaking my head slightly. “Just needed a minute.”
He nodded once, like that made sense.
Like he didn’t need more than that.
The quiet settled between us again.
But it didn’t feel empty.
It felt… close.
Different than the quiet at the cabin.
This didn’t press in.
This stayed.
He stepped a little closer.
Not much.
But enough.
“You have bonfires where you come from?” he asked.
The question sounded simple.
Easy.
Something anyone could ask.
But it wasn’t nothing.
Not the way he said it.
Not the way he looked at me when he did.
I looked up at him, really looking this time.
“Sometimes,” I said.
Not a full answer.
But not nothing either.
His eyes stayed on mine a second longer than they should have.
Like he was waiting to see if I’d give more.
When I didn’t—
he stepped closer.
And everything shifted.
I felt it immediately.
The air.
The space.
The distance between us shrinking in a way that made my breath catch before I could stop it.
I didn’t move.
Didn’t step back.
Didn’t even think about it.
That was the part that surprised me.
Up close, I could smell him.
Pine.
Clean.
Like the woods, but sharper.
There was something warmer under it too. Something solid. Something that didn’t move.
It grounded me.
And unraveled me at the same time.
My eyes dropped without meaning to.
Just for a second.
Then lifted again.
Straight to his.
He was already looking at me.
Not casual.
Not distracted.
Not like before.
Something else.
Something that held.
His gaze flicked down—
slow enough to feel.
My lips.
Then back up to my eyes.
My breath caught.
Everything slowed.
The night.
The sound.
Even the air felt thicker.
I could feel the warmth of him now, close enough that it wasn’t imagined anymore. Close enough that if either of us moved—
That was it.
He shifted slightly closer.
Just enough.
My fingers tightened at my sides, my chest rising a little too fast, my body reacting before my head could catch up.
And for a second—
I didn’t think.
Didn’t hesitate.
Didn’t pull away.
Then—
my phone buzzed.
Sharp.
Loud.
Wrong.
The sound cut through everything.
Too fast.
Too real.
Everything snapped.
I blinked, the moment breaking instantly, the air shifting back into something colder, something that didn’t feel like it had a place for what almost happened.
I stepped back before I could stop myself, my hand already moving for my phone.
“Sorry,” I said quickly, my voice not as steady as I wanted it to be.
For half a second, I thought—
Maddie.
That made sense.
That felt safe.
I almost didn’t look.
But I did.
Unknown number.
My stomach dropped.
I opened it anyway.
You fall into the same patterns.
My breath caught.
Another message came through.
Doesn’t change anything.
The night felt colder instantly.
Like the warmth from the fire hadn’t reached this far at all.
Like I had stepped into something else without realizing it.
I stared at the screen a second longer than I should have, my fingers tightening slightly around my phone.
Don’t let it show.
Don’t let him see it.
“Everything good?” Rhett asked.
I looked up too fast.
“Yeah,” I said.
Too quick.
Too clean.
I knew it.
I shoved my phone back into my pocket, forcing my shoulders to relax, forcing my breathing to steady.
“It’s nothing,” I added.
That didn’t sound right.
Not even to me.
His eyes didn’t leave mine.
Not convinced.
Not pushing.
Just watching.
And somehow—
that felt worse.
- Writer
