Rejected At First Sight (Spinoff Series)

12

Ashlyn Jesse

It was pouring by the time Sage knocked at the front door. Leaving my dad fumbling on the couch, I walk over to the front door and open it. Sage is wearing a drenched grey hoodie and dark denim, holding a bag of take out and has his bag slung over his shoulder.

I sigh in relief and open the door wider, beckoning him in. "Thank you Sage, you're a lifesaver."

Sage gives me a bright smile. "I know." He steps inside and kicks his shoes off.

"AJ?" My dad calls from the other room. "Where did you go?"

I sigh at his slightly slurred words, rubbing the bridge of my nose. "Sage, the dining table is right through there, do you mind setting the stuff down over there?"

Sage doesn't seem to bothered by my dad's tipsy sing-song tone. He nods and moves towards the dining room as I drop down into the den. My dad is sprawled out on the couch, an empty bottle being thrust into the open air. "It's empty." He says regretfully.

"Yeah it looks like it." I say and pick up another three bottles and then take the one from his hand, the glass clinking together. "No more for you, sorry."

"Oh AJ. You always take care of me." My dad crooned.

"Yeah, well, you don't really take care of yourself, now do you?" I say quietly and walk to the kitchen. Sage is at the table, rearranging my explosion of papers and placing the take out down. I quickly rinse out the bottles and open the door to the garage, setting them in our recycling bin.

I come back inside and shut the door, walking to Sage. He is holding up my math assignment, an amusing smile on his face. "How many times did you erase?" He asks me.

Rolling my eyes, I snatch the paper back from him and set it back down onto the table. "None of your business."

Sage's eyes study me, his mouth in a tight line.

"I'm sorry I ditched you at gym today." I say and walk back into the kitchen, Sage following me.

"It's fine." Sage says, but I don't really believe it.

I look at his drenched hoodie. "Do you want some tea? Or hot chocolate?"

Sage gives me a sheepish look. "Do you actually have hot chocolate?"

I smile, an actual genuine grin. "Of course." I say. "I'm not fancy enough for tea."

Sage laughs and grabs the kettle off of the stove. He moves past me to the sink and fills it up with water. I pull open the cupboard and grab the familiar red mug and look at the other options for Sage. I start to reach for a worn down white one with a company logo stamped on the side when the green handle catches my eye.

I reach up and grab the green mug and hold it in my hand for a moment, just looking at it. I drop back down onto my heels and turn towards Sage, who is staring at me.

His eyes flick up to the rest of the set. "Those are nice."

"Thanks." I say quietly. I set the mugs down on the counter and turn to shut the cupboard.

"Where did you get them from?" Sage asks and my heart skips a beat.

I busy myself with getting the hot chocolate mix from the pantry, head pointed down. "Um. They've been around for awhile."

"Ash." Sage says and catches my elbow. He takes the container of powder from my hands and places it next to the mugs, still holding my arm. "We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."