Games of Love: Enemies-to-Lovers Romance

“It’s not too much?” Sadie asked, walking barefoot over to sit beside me on the bed. The mattress dipped with her weight and for a moment, I imagined a different scenario—bodies slick with sweat, fingers moving over soft skin—I stood up quickly, stumbling away.

Sadie stared at me as if I had grown a second head.

“It’s good,” I said quickly. “You look good. We should head out. The wedding is a couple of hours away.”

“Okay,” Sadie shrugged, stepping into her heels as we left my bedroom. “I’ll call Alex.”

Great. I texted Nora and Alex was waiting in the front seat with her when we finally made it outside. We ran through the pouring rain and I held my jacket over Sadie in the downpour. Her little faux-fur coat was enough to keep the cold out but not the frigid wet of the rainy day.

“Hell of a day for a wedding,” Alex commented, and Nora snorted.

“I like the rain; I always have really. “Sadie told me quietly, shrugging, with her voice low and private and just for me. The smile on her face was one of wistfulness and longing. “My mom used to say that rainy days are good for the soul. It’s like a warm blanket over all of us.”

“She sounds like a hell of a woman,” I whispered back against her cheek, letting my mouth curve in a smile.

Sadie laughed softly, watching the city speed by. She breathed softly. “She was.”

She let her head fall onto my shoulder. Without the excuse of exhaustion, there was nothing to explain why she let it happen. There were no cameras around and no reason to pretend here. I sat still, letting her rest against me, and when I looked up, I saw Alex watching us in the rear view mirror. He looked away quickly, watching the view out of his window as if it were the most interesting thing in the world. I smiled a little then, feeling the smallest amount of spite and then letting it fade away as Sadie made a soft sound into my shoulder. I wished we were on the couch again, safe and warm in our own little sleep-hazy bubble, tucked into each other. The minutes rolled by. For the moment, I allowed myself the peace of mind that came with Sadie’s presence. Soon enough, the peacefulness would be broken when we made our way into the wedding. Might as well enjoy it and let her rest in the calm atmosphere before we were both thrown out to the sharks. I sighed and wished we could stay in the car, shifting so that my cheek pressed against the top of her head. I must have drifted off as well because I sat up with a start as Nora pulled the car into the packed venue, ready for what was sure to be an exasperatingly long night for both of us.

Chapter 9

Connor

Sadie yawned as she stepped out of the car, reaching out for me to pull her up from the seat by her hand. She shivered, teeth chattering in the chill air of the rolling hills of New York State. She looked around, her eyes wide as she took in the greenery of the hillside and twinkling of stars in the velvety dark sky above us. The city was always too bright to host the halo of stars that forever waited in the night. It was always nice to see that the constellations were just as breathtaking as when I was a child. Alex held his camera on his shoulder and Nora nodded at us as we left. She planned on watching a movie in the car while we were inside and I snorted as I watched her shift in her seat, jealous of her freedom. At least she didn’t have to go to some stuffy wedding.

“Is that a barn?” Sadie asked, and I could hear the excitement in her voice. She grabbed the hem of her green skirt and moved quickly in her heels across the damp grass. “How beautiful… looks like home.”

I opened my mouth to ask her about home and then closed it again. Guests dressed in fine suit jackets and shifting silk dresses trickled in from the lot of shiny new cars. They too were following the lantern-lit trail across the green lawn to the expansive red barn that waited like a beacon on the hillside. It was warmly lit, casting its sunlit glow onto the world beyond its oak doors. Behind the wide building, a thick green forest lay, looking like the start of an ancient fairytale where all manner of magical creatures would spring from its depths. I had to hand it to Laurel, her choice in venue was beautiful and by the soft reverence in Sadie’s voice, she thought so too.

Alex bumped Sadie’s shoulder, nodding in the direction of the side door. “I’m going to get some wide-angle shots of the whole place, inside and out. I’ll meet you guys in there, sound good?”