Trevor

Trevor

The next few weeks are a blur between games, practices, sponsorship commercials, and burying any of my body parts Sage will let inside her. We are gearing up for the postseason, and it seems like we are going to be ending the regular season at the top of our division.

After the gala, both my parents blew up my phone incessantly, demanding to know where I was and a bunch of other bullshit. I finally answered and told my dad that I wasn’t interested in being a part of the business and that I was going to be selling my shares. He was obviously super fucking pissed, but I honestly don’t care anymore. I’m tired of trying to please everyone, or at least them. I’m gonna live my life the way I want to, and if they don’t like it, well, too fucking bad.

Sage and I have been spending every minute possible together, and honestly, it’s not enough for me. I can tell that she still has some hesitancy about us, and I don’t blame her. From what I can tell, she has had a shitty dating history, and our relationship didn’t start off as the most solid or romantic.

I know the reason she comes across as closed off and unapproachable is because she’s scared. She tries to hide behind her bad bitch exterior, but she doesn’t fool me. My girl is sensitive and terrified to be vulnerable with anyone, even me. Can’t say I blame her— buried deep down, I have similar fears, but I’m trying, for her and for us.

I don’t really know when things shifted between us. All I know is one moment, I was bitter and lonely over the woman I thought would be my whole world for my whole life. The next thing I know, I’m thinking about a pair of purple eyes day in and day out. I was looking forward to our banter. I started spouting out bullshit just so she would call me out on it.

There is something about her that is so fucking addictive. I wonder what life could have been like if I had met her sooner. Well, fuck. I guess not too much sooner since she is barely out of high school. Christ. That sounds fucking bad when I say it like that. I’ve dated plenty of young women, and by date, I mean fucked until our bodies went limp. But not with the same age difference as me and Sage.

Honestly, I constantly forget how many years separate us. I say it’s because she’s mature for her age. She says it’s because I’m a “man-child.”

Little shit.

We are hanging out at a tucked-away pub with everyone when Erica speaks.

“Sooo, Sage. What do you want to do tomorrow?”

I lift an eyebrow as I look at the beauty underneath my arm.

“What’s tomorrow?”

Sage shrugs. “It’s nothing.”

Vi scoffs. “Yeah, your twenty-first birthday is definitely not nothing. We have to celebrate! You’re finally gonna be all grown up,” she coos.

“Slater knows all the great spots in town. Can you get us some VIP stuff, baby?” Scarlett asks her husband.

He nods with a mischievous wink as he kisses the side of her head.

“Hell yes. We gotta do the birthday girl right. No pun intended, Trev,” he smirks.

I narrow my eyes at him before looking back to the quiet raven-haired girl beside me.

“Tomorrow is your birthday? Why didn’t you tell me?”

Can’t lie, it kinda sucks that everyone seemed to know but me. She’s my girl. I should know this stuff. I knew her birthday was coming up, but she never gave me a date, and I guess I never thought to ask for the exact date.

Sageshakes her head and laughs.

“Because it isn’t a big deal. It’s not like I haven’t been sneaking into bars for years with my fakes.”

“Yeah, but this time you can get one legally, troublemaker,” Erica chimes in.

“I’m good. Birthdays are not a big thing for me,” Sage practically bites out, effectively ending the conversation. An awkward silence settles over the table before Vi nods sweetly and touches Sage’s hand.

“Okay. No problem. Maybe we can all do dinner again soon. Not for your birthday, just because.”

Sage seems to relax at that and even gives Vi a smile.

The rest of the night goes fine. Slater talks shit about the team we are playing this weekend, Declan smacks him and tells him not to fuck with our lucky streak we’ve been on, and Seb actually answered my question when I asked how the treehouse he’s been building the girls has been coming.

He wasn’t exactly talkative or anything, but the fact he responded to me at all, with no hostility, was huge. When Erica was talking with me, the swarm of butterflies that usually hit didn’t. It caught me off guard for a second. I’m sure I’ll always love her. I don’t think I could ever not. But I also don’t think I’m really in love with her anymore. Which is as much of a relief as it is kinda sad. Like I’m losing her in a way but hopefully gaining her in a different way. One thing is obvious, though. The air needs to be cleared. With her. With Seb. If I’m ever truly going to move on, give Sage and me the start we deserve, we all need it.

When Sage and I get home, I go for the protein cookies Sage made the other day in the cookie jar that appeared on my counter one day. They immediately became my latest obsession, and I told her I would do whatever she wanted if she kept them stocked in the house at all times.

“So, are you gonna make your own birthday cake, or do you need me to buy one?” I ask.

“Neither,” she laughs.

“What’s the deal with that anyway?” I ask, doing my best to keep my tone even so as not to spook her. Getting her to open up is like bathing a cat. You have to be calm and approach her just right.

“With what?” She asks.

“Why didn’t you tell me your birthday was coming up? I could have planned something. Taken you somewhere.”

“When we are literally going into postseason?”

I shrug. I don’t give a fuck. We could have snuck away for a day or two. Aberton would be a little mad, but he’d get over it. Until he found out that the reason I’d be missing practice was because I’d be fucking his daughter.

“Birthdays are dumb. Why celebrate me? All I did was exit my mom’s vagina. If anything, she should get the party.”

“We could go to the cemetery, and—”

“I was kidding, Trev,” she says, cutting me off with a laugh as she shakes her head. “After Mom passed, there wasn’t a lot of time for celebrations outside the Crusaders. Birthdays just don’t do much for me.”

I frown at that, her words kind of breaking my heart. We haven’t dug deep into her and her dad’s relationship. We don’t need to though, for me to know he’s been a shit father to her. She deserved better. She deserves better. An idea comes to mind as I look around the kitchen before my eyes come to hers.

“Can I take you out tomorrow? No birthday stuff, I promise. Just you and me.”

She looks at me hesitantly before slowly nodding.

“What are you up to?” she asks.

I give her a wink as I pull out my phone and start laying out my plan.

“You’ll see.”