23. Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Three

Liam

I don't hear another set of footsteps as I race down the stairs, and I have no idea how she left so damn fast, but both elevators were upstairs, and unless she went up for whatever reason, she had to have taken the stairs.

I call out to her but get no response, and I try not to get more upset, but she's being so difficult. This is why I don't make the effort to help people. Now I'm the bad guy for caring.

"Goddamn headache this woman is." I don't know how serious her obvious issue with eating is, but she's brushing it off like it's nothing, so for her sake, I'm going to assume it's not that bad and she only sometimes eats what's on that meal plan because there's no way she's following it to the T, she'd be hungry after every meal, and for my sanity, I'm choosing to believe she isn't completely starving.

When I make it out into the lobby, my eyes scan the room, but she's not in sight.

"Sage, love?"

I quickly turn but don't see her.

"I'm downstairs. What room are you in?"

My eyes land on some guy in an Armani suit, and I realize this must be her date. This man looks like he has the personality of a cardboard box, and whatever cologne he's wearing is way too strong.

"Of course, we can reschedule. I hope you feel better. What do you think you're sick with?"

I stop in my tracks before I walk off. Sick ? I can't tell if she's telling him that so she doesn't have to go out with him, but a weird feeling settles in the pit of my stomach.

"I hope you feel better, love. Do you want me to go up to your room? We can order room service and…"

I don't bother sticking around for the rest of his sentence and head for the elevator. I don't know how she got back to her room when I walked out right after her, but I impatiently wait for the damn elevator. I press the buttons again, and when it finally opens, I feel like it takes forever to get upstairs. I rush to her room, but when I knock, she doesn't answer.

"Sage, please open the door." I knock again, but when I put my ear to the door, I hear her shower running.

I let out a sigh before leaning against the door and deciding to just wait, but that pit in my stomach only grows. I turn on my heel and knock harder.

"Excuse me. Did you need help with something?"

I turn to find a lady in uniform and a cleaning cart.

"Yes, I left my key inside, and my girlfriend is in the shower. Can you key me in?"

She barely even hesitates, which is concerning, but I walk in and sit at the edge of her bed.

A soft thud comes from the bathroom, and I rise to my feet. "Sage?" I head for the bathroom and knock on the door, but when she doesn't answer, I walk in.

When I see her limp body on the ground, I almost fucking pass out. "Sage!"

She's already stirring awake when I reach her, but I cradle her head in my lap and grab the towel beside us.

"Liam?"

"I got you; stay awake for me." I wrap the towel around her before lifting her.

"Lee, I'm–"

"Do not fucking say you're fine , Sage. You just passed out. Again !" I lay her on the bed softly before handing her a water bottle she had on her bedside. She takes a small sip, but when she tries to set it aside, I bring it back to her lips. "Drink the rest of it."

She doesn't fight me and downs the rest of the bottle. My heart is still fighting to get out of my chest, and I have to sit down to catch my damn breath.

"Why do you look like you just saw a ghost?" She fucking smiles , and the only reason I don't lose my shit is because that perfect smile somehow stops my damn heart. I let out a breath and only shake my head in response.

What the fuck am I doing with this woman?

I grab the plate of food they brought her earlier and place it on her lap. "Eat."

She glances down at the plate before glancing up at me. "Can I get dressed?"

I don't respond to her smart ass and take the plate so she can stand. She holds her towel close as she goes to get dressed, and once she does, she sits at the desk in her matching sports bra and shorts.

She starts putting a bunch of shit on her face, and I dead ass can't fucking believe her right now. "Are you doing your fucking skincare routine right now, Sage?"

"Of course I am."

Of course, she is? I open my mouth but immediately clamp it shut and grab her food and juice from her fridge. Walking over to her at the desk, I pull up a chair beside her before taking the top off her plate.

"Ridiculous skincare routine," I mumble under my breath as I cut her steak for her.

"What was that?"

I shake my head before scooping up some mashed potatoes and a piece of steak. I hold it out to her, and she turns her head to the side. "I can–"

"Open."

She sighs but opens her mouth as I feed her. She continues putting different serums and lotions on her face as I literally spoon-feed her. I bring her straw to her mouth, and she sips her juice with a smile. I almost roll my eyes at her, but she's so fucking pretty, I can't even be mad that she's acting so normal after just passing out.

When she's done with her skincare routine, she turns to grab the fork. "Do you want some?" She takes another bite, and I plant a soft kiss on her cheek before shaking my head.

"No, beloved. Finish." I keep my eyes on her as she glances down at her plate, and a weird look crosses her face.

"I'm sorry for the bitchiness… I don't think you only came here to have sex with me. I can tell you care about me, and I know you're trying to help."

When she turns her head to me, I kiss her cheek again. "We're not just fucking, so cancel the stupid date you rescheduled."

She leans back as she watches me, and I can see her biting back a laugh. "Does that mean we're also not humans?"

I roll my eyes when she laughs. I know what she's asking, but I don't know what we are. I meant what I said about not wanting to date her, and it worked out perfectly because I didn't meet whatever standards she had, but that was months ago, and now…

Now my dumbass got too close, and I feel like my skin is disintegrating when she cries, so I adopt nasty cats for her, and when she excitedly rants for hours about whatever fashion show she's in, I spend a fraction of my paycheck to watch her walk on a damn stage.

I care. I fucking care , but I can't. When I told her that we were just fucking I immediately wanted to take my words back, but I said that because it sounded a hell of a lot like she wanted a label on this, and it scared me. Everyone I ever cared about is either dead or forgetting about me and I'm the common factor in all three of their lives. When I get close, people leave. All of my friends do, which is why I stopped forming close friendships. Jordan has been the only one who has stuck around ever since college, but the rest of our group ended up growing apart. And even though I try not to care when people leave, this time, I do, and it's driving me insane.

"Finish eating." I give her a kiss before heading to the bathroom. I shut her shower off and stood there in thought.

This woman deserves so much more than my bad temper, but I'm too much of an asshole to let her date guys in Armani suits and bad cologne, so she's stuck with me.

"Fuck. I'm falling for her…" I was just starting to like being alone… "Jordan is never going to let me live this down." I shake my head at myself and walk out of the bathroom.

Sage gets up with her plate, but I stop her when she walks to get the trash.

"You're not done."

"Yeah, I am."

"Sage." I don't let her respond, and take the plate from her. "You barely touched your plate. Why don't you want anymore?"

She shrugs, and when her face falls, I feel a fist come around my heart.

"You need to finish all of it, Sage."

" All of it?!" She suddenly looks like the idea scares her, and I realize this is worse than I thought. I bring my hand to hers, and she tries to pull away, but I don't let her.

"Dory, it's not even that much, and I know you're not full."

She tries to convince me that it's a lot of food, but she's wasting her breath. "This is way more calories than my meal plan and–"

"But that's not your meal plan, Sage." I see the realization cross her face, and she takes a small step back. "Let me see your actual meal plan."

She shakes her head, but I grab her phone and hold it out for her to unlock.

Once she does, I find her meal plan next to the one she's been following. "Sage, this is perfect for your weight. What's the issue?"

She doesn't respond, and I set the plate down before settling on the bed with her.

"You need to follow your meal plan from now on, or don't follow it, but don't eat less than you should."

"But–"

"No, Sage. No. " I try my hardest to stay patient with her, but I refuse to debate or negotiate this. "Do not make me threaten to tell your agent, Sage. Trust me, if it's between your health and modeling, I don't care if you never walk another stage."

She keeps her eyes on mine, and they look torn . "Did you not just threaten to tell her?" Her voice lacks her usual joy, and it throws me off. She inches away from me, and I let out a defeated breath, knowing I fucked up.

"Dory–"

"I'll follow my own meal plan." She still sounds numb as she takes the plate from beside me. She doesn't make another sound as she takes the smallest bites of food. I study her for a minute, but I've never seen her this quiet, and it's killing me.

I lay beside her and plant a soft kiss on her thigh. "Please don't be mad at me." I glance up at her, but she keeps her eyes on her plate. When I kiss her leg again, she still doesn't budge. "I'm not the bad guy here, Sage. I only meant that your health is more important than modeling."

Nothing.

A small sigh escapes me as I lean against my elbow and draw small shapes on her leg. We sit in silence, and I steal a few kisses on her arm and leg, but when I hear her sniffling, I glance back up at her.

She has her eyes up to the ceiling and I briefly close my eyes before sitting up. "Tell me what's hard about this so I can help you, beloved."

"I just don't want anymore."

I almost give in and let her have her way, but I refuse. She barely ate any of it and if she passed out in the shower, then she clearly didn't eat much before she went on stage.

"I'm sorry, I really am, but I'm not letting you go to sleep hungry, Sage."

She squeezes her eyes shut, and I suck in my breath as I feel a pain in my gut. She presses her palms to her eyes like that'll stop her from crying, and I genuinely feel horrible.

"Come on." I pull her hand softly. "Let's finish it together."

She lets me take her hand away from her face, but when I see her watery eyes, it physically makes me sick. I lean forward and softly kiss her cheek. "You're perfect, Dory. Eating this won't change that."

She sniffles quietly, and I lean down a bit to kiss her neck. "You're flawless." I make my way lower and kiss her above her heart. "And pure."

I glance up at her as I kiss my way down to her stomach, but she still looks so upset. "Incomparable." I kiss her stomach again, and a small smile grows on her face, so I kiss the rest of her belly. "Pristine."

She laughs softly, and I smile at her.

"Are you running out of words?" She teases, but her smile is back, so she can bully me all she wants.

"Maybe." I kiss my way to her thighs, and she lets out a laugh. "Impeccable." I kiss her other thigh as she giggles. "Immaculate."

She laughs harder, and I resort to things that are as perfect as her rather than words.

"You're the sunset when it meets the ocean." I kiss my way down her left leg.

She sort of pouts, and I notice her eyes watering.

"You're beautiful." I kiss her again. "And you're insanely cute, like Periwinkle's yawn."

"Awe, stop it!" She covers her face, and when she shakes, I can't tell if she's laughing or crying, but I kiss my way up her right leg.

"You're Sunday afternoons."

She peaks through her fingers, and I can see her teary eyes.

"You love Sunday afternoons."

Yeah…

I pull her hand and kiss the back of it. "You're like…" I search my brain for the right words. "When you wake up two hours before your alarm goes off, and that relief you get when you realize you have more time to sleep."

She lets out a loud laugh, and I pull her into my arms, kissing her on the top of her head. "I can go on for hours, pretty girl. Eating this isn't going to change anything about you, so let's finish this meal, okay?"

She nods gently against my chest, and I kiss her head again before pulling away and grabbing her plate. I bring a fork full to her, and she looks like she might throw up, so I eat it instead.

I don't say anything else and eat a few more bites and after a while, she grabs the spoon. "Can I just eat the mac and cheese?"

"Sage–"

"There's a lot of mac and cheese, Lee."

I don't think she knows what a lot is, but I don't tell her that. This is bad. This is really bad, and I feel like a dick for how I was acting earlier because she isn't just being careless and skipping a few meals. She has a serious eating disorder, and I know she doesn't want her agent to know, but how can I not say something?

"Eat the mac and cheese with the steak, and I'll leave you alone."

" All of the steak?"

I don't answer her and stab a piece of meat. I take a bite out of half of it before giving her the other half, and she eats it without complaint.

"You like it, Sage. Try to finish; you're almost done."

She doesn't respond as she eats her mac and cheese, and it's like she's just trying to get this over with.

"You're doing so good, beloved." I kiss her cheek twice and hold her straw to her lips.

She takes a small sip before holding out a spoonful of mac and cheese to me. This is cheating, but she watches me like I might save her damn life if I eat it, so I do, and her smile is back. When she offers me another spoonful, I go to tell her she needs to eat all of the mac and cheese, but she's still smiling at me, so I open my mouth for her.

She looks down at her plate and her smile widens as she realizes we're almost done, and she's feeding me most of it, but she ate a lot more so I don't comment on it and get her to eat the rest of the steak.

"I really am full now." She turns her head to the side, but I follow her with the fork.

"It's the last piece, Sage."

She shakes her head, and I fight the urge to sigh and eat half of it. When I hold the other half to her, she shakes her head again. "Okay." I lean forward and bring my lips to hers.

"Look at how good you did." I gesture to the plate before kissing her again and she smiles over at me. "Finish your juice." I get up to get rid of the plate and she barely touched the mashed potatoes but finished the rest with my help. Considering I'm pretty full, I know I ate most of it, but I let her have this win.

When I walk back into the main room, she's lying on her stomach, kicking her feet as she scrolls through her phone. I keep my eyes on her, and when she laughs at whatever she's watching, it's like the last thirty minutes didn't happen. Her smile somehow makes the whole room seem brighter, and I'd do just about anything to keep her happy, but she cries when I make her eat. I'm not letting her starve herself, and it makes me feel like I'm dying to see her cry, but I guess I'm going to die trying to help her with this disorder.

I lay next to her on her bed, and she turns her phone to me. "Look at this!"

I watch an edit of her from today's runway show and I'm surprised by how fast her fans are. "How did they even get that clip of you? The show was just a few hours ago."

"I have no clue, but these people are talented." She goes through a few more edits and comments on all of them with a smile. I keep my gaze on her and take in a deep breath before nudging her arm.

"We need to talk."

She looks over at me, and I can see the worry in her eyes, but I quickly reassure her. "I'm not going to tell your agent."

She lets out a breath she must've been holding, and I study her for a beat before adding, "But you need to talk to someone about this. If you work on it with your brothers or someone else, then I won't say a word."

She watches me for a second before shaking her head, disappointedly almost. "An ultimatum? Really?" She moves to stand from the bed, but I grab her hand.

"Do you expect me to do nothing?"

"I–"

"Sage, you're putting your health at risk, I can't sit back and let you do that." I can't stand her brothers, but from all of the conversations I've heard of her on FaceTime with them for hours on end, I know they care about her. She clearly won't listen to me, but maybe they can get to her.

She shakes her head before looking back at her phone. "I'm not telling them. I'm fine."

"You're not fine."

"Yes, I am." She starts playing another video, and the way she dismisses me annoys the shit out of me, but rather than snatching the phone from her hand, I look forward and do the stupid breathing exercises I've been working on. When I look back over at her, she's smiling at her phone, and her pretty dimples ease more of my anger. It's clear she doesn't want to talk, so I let her have her way this time, but she's either going to work on this eating disorder with me, with her brothers, or she's never walking a runway show again.