"How long can a storm last?" Sage yelled, slamming her hands against her couch. The blanket was still draped over her and Bo was still sitting on the opposite side, his face calm and observing. Sage blinked at the ceiling a few times, noticing a new leak in her roof. "My roof is leaking. That's just perfect!"
"Are you sure you don't want to just go to Will and Shawna's?" Bo questioned, eyeing the new wet drops as they landed on the blanket. "After all, you'd be surrounded by friends and family. That, and their roof isn't leaking and they have a fireplace to keep warm. We're in Montana! How do you not have one of those?"
"When I got the house, I wasn't concerned of quality," Sage muttered, wiping a droplet off her forehead. "The price was what I had to worry about. Now I can tell even this place should've been cheaper. I've been gypped!" With that, she threw the blanket off herself and stormed to a hallway closet, yanking out a suitcase. Bo followed her into the bedroom where he watched her start flinging clothes into the suitcase. "Be a dear, and fold those, will you?"
"Are you packing for a night or for a month?" Bo chuckled as she moved to a dresser. Without thinking about him, Sage yanked out random undergarments and flung those on her bed as well, wanting them packed. "You really expect me to touch those frilly things?"
She looked over her shoulder at him. "That's about as close as you'll ever get to touching them. And that's probably going to be the only time you get a glimpse of what I wear under my normal clothes."
Bo stopped packing, moving next to her by the dresser and peeking inside. She watched as he reached in, pulling out lingerie that looked similar to a French maid's outfit, but didn't cover nearly as much. "Do you happen to have whips or handcuffs to go with this?"
To his complete surprise, she actually nodded, clearly not joking. "I'm pretty sure they're in a box in one of my closets. Probably the guest bedroom closet."
"Why in the world would you own something like this? One of your secret admirers mail this to you so he could picture you in it while he showered?"
"Actually, he wasn't so secret," she notified, slipping the outfit from his hands and putting it back where he got it. "The entire town knew I was dating him. Poor guy didn't understand gossip spreads faster than wildfire in small towns. Couldn't take the heat, as it were."
"Wuss," Bo muttered under his breath. She caught it, and smiled at him. "I bet he enjoyed ripping it off of you though."
"Not that it's any of your business," Sage began, "but he never got the chance to. He dumped me when he found out that I refused to sleep with him."
"Then, he really didn't deserve you," Bo commented, pleased when he saw the blush enter her cheeks. "But why bother keeping this if you're no longer together?"
"Because if a guy wants to spend his money buying my underwear, and he never saw me in it, who am I to say no?" She shrugged, moved on to another drawer, and began tossing socks onto the bed. She bit back a grin as Bo opened her lingerie drawer and began digging through it. She burst into laughter when he asked "Do you ever buy underwear for yourself?"
"I bought one pair for myself," she giggled, moving back to him. She pulled out a hot pink lace thong and wiggled it in his face. "But you ain't ever gonna see me in this either."
"Yeah, that ain't gonna work for me," Bo drawled. "I've seen you in a bikini. All I have to do is replace those bottoms for these. In my mind it looks hot."
"I was fifteen then," she reminded him.
"And you still have no hips," Bo countered, grinning when she stuck her tongue out at him. "Oh, I'm sorry you do have hips. Just not in the womanly abundance that most women have. Yours is more super-model-photoshopped hips."
"You are such a charmer," she said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. She finished folding clothes and packing them as he continued sorting through her undergarents. She knew that should've bothered her, but he'd been her best friend for so long that old habits such as those died hard.
"Hey there's a picture in here!" Bo called, holding up a square sheet of paper. "I remember this! It was right after you'd had your appendix removed!"
"Oh yeah," Sage laughed, peeking over his shoulder at the picture. She was sitting up on the hospital bed and Bo was next to her with a giant stuffed teddy bear, holding a balloon that read "get well soon" in bold purple lettering, sitting in front of them. "I made you carry me to the bathroom. And remember when you even had to help me shower? That was a hoot-and-a-half."
"To this day, I don't understand why you couldn't wait for Shawna or Kate to get back," Bo admitted, putting the picture back and closing the drawer. "I'm still convinced you wanted me to see you naked."
She snorted, zipping up her suitcase and hurling it at him to carry. "I wouldn't call that seeing me naked. I had a towel covering the necessities. I just needed help getting in, scrubbing my back, and getting out."
The two of them inched out the door, still bickering about whether or not she wanted him to see her in such a predicament. Unfortunately, since the lights were still out, their bickering caused them to ignore what was around them, and they lost count of how many times they stubbed their toes trying to get out the door. Bo, remembering what Sage had said about someone walking around the length of her house, dashed outside to toss her suitcase in the back before going back to run Sage to the car. The figure in black might have been long gone, but Bo wasn't about to take any chances. He even did the gentlemanly thing of holding the door open for her before climbing behind the wheel.
"Nice car," Sage commented, toying with the heater. Shortly, she gave up on trying to work the thing, demanding that Bo turn it on before she threw a fit. After he got the car heated up and running, he watched as she opened the glove compartment, digging through the many things he'd had shoved up in there. When he questioned her, the only explanation she offered was "You dig through my underwear, then expect me to dig through your stuff."
"So...what made you decide to grow your hair out?" Bo asked after an awkward silence stretched over them. It was all he could think of since she was currently twirling a strand of her long, silky brown hair around her finger.
"Religion," she stated. Turning to him, she grinned and said, "I found Jesus."
"I thought you were either athiest or agnostic," Bo commented.
She shrugged. "Changed my mind."
"Why?"
She looked as though she were considering that. Again, Sage shrugged. "None of your business."
"Is that why you're wearing a skirt as well?" he pushed on.
"Yeah, and no jewlry--save for my class ring, and if I ever get married an engagement and wedding ring--no makeup, et cetera, et cetera..." Her voice trailed off as she started twirling her hair around her finger again. "I'd rather live my life believing in God and find out there's no Heaven than living my life the way I want and then finding out there is."
"That's deep. And I'm pretty sure I heard that somewhere before," he replied, glancing at her. He had to admit that her hair only made her more attractive. It had grown down to her hips, slightly curling at the ends. He could just imagine what it would feel like to have his hand in that hair.
"Do you like the way it looks?" she whispered, staring at him through her long, dark lashes. He caught a whiff of her perfume, something like a honeysuckle. He'd always loved that smell. Probably because you could never smell real honeysuckles in New York.
"Y-yeah," he stammered, confused at the turn of events. Just an hour ago, they'd been arguing and trying to kill each other. What happened? Now she was practically trying to seduce him. Or maybe he was reading way too far into this. He had to try and find a joke out of this. Bo tossed his head dramatically like women do. "I've been considering growing my hair out m'self."
Sage snickered, going along with the harmless banter. She reached over, teasing his hair with her fingers. "I like the way it looks right now. All dark and dangerous. Very sexy."
Okay, was this banter really harmless? Bo was having a hard time making the distinction. He was a hundred percent sure she didn't want to go down that road with him again, but why in the world was she openly flirting with him? Was it a trap? Did she want to rip his heart out and stomp on it? Was five years away from her not enough punishment for him?
He grabbed her wrist and pushed her hand away from him, setting it to rest in her lap. When he saw her face, he regretted daring to look. She had a pout on her face, her lower lip both protruding and trembling. Good. She realized he wasn't interested in playing games with her. He wasn't going to get wrapped around her finger if it meant she wouldn't meet him at the alter.
"You can give me that look all day, but it isn't going to work," he said. "I don't want to play games with you."
"Maybe I didn't want to play games with you," she whispered in his ear, softly kissing his cheek. His breath hissed out as she kissed him again, closer to his mouth. She was leaning over the gearshift, one hand on his leg. "Do you ever wonder what life would be like if your parents hadn't of threatened you and convinced us to break up?"
"We probably would've gotten pregnant, married, and then had a viciously bitter divorce," Bo sighed, pulling into his grandparents' driveway. Everyone--including Cooper--was sitting on the porch, staring at the car, but Bo and Sage knew they couldn't see them inside the car at all. What really surprised Bo was that not only was Cooper sitting with everyone, but he was sitting next to Liz...a little too close. "And in that order."
"You don't think I could've kept you happy?" Her lips had moved to the corner of his mouth, still soft and amazing.
"Actually, I figured I couldn't have kept you happy," he admitted, his hand slipping around her back and pulling her closer. "You wouldn't have been able to stand the idea of me not being able to become a writer because I refused to give you up."
"They say if you love something set it free, and if it comes back it's yours," she murmured, moving down to kiss his neck. "Is this me coming back to you?"
"Or the other way around," Bo grumbled, shoving her back in her seat. "Sage, as much as I want to do this, I can't. We're sitting in front of my grandparents' house and they're all staring at the car. Besides that, I don't think I like this Sage. Where's my Rosabelle Sage? What happened to her?"
"She died about the same time we broke up," Sage hissed, crossing her arms over her chest, defeated.
"You said you believe in God. You might want to ask Him to bring her back to life, because I miss her and I want her back."
"That's not my problem," she snapped. "You want a miracle by bringing a dead girl back to life? You ask Him. I consider it a miracle that He gave me the strength to keep going after we broke up. Things got even worse after that, but I'm still here because of Him, and I'm not looking back."
"I'm not asking you to look back," Bo explained, gripping her shoulders so she couldn't slip out of the car while she was still angry. "I'm asking for you to stop being so guarded. Start being that sweet, innocent girl that was so passionate about life and everything in it. I know she's still in there because I can see her in there, and you act that way around your co-workers, and your family, and your friends. Around me, you hide that girl and try to be some cold, cruel seductress that refuses to let anyone in. All I'm asking is that you let me in."
She slumped in her seat, gnawing on her lip. No matter how much she tried to deny it, she did miss the way things used to be between them. And he had the uncanny sense of picking up why she did the things she did and calling her out on it. One of the many annoying habits he had.
"I don't know, Bo," she sighed, picking at her shirt for lack of anything better. "I did let you in, and I got hurt. I didn't think I'd make it through. Next time I might not."
"I can't promise that you're not ever going to get hurt, or that I'm not going to hurt you. Because, after all, I am only human, and I do make idiotic mistakes--"
"Did you make a bet against yourself or something?" she snapped, throwing him a sharp look. "You're not doing yourself too many favors."
He gave her a withering look that wiped out her need for an argument. Now she just wanted to curl up and cry. "Will you shut up and let me talk? I'm not interested in feeding you all those mushy lines about never hurting you because I love you. Those are all lies. Truth is, I am going to hurt you whether I want to or not, I'm going to be an idiot and make mistakes that will cause disappointment, and I am going to apologize for every single time I have a stupid moment. I can promise that I won't intentionally hurt you. I can promise that I won't hurt you the same way twice--three, or four times, maybe, but never twice. I can promise that every day I will find some new way to hurt you. And I do all that, because I love you so much that I don't think before I act, and then I muck everything up."
Bo waited as Sage blinked at him. Once. Twice. "That," she said, ever so slowly, "is the kindest thing anyone has ever said to me." With that, she kicked her door open and climbed out of the car, leaving him staring after her. But he did figure he ought to close his mouth and scramble out of the car before someone noticed just what exactly was going on.
Everyone but Cooper jumped up from the porch to pull her into a hug. Kate wrapped a blanket around her daughter, noting she was getting soaked and she was shivering. Bo scrambled out of the car, and dropped himself next to Cooper once Liz had moved over to Sage. The two girls, stupid as ever, stripped off their jackets, shoes, and extra layers, and dashed out into the rain, squealing when the cold rain splattered on them.
"You two are going to catch a cold!" Cooper yelled, admiring the way Liz looked with her flaming red hair whirling about her as she spun in circles with Sage.
"Well, then come warm me up!" Liz giggled, motioning Cooper towards her with one finger. The way she peeked at him with her sea green eyes over her hand hinted that she knew he liked her, and was willing to flirt right back. It became more obvious when Liz grabbed Sage by the waist and they danced even closer in the rain with their clothes clinging to their wet skin. Both of them stared at Cooper through their long, dark lashes in the way that made every man want to tap that.
"Lets keep it PG you two," Nick chuckled, wrapping his arms around Kate. Sage, rebel that she was, wiped wet hair out of her face before running to a post on the porch and spinning around it as though she were an exotic dancer. Bo wondered where she had learned that. It definitely wasn't PG.
He watched in fascination as her legs wrapped and unwrapped around the post, her body moved up and down it, her fingers clenching and unclenching. At one point, she even clung to the pole while she hung upside-down.
"You still have yet to teach me that, Sage," Liz hollered, pulling Cooper to his feet, much to his pleasure. She pulled him closer than she had Sage and began dancing with him, pushing her hips against him, and nudging him for encouragement.
Sage untwisted herself from the post, landing gracefully on her feet with a twirl. She grabbed Will by the hands, pulling him off the porch and into the rain as Liz had done to Cooper. Thankfully, Sage didn't dance with Will like Liz and Cooper were. Instead, the two began doing a mix of the waltz and tango. After a couple moments, Nick cut in, spinning Sage into his arms while Will went after Shawna.
Not one to be left out, Bo sauntered over to Kate and offered her his hand. "Wanna dance? I'll try not to step on your feet."
Laughing, Kate took his hands and eventually everyone was literally dancing in the rain. Something about it was nice and soothing, if a little odd. The dancing would've continued on, except for the fact that everyone was freezing, the rain was still falling, Liz had to get home, nobody could feel their toes, and Sage was sneezing with the first signs of a nasty cold.
"My roof has a leak in it," Sage was explaining to Shawna as she curled up into a blanket on the couch. "And while the power is out, I can't keep warm, and the wiring's all messed up. I even showed Bo that if I want to flush the toilet, I have to turn the dial on the thermostat."
"Well, you're welcome to stay here as long as you want, honey," Shawna cooed, gently patting Sage's cheek. "Of course, tonight, your parents also need to stay here, seeing as how their house floods every time it rains, and they've already called dibs on the extra bedroom. I hope you won't mind sleeping in here with Bo and Cooper."
"I'm not giving up the couch," Cooper interjected, flinging one of his pictures away from him. Sage glanced at it, realized it was blurry, and rolled her eyes at the guy.
"We can get out the air matress," Shawna continued, causing Bo to sit up from where he lied sprawled out on the floor.
"Air matress?" he repeated, scowling at his grandmother. She cheekily grinned back at him. "I've spent the past two nights sleeping on your floor when you had an air matress?"
"If you had been a girl, we might've given you the air matress," Will snorted. "Only sweet little girls get the air matress."
Bo shrugged. "It's not worth it." With that, the threw himself backward, sprawling out on the floor and taking up as much space as he possibly could.
"That's okay. I'll be fine on the love seat." Sage bit her lip, fighting back a smile as Bo began belting out a heartfelt version of "Strangers Like Me" from Tarzan like a drunk guy. Phil Collins had nothing on him. . .except for maybe talent.
"I need a drink! My throat hurts!" Bo complained in the middle of his song, holding up his hand so someone could put a drink in it. Nick obliged, handing him a glass of water that would've been colder had all the ice not melted. Bo sat up to drink when it when Cooper snagged his arm and yelled, "Wait!"
"Cooper, my throat is drier than a ninety-year-old virgin," Bo groaned, struggling to keep his heavy eyes open to glare at his best friend. "What is it?"
Cooper took the drink out of his hands, took a long and satisfying gulp before handing it back to Bo. "Go crazy."
"Ew, you put your mouth on that! And you backwashed!" Bo complained, setting that glass down and picking up Sage's. He took a drink of hers, draining the thing before she could even consider complaining. "If I wanted to share spit, I would've kissed you."
"Well, then, why don't I just pucker up?" Cooper joked, squeezing his lips together so they puffed out. He even made kissy noises, and slurping noises, to go with it. "Come plant one on me."
Bo blinked at him, his face blank. "Yeah, I can't sleep near you." He scooted away from the couch, stopping when he got to the foot of the love seat. That caused Cooper to cry out "Baby Come Back" while he worked up some fake tears.
"I'm beginning to think this is some nightly ritual," Will muttered, shaking his head. "They do things like this every night."
"You sure you'll be all right here, baby?" Kate asked, hugging her daughter goodnight. Sage nodded, said goodnight to her parents and Bo's grandparents while Bo launched into "Circle of Life" from Lion King. It was probably the worst singing she'd ever heard.
"Bo, would you mind shutting up?" Sage coughed, feeling her throat tighten from the oncoming cold. "I'm trying to sleep."
"I'm cold," Bo whined, tugging on the end of her blanket. "It's too cold in here."
"Hardly," Sage snorted, swatting at his hands.
"My nipples are hard, so yeah, it's cold."
"Oh, for the love of all that is pure and holy in this godforsaken world, kiss her and get it over with already!" Cooper snapped, throwing a pillow at them. Grateful, Sage stuffed the pillow under her head, trying to shut out Bo's voice as he started screaming "Kiss the Girl" from The Little Mermaid.
"Hey, why don't you sing Disney songs like you used to?" Bo whispered, wary of Cooper's listening ears. He gently reached up and tugged on a strand of her hair that had slipped of the love seat and onto his forehead. "I miss hearing you sing."
"I grew up," she muttered, ignoring his tugging. "Got interested in different things."
He twined the strand around his finger, admiring the wildness of it. Bo decided to let that conversation go for the moment, but it definitely wasn't over. He planned on getting her singing before he left.
Before he left.
She knew.
Maybe he'd stick around. Be a freelance writer.
"Sage, I'm still cold," Bo hissed, releasing her hair. He listened as she groaned and stared down at him from her spot, her eyes blazing fire.
"If I let you sleep next to me, will you shut up so I can actually sleep?"
"Yes," he stated. Noting her unconvinced glare, he tried for a truly solemn stare. "I promise."
Caving, she sighed, slipping off the love seat and onto the floor next to him. Cautiously, Bo slipped his arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him. In response, she curled one of her legs around his, her feet brushing against his legs as she warmed the both of them up. Her head nestled against his shoulder, fitting them together perfectly. Like two pieces of a puzzle.
She had to realize he was her missing piece. Right?
One hand came up to rest on his chest while the other twisted around her own waist. He wondered what she was up to until her fingers brushed against the arm he had around, sliding down until she found his fingers. Their fingers twined together as though they were never meant to be apart.
"Hey, Bo? Remember when we went down to the South, and we thought everybody talked funny with the whole drawl thing?" Sage murmured, nuzzling her cheek against him.
"Yeah. What about it?"
"I miss how warm it was," she sighed, her eyes drifting shut when she slumped in exhaustion. Bo literally felt the energy drain out of her as she glided into sleep. He felt her breath even out, and listened to the light snore coming from her while ignoring the snoring that sounded like a bullfrog coming from the couch.
Her chest rose as she inhaled, pushing her more firmly against his chest. The pleasure it gave him shot straight into a place he wished was less obvious.
"Oh, darlin', that ain't gonna work," Bo groaned, trying to ignore the things he body was telling him. He couldn't risk rushing Sage, but if his body kept up the way it was going, he wouldn't be able to help himself. "That isn't going to work at all."