The Fundamental Theory of Us (16 page)

Chapter Twenty-Six

After everything Sawyer admitted, she still wanted to see if her bone marrow was a match for her sister. Her flesh and blood tossed her aside like nothing and all she thought about was them. Sawyer was a better person than him, in that regard. Then again, when he thought about Colleen or Nathan or his mom in that position, he wouldn’t hesitate. His family never would have stooped as low as hers.

Andrew stood next to Sawyer in the hospital hallway, his hand tight around hers, staring at a door. On the other side they’d find Alannah and Chase. Andrew wanted to wrap his hands around the man’s neck and squeeze until the bastard drew his last breath. Sawyer must have read his mind in the elevator up here. She told him not to say anything. Begged him. For now, he agreed.

For now.

Sawyer took a breath and reached for the door. She pushed it open and together, they stepped inside the room. Alannah lay in bed though she didn’t look sick, not to Andrew. She wore a silk nightgown, and had done herself up like she was going to the Oscars. On the other side of her bed, Sawyer’s mother sat glued to her phone. She glanced up quickly, let out a huffed breath, and returned to her phone when she saw who had entered the room. Courtney ran to Sawyer and threw her chubby arms around her aunt’s legs. Sawyer bent, returning the hug. Everyone else faded from the room as the private bathroom door opened and a man stepped into the room, with the same chestnut brown hair as Courtney’s, and an arrogant smile on his thin lips.

Chase.

“I see you finally decided to return from the sticks,” the man said to Sawyer. His leery gaze landed on Andrew and a frown settled over his face. “And you brought a souvenir. Or perhaps a stray. How very like you.”

It took every ounce of his training to stop Andrew from crossing the room and laying his fists into Chase’s face repeatedly.

To her credit, Sawyer kept a level head. “Have the doctors been back with the results yet?” She spoke to Alannah, not her mother or Chase. “We need to get back to school soon.”

Alannah arched a brow at her husband. “Not yet. But it’s still early. Does this mean you’ll be my donor? If we’re a match?”

“Of course.” Sawyer hoisted Courtney onto her hip and held her tight.

“See, honey?” Chase laid his hand on Alannah’s shoulder. “I told you she would see reason.”

See reason? The man had some nerve. Andrew’s fists shook at his sides.

“Candy, candy, candy,” Courtney said to no one in particular. “Can I has some candy?”

Alannah sighed at Sawyer. “Do something with her, will you?”

Sawyer glanced from Andrew to her family. “We could go to the gift shop and see if they have some candy there.”

“You go,” he said, leading her and Courtney to the door. “I’ll meet you there in a few minutes.”

A panicked look exploded in her eyes. “What are you going to do?”

He didn’t answer, only kissed her and sent her on her way, shutting the door after she left. When he turned back to her family, Andrew was furious. The three people in front of him knew the truth and rather than accept their faults, they buried their heads in the sands of ignorance and self-righteous bull.

“If it were up to me, Sawyer would leave now and never speak to any of you again. Especially you,” he added, looking straight at Alannah. “All you care about right now is getting her bone marrow. Is that what your sister is to you? A possible cure? What if she’s not a match? Are you going to send her on her way and never speak to her again?”

“You have some nerve!” Mrs. Layne rose from her chair. “How dare you—”

“Don’t get me started on you,” Andrew spat. “What kind of a mother lets a man like him”—he shot an arm out in Chase’s direction—“around her daughter, even after she knows what he’s done to her?”

Chase rolled his eyes. “I see she’s been lying to you, as well. It was only a matter of time before she grew bored and decided to spice her life up with lies again.”

“The nerve of that girl,” Mrs. Layne agreed.

Andrew could hardly believe what he was hearing, though after what Sawyer said, and what he had seen with his own eyes, he shouldn’t have been surprised. Some people were just wired the wrong way, incapable of bringing themselves to love another person for who they were, to see past imperfections and care for their family despite rifts and arguments.

No one’s perfect, and he knew he wasn’t even close, but Andrew now realized how lucky he had been, growing up in his small, drafty house with inexpensive clothes and cheap holidays where they drove down the coast and stayed in motels with no AC or televisions. Sawyer had everything she could ever want, except the one thing she needed, her family’s love.

“If it were up to me, Sawyer would walk away from you all, right now, and never look back.” His nails bit into his palms. “I would let you take your chances with the donor bank, Alannah, and I wouldn’t feel bad about it.” He eyed Chase. “Here’s what’s going to happen. Sawyer will return to North Carolina for university, and when she wants to see Courtney, you’ll let her. You won’t poison Courtney’s mind against Sawyer, either. And Chase, if you ever contact Sawyer again, unless there’s an emergency, I’ll be back, and I’ll bring a team of lawyers who will take your child away from you. A man who attacks a defenseless teenage girl has no right to keep his own daughter. Just think of that while you’re sitting in your Town Car drinking the best Scotch or whatever it is you do while living off your parent’s money.”

Mrs. Layne spluttered, but Andrew wasn’t done. “And you and Alannah will never see Courtney again, either. You knew what he was doing and you let it happen. Then you let this man into your family, and pushed Sawyer out. If you think I’m not serious, try me. If you think I’m not smart enough to bring this down on you in a civil matter, think again. I may be from the south, but that doesn’t make me any less intelligent than the three of you.”

He turned toward the door, his leg throbbing. Before he left, Andrew looked at them over his shoulder. “You should count yourself lucky that I’m not Sawyer’s husband—yet—and that we’re living in the twenty-first century, and not a time when, as her husband, I could legally force her
not
to donate her bone marrow to you. Because in my eyes, it’s a waste of a precious gift.”

That last part was an asshole thing to say. Andrew walked to the elevators, his anger barely contained. He meant every word. Even if it lost him whatever feelings Sawyer had for him, he would stop her from giving her sister a single drop of plasma if it were in his power or rights. Alannah didn’t deserve it.

Before he reached the gift shop, Andrew pulled out his phone and placed a call to Wes. Family law wasn’t his brother-in-law’s area of expertise, though he probably knew someone at the firm who could help, if the need arose. He hoped to God Alannah came to her senses and left that bastard Chase, and repaired the bridge between her and Sawyer. Though he wished it, he doubted it would happen.

Some people had the best right in front of them the entire time and never noticed it, not even when it was too late.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

“There is no way you can eat
all
that candy!” Sawyer tickled Courtney under the chin and a peal of laughter squeaked through the gift shop.

As Andrew approached, calm enough to face her without scaring her, he noticed Sawyer had laid out several lollypops and candy bars on the counter. Every piece had some pink or sparkly wrapper on it. Courtney bobbed her head, her dark curls dancing like constantly wound-up springs. Sawyer feigned shock, winning more laughter from Courtney. An involuntary smile curved his mouth, though it quickly dropped away when Sawyer turned and saw him approaching.

“Hey,” she said, the word shaky. “Everything okay?”

“Fine. I promise.” He reached for a strand of her sunshine hair and tugged the end. “I see someone has a big pile of treats.”

Courtney beamed a toothy grin. “Is all mine! Imma eat em aww!”

He dropped his jaw in mock surprise. “All? No way, you’ll get a tummy ache!”

“He’s right.” Sawyer tapped Courtney’s nose. “Are you sure you wouldn’t like some chicken nuggets or something, too?”

Courtney’s dark eyes lit up. “Din’sore chicken?”

“If that’s what you want.”

Andrew paid for the candy and the shop assistant packed everything in a little bag for Courtney to hold. Questions swam in Sawyer’s eyes, questions she wouldn’t ask in front of her niece. Andrew smiled and shrugged in answer.

“Why don’t we call your mom and ask if we can take you out for some dinosaur chicken?” Andrew held his hand out for Sawyer’s phone and she hesitated a moment, then gave it to him.

“Yah, yah, yah!” Courtney squirmed until Sawyer set her on the floor.

She kept an eye on her niece while Andrew located Alannah’s cell number and placed a quick call. As expected, she had thought Sawyer was on the line, and agreed to Andrew’s request. Whether out of shock or fear of his promises upstairs, he didn’t know, and didn’t care.

Andrew gave Sawyer her phone back, and hoisted Courtney up on his hip. “She said it’s fine, as long as we bring her back for nap time. That gives us three hours.”

Sawyer walked outside with him, dumbfounded. “I didn’t think she’d let us take her.”

Across the road, he spotted a row of fast food places, one of which was sure to have dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets. He took Sawyer’s hand and led her to the crosswalk. “I can be pretty persuasive when I want to be.” He offered a sly smile.

It worked. She grinned. “Don’t I know it.”

****

That night, Andrew and Sawyer ate dinner in the hotel restaurant with Sawyer’s father, who was more than interested in how his daughter was getting on in her first semester. The food at the hotel was first-rate.

Andrew ordered a steak to Sawyer’s lobster, and like he predicted, she offered him some. He gave her a good chunk of his steak. Her father smiled at the exchange, raising Andrew’s opinion of him. He hadn’t shared his meal with Sawyer to get her dad’s approval, though having it made him feel better about where he wanted the relationship with Sawyer to go.

Since he hadn’t had a chance to take Sawyer dancing back home, he was planning a little surprise for her. He needed help though, and when Sawyer excused herself after the main course, before dessert, Andrew turned to her father.

“I need your help with something,” Andrew said.

“Name it.”

“Distract her for about twenty minutes or so.”

Her father smiled. “That won’t be a problem. Here she comes. You’d better do what you need to do.”

Andrew excused himself, telling Sawyer to enjoy dessert with her father. On the way upstairs to their suite, he stopped at the front desk and checked to see if his instructions had been followed, and the desk clerk told him they had. A delivery had been sent to the room and set up as he had requested. Andrew thanked the man and gave him a tip. Then he went upstairs to prepare.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

The cherry cheesecake in Sawyer’s mouth assumed the flavor and consistency of soggy cardboard. She wasn’t sure what she thought her father wanted to talk about with her in private, but this hadn’t crossed her mind.

“You had to have seen it coming,” her father said. “Especially after what you told me this morning.” Reaching over his crumpled and discarded linen napkin, her father took her hand in his. “I loved your mother more than anything when we married. Over the years, she has changed, and I used to think it was partly my fault, working so many hours. Now I realize I never knew who she really was. The way she treated you isn’t her first instance of horrendous and unforgiveable behavior. Though it seems I’m the only one who forgave her for the previous indiscretion.”

“Indiscretion?” Sawyer frowned.

“When you were seven, I discovered your mother was having an affair.”

“Oh, Dad.” She squeezed his hand.

His eyes were wet and for the first time, Sawyer noticed how much he had aged over the past few months. “She broke things off and I forgave her. We saw a counsellor.” He sighed. “I honestly thought … well, it doesn’t matter now. I had my lawyer draw up divorce papers at lunch, and your mother should receive them first thing in the morning. I wanted to tell you first, so it didn’t come as a shock, though it shouldn’t. I wish you had come to me, instead of your mother and Alannah, but I understand why you didn’t, and I don’t blame or judge you.”

She never thought this conversation would take place. Not like this. Maybe it was for the best, though. Her dad never seemed happy with her mother, at least not that Sawyer had seen.

“Thank you,” Sawyer said. A tear slid down her cheek and she wiped it away quickly.

“Don’t thank me, not yet.” He chuckled, the sound reminding her of when he gave her rides on his back when she was little. “There will be some big changes happening. First of all, I’m taking over your scholarship and your rent. Before you try to change my mind, know I can’t be swayed. Also, I’ve put the house in the Hamptons in your name. You don’t have to keep it if you don’t want to, however, I’d rather you have it, or the money that comes from a sale, than your mother.”

Sawyer didn’t want to keep the house simply for the memories it held. Money from a sale though meant she could focus on school, and have more than enough to live off of once she finished. She couldn’t open her mouth to reply to her father for fear of breaching the emotional dam built up inside her.

“I’d better get up to my room for the night. Early start tomorrow.”

Her brows lifted. “You’re staying here?”

Her father smiled sheepishly. “I’m not brave enough to face your mother’s wrath. She left me a strongly worded message detailing the legal threat Andrew delivered earlier, should they try to keep Courtney from your life.”

A fresh well of tears sprung to her eyes. If she were someone else, Sawyer might be angry with Andrew for interfering. Instead, she was grateful for both her father and Andrew, who was pushy, strong, and wonderful. Her parents’ marriage might be ending, but her future stretched out ahead of her, a blank canvas, and her head suddenly filled with inspiration.

As if reading her thoughts, her father stood and gave her a brief, warm hug. “I’ve taken enough of your time. Now go on upstairs and have a wonderful evening.”

Sawyer drifted almost in a trance from the dining room to her suite. She had forgotten to bring a key, so she knocked on the door. A moment later, Andrew welcomed her inside in silence, taking her hand, guiding her into the main sitting area. The lights were turned down low, though with the help of flickering candles she could see the furniture had been rearranged. The two chairs were pushed next to the spare bedroom, the couch against the wall beneath the television, and the coffee table under a window. On the bar, someone had placed a long, slim speaker system. No music played yet.

“We never got to go dancing.”

They should have gone last night. Instead, she told Andrew her biggest and darkest secret.

“No,” she said. “I guess not. So what’s all this?” Sawyer motioned around the room. “Are you going to teach me to shag?” She raised her brows suggestively.

Andrew’s eyes smoldered. There was no other way to describe how his bright eyes darkened a shade as they swept over her. “Definitely. But first, I need to do this.”

He cupped her jaw with one hand, placed the other on her hip, and brushed his lips to hers once, twice, then kissed her soft and sweet. Soon the kiss grew into so much more, their arms never holding tight enough, their bodies never getting close enough. When he broke away, they were both breathless.

“God, I love you.” His fingers gripped her hips.

Sawyer felt the words rising from her heart. Before she had a chance to say them, Andrew crossed the room to where the speakers sat on the bar. He put his phone in a slot and tapped the screen. A moment later, fast-paced music she had never heard began to play, a cacophony of accordions and trumpets. Andrew went to a switch on the wall and turned the lights up a little.

He returned to her wearing a crooked, lazy smile. “Ready?”

“Ready.”

****

Shag dancing took more fancy footwork than running from an angry mob up a set of stairs drunk, with shoelaces untied. Even with one prosthetic foot, Andrew outpaced her through the entire lesson. She stepped on his feet and tripped over her own feet, and they laughed as they crashed into each other over and over.

The best part about dancing with Andrew was the way he never looked away from her for more than a couple seconds at a time, and she felt hyper-aware of his skin touching hers. Like an electric current flowed through him.

Eventually, Andrew hugged Sawyer to his chest and spun her around, and kissed her deeply. By the end of the playlist, Sawyer decided everyone should try shag dancing at least once in his or her lifetime.

A soft melody drifted through the speakers, the tempo much slower than the previous songs. Andrew took her hand and placed it on his shoulder. He let one of his hands drift lazily over her hip, his fingers dangling on the curve of her lower back. Holding her other hand in his, he led her in a slow dance, the kind she would have danced if she had attended any of the formal dances during high school, or prom.

Tonight wasn’t for living in the past. She had lived there long enough, and now, the door to the future had suddenly become unlocked. She rested her head on Andrew’s shoulder while he moved them in slow, smooth circles, and in that moment, nothing mattered. Not her family, or school, or the fact that she couldn’t wear a bikini. Only Andrew, the warmth of his breath in her hair and the feel of his hands on her skin. She could never begin to explain the emotions welling up inside her, though the word “love” seemed a close enough fit.

As the song drew to an end, Sawyer sighed, and lifted her head. She held his steady gaze, his cool-blue irises made warmer by the flicker of candlelight. For a long time they stood a whisper apart, eyes locked, and hearts beating in rapid succession. She felt his pulse leaping under her palm at the base of his neck and knew it matched her own.

He smiled as he lifted his hand from her waist and placed his palm flat against her cheek. His thumb swept under her lashes. It seemed as if he had something to say, but Andrew never parted his lips, he only stood there devouring her with those too-blue eyes, burning an intense fire she felt stoking her need. Sawyer knew in that moment what she wanted. Who she wanted.

She raised her face to his in silent invitation, glad that, a second later, her took it. His lips met hers in a slow, sizzling kiss she felt right down to her toes, and soon her hands were in his hair, pulling him closer. She wanted to push him back onto the nearest surface and climb onto his lap, and never leave. Feel his body with no barriers between them. Andrew must have sensed the direction of her thoughts, and thankfully, he kept kissing her as he led them to the bedroom.

A kernel of fear and doubt lodged beneath her ribs. She pushed it down. He had already seen her scars, knew the story behind them, and accepted her for who she was, and who she wanted to become. Once, when she was little, Sawyer read somewhere that, when you find that one person you can be your absolute self with, everything else becomes background noise. Not until this moment, with Andrew removing her shirt and kissing every inch of skin he revealed, did she understand what it meant.

Love had become one of the most overused words in the English language. How did one describe exactly how the person she loved made you feel? It was everything, like Andrew had given her the entire universe, with brilliant dust clouds, bright galaxies, black holes, and collision course asteroids, and shoved every brilliant piece of matter inside her heart. Love was being so full of every emotion at the exact same moment, she was always one second away from bursting.

Andrew lay her down on the bed in the dimly lit room, his attention on her completely. She watched him pull his shirt over his head and drop it on the carpet. Watched his jeans fall to his feet. When he leveled the playing field, Andrew came on the bed beside her, setting a foil packet near the pillow.
This is it—it’s really happening
. He reached for her and she turned, facing him on her side. A chill slithered up her spine. He banished it with a soft kiss.

I’m ready.
Ready for Andrew, for next steps, for everything. She kissed him and guided him over her. The fear never came. He would never hurt her, she knew that, and showed her trust with her hands and her mouth.

When he trailed away from her lips, nibbling his way down her neck, Sawyer said, “I love you, Andrew.”

He paused, meeting her eyes in the dark. His chest expanded. “I love you, too, Sawyer.”

Sawyer’s hands slid down his shoulders, past his chest, and back up. She knew what came next, but how to get there was another story entirely. Once again, he read her mind, and, chuckling to himself, kissed a path along her throat, his hands taking a different route to her breasts. His soft lips contrasted with the scruff of his beard, rubbing the skin above her collarbone. Andrew cupped her in his hands, teasing her until a sound like a sigh and moan left her lips that made his breathing quicken.

He lifted his head and smiled. “You like that?”

Sawyer nodded, not trusting her voice.

“Tell me what you want, Sawyer.” He moved his thumb in a slow, soft circle over the tip, making her arch up into his touch. “This?”

Her breath caught as his free hand repeated the action on her other breast. “Yes.” She hissed, rolling her hips into his.

A sexy rumble sounded in Andrew’s chest. She ground herself against his hardness again, and this time, his laugh died away. He lowered his head and caught her lips in a searing kiss while he gripped her hips and thrust his length against her core once, twice. They stayed that way, moving against each other as he kissed and nibbled down her throat to her breasts, until his mouth covered her nipple and teased a cry from her lips. Until every conscious thought dissolved into pressure and blinding white lights and her empty core clenched and pulsed. Until his grip on her hips was almost bruising and he shuddered above her.

Sawyer was lost in him, in the way he made her feel. She shimmied, trying to get him at her entrance. Andrew stilled, resting his forehead on her chest.

“Give me a sec,” he said, his breaths hot on her aching buds.

Her chest heaved. She thought he’d take some time to—well, she didn’t know—before getting the condom. Shit! How could she have been so stupid? Trying to get him inside her without it? She wasn’t on the pill. When she wasn’t having sex
at all
, birth control hadn’t really crossed her mind all that much.

While her mind raced, Andrew trailed a hand down her belly to her thigh. His fingers danced between her legs and she gasped at the first touch, jerking involuntarily. The intensity of his hands sliding in her folds was somehow more than just his erection. With two fingers, he caressed her sensitive flesh, stoking the flames. Teasing her. She didn’t notice him sliding down her body until she felt his hot breath where his fingers were. She was wet, so wet he slid through her folds with ease. A slow, fierce blush rose from her toes, and she was sure he could see it, even in the dim light.

“God, that’s perfect.” Andrew replaced his fingers with his tongue, making her cry out. “And that, too,” he said with laughter in his voice.

He ran the back of his hand up and down her side and dipped his head again, tasting her, teasing her. Fisting the blankets, she arched into him, needing to come again, and unsure if she could. Oh, God, she could. He licked and sucked and nibbled, and slid a finger inside her, then another, pumping gently, the action at odds with his tongue and teeth on her clit. She bucked her hips, trying to reach the end or make him work faster, she didn’t know which.

“Uh-uh,” Andrew whispered, his eyes spearing hers. “I’ve been waiting for this for a long time, Sawyer. Don’t rush me.”

He took his time, drawing out the moment, the sensations. She writhed and twisted the sheets in her hands as he pushed her slowly over the edge. Forever later, Sawyer cried out his name, her body tense, and the sun exploding behind her eyes.

When she came back down, Andrew hovered over her, his eyes bright in the dark. She reached up and slid her fingers in his hair, pulling him down for a kiss. She tasted herself on him, and felt the scratch of his beard on her jaw, his hands on her body. And a thought jumped into her mind, knocking over the dusty boxes of memories pushed aside. This was it, the last barrier. They had gotten everything else out of the way.