I Left Long Before You Looked novel · Chapter 5 of 24

Chapter 5: Sadie's Six Mornings

Sadie's POV

On my sixth morning in Seattle, I deleted the video and wrote the post I should have written the night I filmed it.

I did it at the front desk of the gym at 5:50 a.m., with nobody there but me and a mop bucket.

The video had four thousand likes by then.

Our little turtle!! Love him!!

I looked at my own caption for a long time.

Then I wrote: Last week I filmed my best friend being laughed at, and I laughed too. It wasn't funny. It was cruel, and I've done it for years. Wyatt, I'm sorry. If you commented on it, please take yours down.

I posted it with my real name and didn't pick a photo.

By six my phone was buzzing across the counter.

I turned it face down.

The door opened at 6:05, the way it did every morning.

Wyatt came in with his rope bag and his bad leg and nodded at me once.

"Morning."

"Morning."

That was our whole conversation, six days running.

He climbed from six to seven with the woman who chalks her arms.

I kept the desk and wiped the holds and didn't look at the orange wall except when I had to.

I kept all three rules.

I didn't touch him, and my hand had never wanted to so badly.

I didn't say the word. Not the lake, not the pier, not that day.

I didn't promise him anything, and I understood now why he'd asked it.

← Chapter 4 · All chapters · Chapter 6 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend