Chapter 104: Sadie: Going Once, Going Twice

SADIE

Before I can move, Nia crosses the room to Trey. She sends me a sheepish smile over her shoulder, then turns back to him before I can give her a look worth understanding.

"Are you here to see her?" she asks, motioning toward me.

Hell no. He’s here to leave. That’s the only thing I want him doing, before he notices how little I slept or how much his decisions are still affecting me. Getting through this morning has taken enough effort without him showing up to see the results.

"I’m signing up." He looks past her at me. "Heard you’re taking new members today."

Surely he hasn’t come here expecting me to hand him a form.

"Yeah, you came at the right time," one of the new members says from his seat.

"It’s a good club, Trey," another adds. "You should join us."

Trey makes no attempt to correct them. Signing up? Has he lost his mind, or does he think I’ve lost mine?

"Why are—what do you think you’re doing?"

This is so absurd that I’m more shocked than angry as I step closer and glare at him.

"I figured I have to start somewhere, don’t I?" Trey holds my gaze. "This is my first step."

My eye twitches. Beside him, Nia glances at me with an expression that tells me she’s trying to figure us out. She doesn’t have the context, so I can hardly blame her for thinking this is some grand gesture. Still, she might want to stop smiling before I slam her into the nearest wall along with him.

Around us, the conversations have faded enough that I don’t need to check to know people are listening. He’s made sure everyone’s attention is on us, and now I get to deal with him in front of them.

Does he think I can’t see what he’s doing? Showing up here like he’s the one who deserves sympathy. Like I’m supposed to notice the effort he’s made and forget what he did.

"Okay, so you can fill out this—"

I snatch the form from Nia before it reaches Trey, gripping it at my side as she gapes at me.

"We’re not accepting any more members," I tell Trey. "The available spots are filled, especially for athletes. You’ve got practices and games. We need people whose schedules actually allow them to attend our meetings."

It’s a poor excuse, considering we haven’t even finished registering the people already here. Taking a breath, I give him the part he can’t argue with.

"And I don’t want to see you. Leave."

Marcus comes closer, looking confused, while Nia’s smile fades. I don’t care if I sound hostile or if everyone starts wondering what happened between us. He knew I wanted to be left alone before he walked in here. I’d rather be an open bitch than a scheming devil.

Adrian steps beside me, and Trey’s attention moves to him. His gaze lingers before returning to mine, though I’m not sure why either of them needs to look at the other at all.

"I checked your website," Trey says. "You accept sponsors as members. They don’t compete or have to attend every meeting."

The paper creases in my hand.

"I’d like to sign up as one. Whatever the club needs, I’ll cover it." He steps closer. "And I get to be close to you while I work on getting you to forgive me."

A ripple of pleased murmurs moves through the room. Nia’s expression softens, and a girl nearby presses a hand to her chest.

My jaw clenches. I ignore the tingling in my stomach, furious that my body has found something to like about this while I’m trying to tell him to leave. The words are right there, but he just asked for my forgiveness in front of everyone.

Trey, who’s so full of himself I’m surprised there’s room for anyone else, is standing here admitting he needs something from me. He knows people will talk. They’ll gossip, make jokes, tell their friends, and he’s doing it anyway.

Wait. What am I even thinking?

He always has a plan. This could easily be another one, and here I am, helping it along by looking for something sweet in it. After everything that happened, I should know better than to let a few nice words and an audience confuse me.

His sweet mouth has done enough. I’m not falling for it again.

"We don’t need a sponsor," I gesture to the door. "We’ve been running this club through member contributions. We can keep doing that."

"Forgive me, Prez, but we do need sponsors," Marcus cuts in.

I turn a glare on him, and his mouth snaps shut. After adjusting his glasses, he takes a step back. My gaze moves over the other members, just in case anyone else feels the need to help.

Nia, however, inches closer as though none of that applies to her.

"What’s going on?" she whispers. "Trouble in paradise?" Her eyes flick toward our audience before returning to me. "Everyone’s staring, Sadie. You need to wrap this up."

"Then he can leave." I face Trey again. "You’re holding up our meeting. I get that hearing no is new for you, but I’ve asked you to go. You can’t keep doing whatever you want and expecting me to be okay with it."

"We don’t actually need another sponsor," Adrian adds beside me.

My focus shifts to him, but his stays firmly on Trey, who’s glaring right back. Neither seems willing to look away.

Then Adrian shrugs, "I’ll give the club ten thousand dollars."

Gasps spread through the room, and I turn fully toward him.

"What are you doing?" I search his face. "That’s a lot of money."

"It’s fine." He gives a small smirk. "Besides Lego, I don’t really spend my money on anything. If the club needs it, I can afford it."

My teeth catch my lip. I’m glad his Lego budget leaves room for a ten-thousand-dollar donation, but that doesn’t mean he needs to make one because of this situation.

"But... that’s not—"

"Twenty thousand," Trey cuts in.

My gaze snaps back to him. Please tell me he isn’t doing what I think he’s doing.

"I’ll double his offer," he adds, looking directly at me.

"Okay, this is delicious drama," someone murmurs from the crowd. "Why didn’t I join this club sooner?"

"I mean..." another voice agrees, followed by a small laugh.

"Thought the rumors about those two being together were bullshit. Damn."

A slow breath leaves me. I’d love to know how much they’re hearing, because none of it seems to include me asking him to leave.

"We don’t need—"

"Thirty thousand," Adrian says over me. "I’ll give thirty."

What in the... Have they both lost it?

For a second, I can only look between them. Is this a stage play? Am I supposed to stand here while they take turns announcing how much money they have? This is my club, and I don’t remember offering it up for them to show off their superiority complexes.

"Forty thousand," Trey replies.

I close my eyes and try to gather enough patience to speak without shouting. This cannot be happening.

"Fifty," Adrian counters.

My eyes open, and I draw in a breath to interrupt, but Trey beats me to it.

"Whatever he donates, I’ll double it." The certainty in his tone doesn’t go unnoticed. "A hundred grand? I’ll make it two hundred. Will you let me in now?"

The room goes quiet enough that I can hear my teeth grinding. I’m so angry I can barely work out which part to address first—the money, the question, or everything about him.

Adrian has nothing to add either, despite helping turn this into a bidding war. What happened to his mouth? Has he suddenly realized he can’t outdo the ego master?

"Of course. You’re welcome to join the club," Nia jumps in before I can answer.

She takes his arm and leads him past me, giving me a warning look as though I’m the one who needs to behave. I turn with them, ready to object, but my throat tightens before I can get the words out.