Sadie sighed. She had been wondering what the hell had been going through her head when she had invited Max to dinner all day. How had she managed to just blurt out that invitation to Max, after everything they had gone through? It wasn’t as if they were going to be able to pick up right where they had left off and pretend nothing had ever happened between them. She had practically just given him an invitation to put her on the burner over what they had experienced together. If he had wanted to grill her, that was what was going to happen.

But maybe he wasn’t as angry with her as she had been thinking. After all, he had offered her a ride to work. That was something he didn’t have to do. And yet, he had done it. Whether he was just being nice because he felt responsible for colliding with her on the sidewalk or if she was just pathetic enough that even someone who hated her would be willing to reach out and help her, she had managed to get herself into this, and there was no easy way to get out of it.

She took a cab home, seriously dreading the thought of taking public transportation right before she was going to prepare a meal. She needed some time to herself to think about what she was doing. What was she even going to say to him? Everything had been so messed up between them for so long. It seemed silly to try and correct things now, if not impossible. They were just going to have to play the situation by ear, and deal with whatever happened as it happened. There was no preplanning for something like this.

She stopped by the store to pick up a few things before finally heading home. As soon as she walked through the door, the phone rang and startled her so badly she nearly dropped the groceries. She was almost afraid to pick it up, worried that maybe it was Max telling her he had changed his mind and he wasn’t going to come over after all.

That was a confusing feeling, because if he would have declined, it would have let her off the hook and she would have been able to relax. Wouldn’t things have been better if they had simply ignored each other? And yet, somehow, it was devastating to think he would call to cancel. Why were these things so complicated?

When she answered the phone, her voice was wavering, and she was relieved when she heard the sound of her mother’s impatient sigh and then a quick hello.

“Mom, what do you need? I’m kind of busy right now. I have something to take care of tonight.”

“I was just calling to remind you that tomorrow is my dentist appointment. It would be nice if you could come with me, in case I’m in too much pain to drive.”

“Yeah, I know. It’s on my calendar. I’ll be there to pick you up in the morning. Oh shit, actually, my car is messed up. Maybe I should come over and take your car.”

“Yeah, that would be fine,” her mom said. “But it would probably be easier if I picked you up. You could drive home if you need to.”

“Sure, that sounds good. Good night, Mom.”

“Good night, honey.”

They hung up, and Sadie took a deep breath. She was going to have to try to center herself a little more than this if she was going to have Max over that evening. Maybe cooking would help.

And so, she immersed herself fully and completely into the task of making Max’s favorite shifter dish. He had lost his parents at a very young age, mostly because they were violent and unpredictable, and had left him needing a more stable influence. That hadn’t happened, and he had run away to live on his own, doing what he could to raise himself from the time he was about fifteen years old.

She had heard tell that he was quite the hooligan, but he had managed to make up for his cloudy past by becoming the leader of his pack. And yet, he hadn’t been able to manage to deal with that responsibility. It wasn’t that he was a bad leader. In fact, he was an incredible leader. But it was obvious he was unhappy in his role.

That didn’t make a difference right now. He was coming over to her house, and they were going to share a meal together. That meant there was going to be some kind of conversation she probably wasn’t ready for. And yet, she’d had about fifteen years to prepare for this moment. They had been young when they had met, and they thought their love was something special that might last forever.

But when he had been driven out of town, everything had fallen apart and they had never quite managed to pick up the pieces again. Was this their chance? She wouldn’t know until he arrived. And so, with the food in the oven, Sadie went up to her bedroom to change and attempt to prepare herself for what was bound to be one of the most terrifying dinners of her life.