Almost Perfect - Brian Katcher [64]
I’d certainly never imagined a cute, plump belly; a smooth, freckled back; and a chest that … oh, sweet Lord. In an instant, Sage had become the girl … the woman … she’d been to me when we first met. Her actual body was even more impressive than I would have pictured when we went to the movies.
Sage had a woman’s chest. It was perverse! Unnatural! It wasn’t even possible!
And we were supposed to go off to Columbia together this weekend!
I didn’t even slow down when I turned onto Sage’s street, and I almost completely lost control of my bike. I had to talk to Sage. She had a couple of things to explain.
chapter twenty-two
THE LIVING ROOM LIGHT WAS on, but there were no vehicles in Sage’s driveway. Hopefully, that meant her parents were gone. I parked my bike, then stood on the front porch. What was I going to say? Hey, I couldn’t help noticing …
Tammi answered my knock. She stood with her arms folded, like the doorman at some trendy club.
“Sage is in the shower.”
“Ah. Well, tell her I stopped by.” Obviously, I didn’t meet the dress code. I walked back among the many lawn gnomes. Just before I mounted my bike, Tammi called me back.
“Why don’t you wait inside, Logan?” There was a friendliness in her voice I’d never heard before. Cautiously, I entered the house.
I figured I’d be waiting in the living room, but Tammi escorted me to Sage’s room.
“I’ll tell her you’re here.” There was a definite welcome in her voice. I wondered what had brought on this change.
“Your parents are gone, right?” I asked nervously.
“You think I’d invite you in if they were here?”
I could see Tammi knock on the bathroom door, then pass inside. It blew my mind. For the first ten or so years of Tammi’s life, Sage had been her brother. Now Tammi felt comfortable going into the bathroom while Sage was showering. Had she really accepted her new sister so completely?
I sat on Sage’s bed. Tammi quickly stuck her head through the doorway.
“She’ll be done in a second.” She ducked out again. I heard the door to her room slam, and then a radio came on. Apparently, Tammi wasn’t going to chaperone today.
Sage’s room was as chaotic as her personality. It was in a state of total disorder, but not dirty. In one corner, a sewing machine stood stacked with dozens of half-finished outfits. Rows of books were piled along one wall, while a large bookcase was crammed to overflowing with rocks, fossils, and dried flowers. The desk was buried under a pile of fashion magazines, photographs, and an almost obsolete computer.
Tammi’s boy-band music drowned out any other sounds in the house, so I refrained from snooping too much. It was tempting to look and see which Internet sites Sage had bookmarked, but I contented myself with examining the things on her desk.
A purple leather-bound book caught my eye. Journal. Sage kept a diary? I wondered what she wrote in there. I wondered if she ever mentioned me.
“Hey, Logan.”
I turned. Sage was closing the door behind her. She wore a bulky bathrobe and a towel over her hair.
“Hi, Sage. Here, I’ll leave while you change.”
Sage sat down in front of a makeup table. “Why bother? You saw practically everything at the pool. Did you come to take pictures?” I couldn’t tell if she was being sarcastic or was actually angry.
“Very funny.” I awkwardly crouched on the end of her bed. I hadn’t been that obvious, had I?
Sage removed the towel from her head and began brushing her wet hair. “You almost drowned back there. I never knew I had such an amazing figure.”
“Neither did I, Sage.”
She paused midbrush and swiveled in her chair. “You really had no idea?” She seemed legitimately surprised that I didn’t know.
“How is this possible? You said yourself, you’re technically … not a girl. But you have … you have …”
“Thirty-six B breasts. Thanks for noticing.” She winked.
I remembered seeing her from behind at the pool, when I didn’t recognize her. I’d thought she looked so beautiful, all wet in that bikini top. I had liked what I saw. And Sage knew it. I mentally begged her not to mention it.