by Melissa Blue
“Ashley, have you been drinking?” Wade's voice came out gentle, warm.
“Just a little.”
He shook his head then put the woman into a headlock. “I want you to meet Sophie.”
Ashley elbowed Wade and he dropped his hold. “Wait,” she said. “What?”
All that energy focused on her. Sophie kept her voice steady. “Nice to meet you, Ashley.”
Porter's sister. Victor's fiancée. The woman who could turn Wade's smile soft and warm. Her stomach locked.
Ashley pursed her lips and shook her head. “You're real.”
“Why wouldn't I be?” The question came out sharp.
Ashley glanced at Wade and Sophie couldn't read the expression. “The way the Goon Squad said your name made me think something else.”
“Like?”
“‘Why is Wade being polite? Sophie.'” Ashley put out her hand. “So, Sophie, I'm very interested in getting to know you.”
“Me, too.” And Sophie meant it, down to her bones.
Wade asked, “What did Victor make?”
“I talked him into making fried chicken. He wanted to roast a pig on a spit. Even if he had to dig one out back.”
“And you didn't let him?” He sighed, dramatically. “End of an era,” he murmured.
The woman rolled her eyes. “Neither I or Eva would allow you guys to dig a hole where you can burn stuff. Vic's a former bomb tech. Porter's an engineer. You'll all lose a limb to impress each other and consider it worthwhile.”
“Allow?” Wade said, not disagreeing with the last part at all. Finally a bit of attitude leaking into his voice. “This is how it starts.”
Ashley laughed. “Come in. The gang will be glad to see you. I've been kicking their ass on Halo.”
Sophie glanced at the shirt Ashley wore. Tetris blocks stretched across her chest. It matched perfectly with the jeans and Doc Martens. So she wasn't just Porter's sister. Victor's fiancée. She was a gamer who could beat the gang.
Yeah. Yeah. Sophie hated her. She plastered on a smile and followed the woman inside. Wade grabbed at her dress's zipper, tugging her back to him.
He whispered, “You're wearing your homicidal smile. What's wrong?”
He'd seen it enough he should be able to spot it. “I want to meet the rest of your friends.” And that too was true.
He frowned at her but nodded. “Okay.”
The warning was fair. Four men lounged in the living room, all focused on a huge flat screen TV. The sound of gunshots and screams boomed through the stereo. Despite the amount of testosterone pumping in the air, the home looked nothing like a frat house. To be fair, neither did the men.
Porter's T-shirt revealed tattoos on his arms, but even in the dim light he was handsome. He was the only one relaxed on the couch just watching everyone else. Something on the television made Victor smile, warming his deeply tanned skin and the sharp slopes of his eyes. And the man had dimples. Not what she expected. His cold stare the night of the award ceremony didn't make her think swoon-worthy, but he kind of was. Oliver's blonde hair looked like a halo. He sat on the other couch, his Converse propped on the table.
And Grady was there. A woman perched on his lap. A sweet looking woman with dark brown hair and a big smile. Maybe she was a paid girlfriend.
Her uncharitable thoughts would have continued, but at that very moment everyone looked at her—weird. It was all squinty eyes and head tilts and silence.
She glanced at Wade, her brows up. Sophie whispered, “The look I was talking about.”
“Ah. I see.” He shrugged before placing a hand on the small of her back.
She sucked in a breath at the thoughtless touch. “I'm Sophie,” she said to the room. “Now I'm not sure what Wade has told you—”
“Nothing,” Victor said and the smile had long gone. She could believe he was a soldier.
“Oh.” Her breath shuddered out. “I see.”
She could imagine the conversations now. Where's Wade? Sophie. Why haven't we seen him? Sophie. She wasn't even a woman just a name, a situation or a condition. Her gaze tracked to Ashley. She'd moved to the arm of the couch closer to Victor.
Sophie could wait for Wade to grunt and not explain anything. At the moment she liked that idea until she knew more about the warm smile he'd given Ashley. Or Sophie could give some context.
“Well, I'm his...” Publicist? Lover? Potential girlfriend? She bit her lip and studied Wade. He seemed as interested in her answer as his friends. She smirked. “I'm his companion.”
“Companion?” Wade's eyes lit with unspent laughter. “I don't think it's possible for me to like you more than I do right now.”
Heat rushed to her face because he hadn't whispered. Sophie had the urge to cup his cheeks and kiss him. But Ashley needed explanation. She clasped her hands behind her back. “Well, Doctor, I heard there would be food.”
He opened his mouth, blinked and glanced at his friends. More than a few of them had their jaws open. “Stop fucking staring. It's weird.”
Ashley leaned over, shock had her brows up as she whispered into Victor's ear. The man nodded and said, “Exactly. Sophie.”
She narrowed her eyes at the couple. Wade sighed. “Beer. Let's get some.”
The noise level rose when they entered the kitchen and she could only imagine the discussion going on. Her first question was who the fuck is Ashley to you?
Instead she said, “You don't bring women around much, do you?”
He dropped his hand from the small of her back. “Nope.”
“Have they ever seen you with a woman?”
Wade leaned against the counter and folded his arms across his chest. “What is it with these questions?”
She was working her way up to the one she really, really wanted an answer to. “I'm trying to figure out how I ended up being a Sophie.”
“Come here.”
She strolled over to him, not ready to let go of her anger or the knot in her stomach. “Why am I a Sophie?”
He settled his gaze on hers. “They've asked about you and I don't know.”
“Right. You could have said your publicist. Told them again I was a pain in your ass. Something.”
He sighed. “I don't know, because I don't know how to describe what you are to me. You weren't a woman I was dating. We weren't having sex, but I liked spending time with you. I liked sparring with you.” He shrugged, because of course he didn't mince words or too much care how they landed. “So when they were being nosy about who I was texting, what was making me laugh or who was getting me to say please and thank you—Sophie.”
“Oh.” Her heart fluttered. There were too many secrets and unanswered questions stacking up on his side of the equation, but—Wade. She closed the space and kissed him, knew she probably shouldn't. He groaned and wrapped his arms around her waist, dragging her up against him. He seemed to sink into her and the kiss at the same time. Their mouths mating could have gone on forever. She wanted it to. If they stopped, the doubts would leak back in. The jealousy would eat at her again.
“Try not to lose your virginity in my kitchen,” Grady said.
She would have stepped out of the embrace, embarrassment heating her face, but Wade gripped her waist. Grady passed behind her to the fridge.
“Wade,” she pleaded and tried to wiggle free.
He sighed and dropped his arms. “I'm really starting to understand the allure of being an only child.”
“Awwww, but you love me.” Grady offered her a beer and he smiled at her. “I guess I should welcome you to the Goon Squad.”
“Why?” And why was his smile so friendly? She could almost believe it.
“My brother is not a man to make...big expressions of emotion in front of a room full of people, especially us. What have you done to him?”
“Grady,” Wade growled, “fuck off.”
His brother pointed at him as though that was proof, and it kind of was. Sophie said, “I just want to eat.”
&n
bsp; “Victor decided to wait until you guys made it. Otherwise there probably wouldn't be anything left.”
“How sweet,” Wade said.
Grady grinned. “He'll be in as soon as she's done deflowering you. There's a bet going.”
Then Sophie got it. “You're only in here to spy on us.” She turned to Wade. “What is wrong with your friends?”
Wade spread his hands. “I told you they were assholes.”
Grady offered the beer again. This time she took it. She said. “Well, tell Victor he can come cook and I'll help.” She stopped talking then thought about it. “And put in a hundred for me because after he eats my fried chicken, I'll be able to talk him out of his chastity belt.”
Grady laughed. “Will do.”
Seconds after he disappeared back in the living room, she could hear him announce to the room, “Sophie has a hundred in.” Raucous laughter followed.
“Told you I'm likeable, dammit.”
Wade took her beer and popped the top for her. “You cook?”
“No, but I can fry chicken. Anything else and we'll all be getting our stomachs pumped.”
He lifted her chin with his finger. “You don't look mad at me anymore. Interesting.”
“What?” she asked, breathless.
“And thank you for taking it easy on my brother.”
She couldn't keep up, but she felt so damn warm alone in the kitchen with him. “Oh, well. I'm behaving.”
He placed a chaste kiss at the corner of her mouth. “I know and you know how much I like it when you behave.”
Sophie thanked her lucky stars he walked out after that. He might have seen her swoon, and he'd never let her live it down.
CHAPTER
7√2-45+√4×(10÷ 2)
The moment Wade came out of the kitchen his brother accosted him. There was some not-so-subtle shuffling to the porch that he went along with. That likely meant a conversation he didn't want to play out in front of their friends.
Grady frowned at him once the glass door closed. “You know you're in trouble, right?”
His brother's question could cover about a million things but they all had one source—Sophie. “Expound.”
Grady stuffed his hands in his pockets and paced a few feet away on the deck. Eventually, his brother sighed and said, “Let's start with the fact you're in love with her.”
Wade rolled his shoulders and thought about all the other ways his brother could have started. That was a fair place to unravel the knots of the day. “Okay.”
Grady's brows rose. “That's it?”
“Am I supposed to argue?”
His brother could only gape, which laid out the problem in and of itself. Sophie had asked if he'd ever brought a woman around. He hadn't. It didn't matter if the woman he dated liked his friends or vice versa. Even before his diagnosis, women didn't stick around. He was too demanding, too intense, too rough with his words at times. He was unyielding, and didn't give a shit about changing.
But then Ashley happened. Victor wasn't nice, he wasn't a big love gestures kind of guy. Something inexplicable had happened and his friend had changed for her. Or she'd changed him somehow.
Wade had front row seats. He'd watched as the only woman he could see himself with, forever, had fallen in love with his friend. And Wade could look back at his life and find the point he'd fossilized. How could Ashley even see someone so stuck in his own inertia?
Then along came Sophie. Even if he wanted to dig in his heels, she'd forced him to chase after her just so he could make his point. He hadn't hoped she could eventually see the man beneath the gruffness, he knew he had to show her.
It was a process of trial and error, but again and again, the theory proved true—she was different and he was different with her. The only logical conclusion was that he loved her. His need to be with her was more than a primitive imperative. It was uncomfortable, frightening and a number of other things, especially since he still hadn't told her everything she needed to know. So when he announced to his friends and brother he “liked” her it was self-preservation.
He knew. Everyone else might think he didn't have a handle on nuance—a fair accusation, but not even Wade was that dense. Oliver would be so fucking proud.
His brother strolled to the porch's chairs and plopped down into one, looking as though he couldn't quite process the truth. “You're in love with her?”
Wade pinched the bridge of his nose. Was he that bad the possibility he could love someone was unbelievable?
Okay.
Maybe.
But clearly he needed to use small words to convey this. “Yes.”
“You know?”
“If you put the pieces together it's pretty obvious.” He had to tilt his head, and worry about his brother.
“When did you figure this out?”
Wade wanted to laugh. Wasn't he the one who was supposed to be knocked on his ass? His circle of six people he'd die for had upped its way to seven. A likely impossibility for a man who stopped eating a breakfast cereal when the company had switched one ingredient not listed on the box. He could taste the difference and he didn't like the new recipe.
Wade pressed his palms together in hopes that simple gesture could hold his patience together. “It takes eight minutes and twenty seconds for sun rays to hit the earth. Time is relative. Right now, this very second, I know and you know I love her.”
Grady pushed his glasses up to rest on his forehead. “What about Ashley?”
And Sophie accused him of being tedious. “You do know love doesn't just stop, right?”
Grady's face turned red and Wade decided to lay off on the sarcasm. He sat down next to his brother. “She's with Victor. It was never going to be me. No matter how much I wished she'd—doesn't matter.” He went to pull his hand through his hair and stopped remembering he'd chopped it. Again. “She's not mine.”
His brother dropped his glasses back down to the bridge of his nose. Another second passed and he leaned back against the chair. “Did you see the way Sophie kept looking at her?”
He'd hugged Ashley and when he looked up, Sophie had murder in her eyes. “Yup.”
“Trouble.”
He may understand the nuance in his own way but explaining it would be the problem.
“Yup.” He sighed. “I'm in love with Sophie, and Sophie doesn't see it.”
“Different kind of trouble.”
He laughed. “Isn't it?”
Grady smirked. “Yup.”
“Is this is how it is with Eva?”
“Worse. I'm going to marry her.” Grady grinned, and for a moment he looked like he knew about the bet. Well, about Eva. His smile faded. “Sophie's...I imagined—hell, that's a lie. I couldn't think of a single woman who wouldn't want to kill you.”
And that right there explained the weird looks everyone had given her. Sophie was an oddity. “She does, most days.”
“She seems smart. She'll also fill in the blanks if you don't.” Grady's brow furrowed and he added, “And the next time, use the word love instead of like. Women prefer it.”
“Baby brother,” he said, cranking the sarcasm back to ten.
“Asshole older brother.”
“I'll use the word love the moment it's right.”
Grady groaned. “And I thought you got it.”
He blinked. “Got what?”
“If you need me—no, when you need me, just make a call. I owe you for Eva.”
Wade studied the situation from every angle. If he could figure out a way to explain Ashley, there wouldn't be a problem. The real problem was telling her about his disorder and making her understand his brain was working against him every minute of every day. Some days no matter what he did, he'd lose.
He rubbed at his mouth with both hands, the nervous gesture second nature. “The girls know how I feel about Sophie. Why bring me out here?”
“Oliver, Porter and Victor may know but Eva and Ashley may not. By now they've cornered her in the kit
chen.”
“Unfair fight.”
“Eva—”
“No. Sophie will eat them alive.” He rose from the seat. “Are we done? Do you feel better knowing even I am mortal?”
His brother spread his hands in surrender. “It's so reassuring you're still an asshole.”
Speaking of that... “You should know Sophie thinks you're a heartless hipster who wouldn't make time for me. She hates your guts.”
Grady laughed. “I get to be you? Oh, this is going to be so fun.”
“Don't ever say I never gave you anything.”
They smiled at each other, but Wade worried because his brother was often right when it came to emotional shit. Trouble was on the horizon and he didn't know how he'd fix it.
*****
Wade's hand was big and dry in hers as Sophie pulled him to her door. He'd been quiet the entire drive, but she'd take it. The day had been long, the food and beer made her sleepy. And maybe her nerves were frayed because Eva and Ashley had cornered her. The two women had been so welcoming and nice, Sophie couldn't scrounge up mean thoughts toward either women.
Okay. That was a lie. She still hated Ashley. Ashley was one those I-don't-give-a-shit women who either inspired warm feelings or hatred. There was no in between. Sophie probably hated the woman more after talking to her. Ashley's confidence, right or wrong, ensured any man with a pulse would love her. Even Wade.
Especially Wade.
Sophie went to unlock the door and he closed in, wrapping his hand around her waist. “Am I coming in?” he asked.
She had questions. Lots of them. “You can.”
“Interesting answer.”
“We weren't here long before, but leave your shoes at the door.”
She unlocked it and went in. His warmth behind her lessened when he dropped his hands. They found Cal asleep on the couch.
He whispered, “Told you I didn't kill him.”
She put a finger to her lips and crept over to throw a blanket over him. When she turned, she gestured for Wade to head up the stairs. She caught up at the top. His butt was in full glorious view.
She whispered again, “Walking behind someone with a nice ass is fun.” He threw a look over his shoulder that made her chuckle. “Oh, so that could be my seven?”