by Cara Dee
"Girl, I have no idea, but if you ever find out, let me know. Maybe he has a brother."
Sophie laughed. "I wonder if a guy like that even exists. Imagine if he liked kids, too." She sighed, and she couldn’t help but wonder… "My uterus has fantasies sometimes. Is that weird? I mean, I'm not even twenty-four yet."
"You're speaking to someone who had her daughter at nineteen. Trust me—uteruses can have fantasies at any age." Brooklyn picked up a lip gloss and smirked. "If Tennyson had been all that when you guys hooked up, would you be with him now? Maybe there'd be another little one on the way."
"Dude, I was a mess back then." She shook her head. "No. I wasn’t ready."
"Are you ready now?"
She hesitated for the first time.
Loneliness was slowly but surely creeping up on her, and she was tired. Emotionally and physically. She had farfetched fantasies of having someone to lean on, but she couldn’t do that, could she? It was too soon. Her friends handled things on their own just fine, and she didn’t want to be weak. She didn’t want to be the one person who couldn’t be independent.
It also bothered her that whenever she imagined that person to lean on, it was Tennyson, the man who was instead encouraging her to stand on her own. While he always pulled her in for the best bear hugs, his comfort felt more like a pat on the shoulder. Like, "I'm here, but you can do this yourself."
Maybe he and Brooklyn were right about Sophie being more social, though. She'd progressed by leaps and bounds when it came to work, and she'd fallen head over heels in love with being Kayden's mom, but she had no social life whatsoever.
"Brooklyn. I need to have fun—I'll leave it at that."
Brooklyn beamed at her. "Oh, I know just the thing. But first, check out your sexy self." She pointed to the mirror.
Sophie blinked. "What the fuck?" she laughed shakily. "Brooklyn, I love you, but…I didn’t know we were aiming for a gang bang with a crayon factory."
"Shut the hell up, Grandma. You look fabulous. You need some color in your life!"
*
Loud music, drinks flowing freely, and a loft packed with people brought Sophie back to life for one evening.
She'd found a corner by the dining room table where she had drinks with Noah, Brooklyn, Daniel, and Zane, and there was no denying she really needed this.
This morning, Noah had told her, "I've got this." And he did. He'd turned her loft into a home version of a club. The only things missing were flashing lights and a DJ.
"Hundred bucks, I gotta carry home Josh tonight," Noah said, pointing at Josh over by the couch. He was sitting with a bunch of people, basically pouring beer and shots down his throat. Everyone around him was having a blast, either shooting the shit—loudly over the music—or dancing in the area that had been cleared. But yeah, Josh looked miserable.
"I'm not taking that bet," Daniel laughed. "It was me three years ago. I remember it too vividly."
Sophie opened a bottle of vodka from the dining room table to refill her drink. "Is something wrong with him?"
"He turns thirty tomorrow." Noah grinned wryly. "He's depressed."
"Oh, please." Brooklyn rolled her eyes.
"I know." Noah shrugged. "My license says thirty-five, but my abs say twenty-one—I'm all good."
Sophie cracked up and lifted Noah's shirt just to make sure. "Oh, never mind. Damn."
"You wanna feel me up, babe?" He winked.
She shook her head in amusement and took a sip of her drink. "You're such a fucking flirt."
"Come on." Brooklyn chuckled and grabbed Sophie's hand. "Let's leave the boys and go shake what our mamas gave us."
She downed her drink like a pro, and then batted her lashes at Noah. "Bye," she sang. She followed Brooklyn through the crowd until they ended up in the middle of everyone, dancing to some mainstream club song.
Closing her eyes, she smiled to herself and got lost in the beat. She was back to being young, and it was goddamn glorious. Albeit loud.
It was nice finding a balance between responsible and carefree. She'd never done it before.
She was parched several songs later, and Brooklyn was dancing with some guy, so Sophie tried to make her way back to the dining room table. But the floor between the couch and the flat screen had gotten so crowded that it was impossible.
Someone accidentally stumbled into her, causing her to fall back against the couch.
"I'm so sorry!" The woman who'd bumped into her looked mortified.
Sophie just laughed and shook her head. "It's okay!" She blew out a breath, feeling hot, and made sure she hadn't created some domino effect with falling people. But everyone was okay, and she noticed she'd ended up right next to where Josh was drowning his sorrows. "You okay, Josh?" she asked over the music.
Josh lifted his head, his eyes red from alcohol. "I'm almost thirty!"
She grinned and patted his knee. "I heard. What's so bad about it, though?"
"I haven't reached my business goals." He grimaced. "Fuck, it's so loud." He groaned and fell back, rubbing his palms against his eyes.
Damn, the man was really shit-faced.
"Want me to get Noah?" She looked over her shoulder and tried to see where he was, but she couldn’t spot him.
"Nah…" Josh sat forward again. "S'all good, beautiful. I'mma—I'mma go. I need some fresh air."
Sophie winced in sympathy as he pushed himself off the couch and stumbled through the crowded makeshift dance floor. She wanted to make sure he made it to his place across the hallway, so she took the opportunity to follow while the path was clear.
The hallway between the two lofts was a lot quieter, and she caught up to Josh while he was digging for his keys.
"Need some help?" she offered.
It was both concerning and amusing to see him like this because he always came off as in-control. He and Noah could be like frat boys at times, but Josh was still the guy who got up at five every morning to run ten miles. He worked his ass off to build a name for his clinic, and Sophie rarely saw him drink more than a beer.
"You need to go away, Pierce," Josh slurred. He tried and failed to stick the key into the lock. "Too beautiful to l-look at."
Sophie's mouth shaped an "o," and she didn’t come any closer.
This was new—coming from him. There hadn't been the slightest indication he saw Sophie in any way other than as part friend, part neighbor.
"Aw, man." He planted his forehead to his door. "The key doesn’t fit anymore."
"Christ," Sophie whispered. "Let me help you." She walked forward and stole the keys from him because this was nuts. The man couldn’t stay out here until he'd sobered up enough to open the fucking door himself. "God, you're drunk."
"That’s…that’s no lie." He smirked crookedly. Once she got the door open, his smirk softened, and he brushed some hair away from her face. It made her freeze and notice their close proximity. "Gorgeous."
Sophie searched his face, wondering why she'd never really noticed him before. Maybe it was because she didn’t know him very well? But he was certainly attractive. His eyes were the darkest shade of blue she'd seen. His brown hair was always styled to perfection. Cutting jaw—no scruff. Smooth.
Hm.
"I should go. You—you need to sleep it off." She took a step back and tried to clear her head. "Goodnight, Josh." She turned around and headed back to the party.
*
Sophie didn’t see Josh the following two days, but since their encounter in the hallway, her mind strayed to him often enough.
It was so weird. Almost foreign to her now. She hadn't been interested in anyone but Tennyson in ages, so she didn’t really know what to do. Hell, while she'd lived in Australia, she'd practically forgotten what sex was—even with fingers and toys. She'd lived and breathed work.
She could worry about that another time, though. Today she was helping Brooklyn look for a new apartment, and then she wanted to take Brooklyn and Maliah out for dinner.
"We
ll, that was fucking disgusting." Brooklyn sighed and got in the car after yet another building had grossed them out.
Sophie turned the key in the ignition and pulled away from the curb. "I feel so stupid. I thought it was easy to find a place in LA."
"Sure, if you have the money." Brooklyn blew her a kiss. "But I'm not complaining. I've come a long way from where I started. Plus, with Ken moving to Philadelphia, nothing's gonna ruin my day."
Yeah, her ex was something else. Ken forgot birthdays, stood Maliah up constantly, and didn’t care about her in general. It pissed Sophie off so much, so when Brooklyn had told her about Ken's moving, they'd celebrated together.
"We'll toast to his deadbeat ass being Pennsylvania's problem tonight at dinner." Sophie slid on her sunglasses and got back on track. "But back to the apartment search. What about Pacific Palisades?" She loved living there.
"Way too pricey."
It wasn’t the first time Sophie had heard that today, and not only when it came to Brooklyn, either. One of the girls working for Brooklyn quit a while ago because she couldn’t afford the commute. Another had to turn down a promotion because her commute was already taking her away from her daughter, and adding hours to an already busy schedule would be too much—regardless of a raise.
Their industry came with demanding schedules for everybody, not only the ones who became millionaires. It wasn’t fair, and neither were Brooklyn's choices. If she wanted a good school district for Maliah, she had to either move out of the city or go with a neighborhood she couldn’t afford. The latter was impossible, so that left her with…well, no choice at all.
Unless…
Sophie tapped the wheel absently, thinking. "I may have a plan. I'll get back to you."
This could work. Shit, this could actually work.
She made a turn for the nearest Starbucks, in serious need of caffeine. She'd joined a silly drinking game at the party after that whole Josh thing, and she hadn't fully recovered yet—despite that the party had been the day before yesterday.
Her old self would've laughed.
Her new self wanted to strangle her old self with a pair of yoga pants.
Sophie had simply changed. Getting tipsy with her friends, dancing a little with Brooklyn—that had been a blast. But she wasn’t the same girl she once was.
"That’s cryptic." Brooklyn side-eyed her.
"I have my moments. But seriously, we'll figure it out." Sophie paused as she parked the car. "Can we talk about my birthday next week now? I wanna plan something low-key because evidently I've turned into a grandmother."
Brooklyn laughed.
Chapter 12
"You haven't read a single script all week, Tee."
Tennyson hummed in acknowledgment, busy studying the plans for the new ranch they were going to buy together. It was a warmer evening tonight, so they had covered the fire pit on the patio, the four stand-alone corner heaters sufficient.
The makeshift table was full of lists for what they'd need and blueprints for kennels and a rehab clinic.
"Daddy." Kayden was literally climbing on Tennyson's back, and he giggled every time he fell back down against the couch. "Ky Mommy?"
"Not now, Kayden." Tennyson grabbed the list of properties they'd look into and began highlighting the ones they were most interested in. "It's almost bedtime for you."
"What's ky?" Ash asked.
Tennyson grinned and highlighted another property. "It's Skype. Took us forever to figure out." Capping the pen, he set it down before reaching around him to pick up Kayden. "We can Skype Mommy tomorrow before we drive home." He blew a raspberry on Kayden's stomach. "We gotta buy a big gift for her, too."
Sophie turned twenty-four the day after tomorrow, and he'd received an extremely fancy invite via text today. Which simply read, Reservations made at Carlo's for my b-day. You're hereby required to come. No gifts.
Asher had received the exact same message.
"Boys?" Mom walked out on the patio, wearing the same careful smile she'd had every time she'd approached Tennyson after their fight earlier this week. "I was wondering if you want me to tuck Kayden in."
"What do you say, bug? Want Grandma to tuck you in?" Tennyson asked. He barely even glanced at his mother, still upset with her. But at least she understood now that nothing was ever going to happen between him and Trisha.
He wasn’t quite sure where he stood with Trisha; it wasn’t what he'd call even the beginning of a friendship. They hadn't made any plans, though they'd parted on good terms. And that was—if he was completely honest—all Tennyson wanted. He'd moved on a long time ago, and he hoped Trisha had gotten closure now, too.
Of course, the media thought they were back together, but he couldn’t give two shits about that.
"No!" Kayden clung to him like a monkey, rubbing his cheek to Tennyson's bearded one. "No, Daddy. No sweep."
Tennyson chuckled. "You always act like going to bed is the worst thing in the world." He stood up with Kayden in his arms and walked over to Mom. "We both know you'll be out within five."
"You and Asher were the same," Mom noted, amused. "Sleep was never fun."
Tennyson planted smooches all over Kayden's face. "Have sweet dreams for Daddy. I love you."
Of course, Kayden started shouting and crying as soon as Mom carried him inside the house.
"I'm such a pussy," Tennyson muttered and sat down with the plans again. "Only Sophie can handle that without feeling like the worst parent in history."
"That’s because she goes through it every day." Asher quirked a brow. "You really love parenthood though, don’t you?"
"Best job I ever had." He inclined his head and reached for his beer. "You said earlier I haven't picked up a single script this week. Kayden's why. I've decided to take on fewer projects, and I'm done producing. I don’t even know why I brought the scripts."
Asher looked him over, thoughtful. "How many fewer?"
Tennyson didn’t have a number. "My next one will be A Killer's Walk." Which said a lot, because it still hadn't been green-lit, so it could take another year or two before pre-production started. Then an additional few months before filming.
Shit in Hollywood could take time.
"I'm never giving up directing, but I've missed too much. Both with Kayden and hobbies I used to enjoy. I want to have a more active role in Fight for Fighters, be there for Kayden, and…" He trailed off with a one-shouldered shrug. "I don’t know."
Asher smiled ruefully and dipped his chin. "I can't say I'm too surprised. I admit I got a little jealous when you sent me the videos of the problems you climbed in Australia." He sighed and took a swig of his own beer. "And not to rain on your parade, but Killer has gone from having zero interest to two studios considering it, one of which wants to turn it into a TV series."
"Fuck." Tennyson clenched his jaw. "That script is mine," he told Ash. "If there's the slightest risk of a bidding war, let me know. I'll buy the goddamn rights myself."
Asher smirked. "You'd produce it, too? I thought you were giving that up."
"That’s the only exception." He knew exactly how that film should play out, and the thought of someone else stealing it… "I'm serious. Keep me posted."
"Will do." Asher nodded.
They returned to working on Fight for Fighters' future, but with shoptalk on Tennyson's mind, he remembered what Sophie had told him about her father. And he was curious himself.
"Sophie mentioned that Peter was fired. You know something about that?"
"He wasn’t fired," Asher answered. "He sold his shares and quit. I don’t know the details, but I think there was a big argument between Peter and two other chairmen. It got heated and Peter went behind their backs and started looking for a way out."
Tennyson grunted, not satisfied. "I was hoping the other chairmen had joined forces to sack him."
After how Peter had treated Sophie, Tennyson had nothing nice to say about the pretentious prick.
*
It wa
s late the next night when Tennyson took the elevator up to Sophie's loft. Kayden was asleep in his arms, and Max seemed tired, too.
Tennyson already wished he could be back in Mendocino.
Exiting the elevator, he walked toward Sophie's place but there wasn’t any time to knock. She ripped the door open, as if she'd been standing on the other side looking through the peephole.
So there she was, in her messy mommy glory, wearing her favorite yoga pants and his University of Michigan T-shirt, and she still managed to look perfect to him.
His gut twisted as the image of his future got clearer and clearer.
Damn his conversation with Trisha for giving him clarity.
"What took you so long?" Sophie scolded, though any trace of hostility melted when she laid eyes on their sleeping boy. "My sweet kiddo, Mommy's missed you so much." She gingerly took Kayden from Tennyson then quirked a brow. "This was fun—let's never do it again."
He grinned faintly and followed her into the loft. "When did it become unbearable?"
"Couple days ago," she admitted, and they walked toward Kayden's room. "I don’t know how you do it."
He didn’t either, and it was all over now. A few days here and there were doable, but months? Never again.
Standing in the doorway to Kayden's room, Tennyson watched in silence as Sophie checked Kayden's diaper before putting him to bed. When she was done, she tiptoed out of the room, and he closed the door before they ended up in the kitchen.
"Was there a lot of traffic?" she asked. "Last we spoke, you said you were an hour away."
"Ah, sorry about that." Tennyson sat down at the kitchen island while Sophie flitted around to make coffee and fill Max's water and food bowls. "I forgot I was dropping off Pup at Asher's."
Asher had flown back this morning, so he'd been home a while already.
"Oh, all right." She started the coffee maker before sitting down across from him. "When do I get to see the little guy?"
"I'm picking him up again in a couple days." He shrugged out of his leather jacket and hung it on the chair next to him. "He can't be left alone yet, so I figured since we're going out tomorrow, he might as well stay with Ash. Speaking of tomorrow." He reached into the inner pocket of his jacket and retrieved two poorly wrapped gifts. Kayden had loved helping out with the tape.