He heard Sophie shout at the TV, "Straighten the ball out. Quit hitting it foul!"
Oh, yeah. That's why Austin never mentioned it. Because his eyes only saw Sophie and her beauty. Austin was a lucky man.
"I thought you didn't like baseball," Emmett said, glancing at Sophie, also catching a glance at Deja. She wouldn't look at him.
Sophie never moved her head from the TV. "I don't."
Emmett chuckled. "You seem deep into the game right now, Sophie. Doesn't seem like someone who doesn't like baseball."
She took her eyes away from the TV and looked shyly at Emmett. "Maybe it's growing on me."
Emmett smiled. "I think so. Austin will love to know that."
"Oh, don't tell him," she said nervously.
"Wanna surprise him, huh?" Emmett asked.
"Something like that. I've learned a lot tonight. Deja's an expert," Sophie said.
"Oh, geez. I'm no expert, Sophie," Deja said with a soft snort.
"Oh, there we go. Keep going, keep going," Emmett said, as he watched the ball soar through the sky.
The moment the ball flew over the fence, Sophie and Deja started screaming in delight. Emmett watched as they stood up and hugged each other, still screaming in excitement. Who knew watching the Twins win a game could make him smile as it was now. The win meant nothing, not compared to seeing these two rejoice in it. He imagined they didn't get this excited about much. He almost felt bad for intruding on the moment.
"Did you see that? What a game! Is it always this exciting?" Sophie said, sitting back down.
"No. We were lucky. Walk-off home runs don't always happen, but it sure is exciting when it does," Emmett said.
Sophie looked over at Emmett and smiled. Her smile slowly dipped. Emmett knew right then she had finally realized he was in her home.
"I see you're good, Sophie. And I saw them win and I'm bushed from the day, so I'm gonna head out."
Sophie stood up. "Right. Thanks for stopping by, Emmett." Sophie glanced at Deja. "I'm sorry. That game really sucked me in, I guess. Deja, this is Emmett, Austin's cousin," Sophie said, gesturing at him while looking at Deja. Then she glanced at him. "Emmett, this is Deja."
Deja finally looked at him again. "Nice to meet you, Deja," Emmett said softly.
The longer he stared into her deep blue eyes, the more he understood why Austin was giving this woman a chance to correct her mistake. He had sided with Ava originally to have her arrested, but now he understood Sophie's side of it. She displayed that same nervous energy as Sophie. Not the same exact kind, but nervous nonetheless. She's had a hard life. The question was—what kind? Like Sophie? Or was it something else entirely?
"You too. I'm assuming it's not a social call and you're not good friends with Sophie. It's to make sure I haven't harmed her in some way, right?" Deja asked, standing up, her posture stiff, her face hard with strength.
Emmett smiled. "No use lying. Yes. She seems fine. I'll be checking in every night because Austin asked me to. I'm sure once we get to know you better the worry will go away. Give us time, we're a fair family. I haven't seen anything in this short amount of time to suggest you'll harm her. Austin asked and I deliver. That's what we do in this family. We look out for each other. I hope you're not mad at him for it, Sophie." Emmett glanced at Sophie.
"No, I'm not," Sophie replied.
"Hell, me neither. I expected nothing less. He's been like a hound dog since I first met him. It's good he looks out for Sophie. I did break into his house. I'll never harm Sophie, though. She's my friend now. I guess we'll see you tomorrow, Emmett," Deja said, looking at him, the steel in her expression still there, yet an underlying softness that he didn't miss.
Definitely not nervous any more. She built a wall and firmly put it in place. "Good. I'm glad we settled all that. I'll see you ladies tomorrow. Austin gave you my number, Sophie. You obviously won't need it because of Deja, but in case something else pops up and you need me. Don't hesitate. I'll be right here. I swear."
"Thank you, Emmett. Everything will be fine," Sophie said.
Emmett nodded, walked to the front door, and left them without another word.
***
Deja finally released a stringent breath as soon as the door closed. She could still remember the heat of his glare that almost made her fall off the couch when she first looked at him. She couldn't be more thankful that her butt had been firmly planted on the couch. She never had a man make her come unbalanced with one simple look.
Then Sophie just had to introduce them, making her feel obligated to glance his way. The same rush of heat had hit her with force again. She had seen the resemblance to Austin, but whereas Austin was pleasant looking to stare at, Emmett was downright handsome. He had instantly made her nervous and couldn't be happier he was out of the house. Had he noticed her nervousness?
She hoped not. Life knocked her down so many times, she hated to reveal any weakness. Her strength and determination always pulled her through. If she started to lose that, she'd lose herself all together.
He might speak to her body, but she would never let him in. Perhaps she misunderstood his eyes. Why would he see anything in someone like her anyway? She was nothing but a thief to everyone in the McCord family.
He didn't matter. But Sophie did. A slight tension and awkwardness still lingered in the room.
"Are all the men in that family handsome as can be?" Deja asked, trying to lighten the mood.
Sophie chuckled. "Well, I've only met Emmett and Austin's brother Zane so far, but...yeah."
They both dropped back down on the couch giggling like a bunch of teenage girls.
Tension erased.
Chapter 10
Emmett knocked again, louder this time. He had knocked three times now, and not once did his loud bangs perforate through the loud noise coming from inside. He could hear the music blaring, surprised that Sophie had her music on so loud. He didn't picture her the loud music kind of person. Apparently, she was. And she couldn't hear him knocking on the door through all the music.
He didn't want to worry, but the horrible thought the music was a diversion slipped in. He shook his head, knowing that couldn't be true. Deja wouldn't be that dumb. Three nights had gone by. Every night went well, Sophie harm free and looking rather happy, he might add. He could tell she was enjoying her time with Deja. Girl time, as she put it last night.
Two more days. He blew a small breath and knocked again. Only two more days and Austin would be home. He called Austin every night after he left Sophie's house. He heard the worry in his voice, and the longing. Austin missed Sophie. Emmett wanted to laugh. He couldn't believe his cousin, the player of all players, finally fell hard for a woman.
He didn't want to break down the door, but he would. He had to make sure she was alright. He couldn't leave without knowing.
He knocked again, as loud as his fist would allow and waited. Another knock loomed when the door finally swung open.
Sophie stood in front of him looking out of breath, a smile on her face, and dressed cute and comfortable in her pajamas. "Oh, hi, Emmett. We didn't hear you."
"Clearly. How can you hear yourself think with the music on so loud?" Emmett asked with a grin.
"Isn't it great? I think it could go a little louder, actually," Sophie said.
"What are you two even doing?" Emmett asked, intrigued. Her excitement with whatever they were doing was obvious. She was having the time of her life and Emmett couldn't fault her for it. He imagined Sophie was doing a lot of things for the first time in her life. He didn't know that for sure, but it was a strong inkling that tickled his gut every time he saw her face light up with a smile.
"Having a sleepover," she said matter-of-factly.
"A sleepover? Really?"
"Yeah, why so surprised?"
"Have you ever had a sleepover, Sophie?"
"No."
No. Such a simple word, yet held a world of meaning. He almost wanted to cry in that moment for her. Eve
n he had sleepovers when he was a young boy. It brought him to the edge of sadness, but at the last moment, he pulled away. She was beaming with excitement and happiness. She never had a sleepover when she was younger, but she was sure having one now.
"Well, turn the music up if it isn't loud enough for you. Your first sleepover should be the best," Emmett said with a smile.
Sophie smiled back, lighting up her face to the point of wanting to drop him to his knees. "I just might do that. Thanks for stopping by, Emmett. I'll see you tomorrow night."
"Night, Sophie. You girls have fun. Stay up real late. It's not an official sleepover if you don't."
"Will do, Emmett." Sophie closed the door.
Emmett turned around with a smile still on his face. He couldn't wait to tell Austin. He would be just as shocked when he told him. His smile wavered when he caught a glimpse of the black car still sitting a few houses down.
He hopped in his truck, nonchalantly glancing in the car's direction and noticed a guy sitting in the driver's seat. Why was he still sitting in the car? He hadn't moved since Emmett pulled up to Sophie's house. Why did he appear to be positioned with a good view of her house? He didn't like the funny feeling entering his gut.
He saw the car last night, too. Seeing it for the second time, the funny feeling became larger. This just bugged him too much. He whipped out his phone, but instead of calling Austin, he called his brother Ethan.
"Yo, man, what's up? You hit up Sophie's house yet?" Ethan asked, answering the phone in his usual chipper self.
"Yeah. She's good on all accounts. They're having a sleepover of all things."
"A sleepover? Little old for that, don't ya think?"
"She's never had one."
"Oh."
Emmett knew he didn't need to say anymore. Sophie wouldn't like it, but the whole family knew she had a troubled past with abuse mixed in it somehow. Austin accepted her in his life, which meant they all did, too. They would do whatever they could to help her, be there for her, protect her, and above all, love her. If Austin did, then so did they.
"Look, I'm not calling because of that. I'm still in front of her house. There's a car a few houses down and it's bugging me out. It was here last night doing the same thing. Just a guy sitting in it. I don't like it, Ethan. I don't like it at all. I know you don't work for the police department, but you do work for the fire department. You know some of the guys in the police department. Can you have someone run the plates to see who this guy is? I'd call Ava, but I don't wanna cause mayhem if there's no need for it. I'm not even gonna tell Austin unless something pops up. He'd worry to death if I did. I just got a funny feeling is all."
"You got it. Give me the plates and I'll get back to you ASAP. Are you going to wait around in front of the house?" Ethan asked.
"No, but I'll find a spot where the car won't notice if he's here to harm Sophie. I don't want to be far away if he is. It's just a bad feeling I got. I don't know why."
"Don't ignore it, man. You've always gotten those funny feelings and you've never been wrong before. You probably aren't now. Give me the plates."
"Thanks, bro. I knew you'd understand."
"I always got your back," Ethan said, grabbing a pen.
Emmett drove by without giving it away he was rattling off the license plate to Ethan and whipped around the block to the other side of the neighborhood. He parked his car so that he could see between the yards to where the black car sat on Sophie's street. If the man left the car, Emmett would know. He hoped not to have a problem with Deja, but he never imagined he could have a problem with an unknown enemy. As he waited for his brother to call him back, the funny feeling got bigger and bigger.
***
"How was E-man?" Deja asked as Sophie came from the kitchen after grabbing more drinks.
"Who?" Sophie asked, laughing.
"You know, Emmett? E-man. Has a nice ring to it, don't ya think?" Deja said, taking the drink Sophie offered.
Sophie laughed again, sitting down on the makeshift bed they had made in the middle of the living room for their sleepover. "You never fail to surprise me, Deja. I guess it does...E-man. He was good. He said we had to turn the music up if it wasn't loud enough for us and that we stay up as late as possible otherwise it's not an official sleepover."
"Since when is he the expert on sleepovers?"
"Well, I don't know. I've never had one. You've never had one. He had that look in his eyes like he did have one before. So, I guess that does make him the expert."
"I suppose you're right. I think we're doing a pretty good job right now with ours," Deja said, waving a hand around the mess they already made in the living room.
They had rounded up every blanket Sophie owned, which wasn't a whole lot, and tossed them all on the couch. Why they didn't just have a sleepover in one of their rooms, well, it never crossed their minds. They hadn't wanted to sleep on the hard floor, so that meant they needed a mattress. They grabbed Deja's mattress and wielded the mattress down the stairs in an utmost graceful form as they could manage. The trip consisted of frequent stops of laughing and trying not to lose their grip with it tumbling down the stairs in a wrecking ball manner.
They set up Sophie's small radio near a table by the entrance to the living room, jamming the music from the very beginning. They also put the Twins game on in the background. They couldn't help but stop and watch frequently in between dancing and having fun with getting their sleepover set up.
Deja stopped at the store after work, grabbing goodies galore for the night of fun. Chips, candy, cookies, ice cream, and the mixings for strawberry daiquiris, non-alcoholic of course. Deja indulged with alcohol, but Sophie didn't. Deja was fine abiding by Sophie's terms for the sleepover. Sophie's face lit up when she told her they were having strawberry daiquiris. "It'll be like a smoothie" were her exact words. Their night of fun could officially begin.
"So what's next, do you suppose?" Sophie asked, taking a sip of her daiquiri.
"I haven't a clue. Maybe you should have asked E-man for more ideas."
"I have his number," Sophie said with a giggle.
"If we're truly desperate, maybe. If we do, it should be at like one in the morning or something. Hey, E-man, it's really late, but we're running out of ideas," Deja said, laughing.
"That would be so bad." Sophie laughed with her, taking another sip of her drink. "I like that idea."
"Ooo, now who's the bad one, Sophie," Deja said, raising an eyebrow in amusement. "Okay. I bet back in the day as teenagers, girls would talk about boys. When was your first kiss?"
Sophie almost closed up at that question when a light bulb went off over her head. "Fifth grade...Todd Brack. It was a very sloppy kiss."
"Tongue?"
"Eww...no. He just was sloppy. Almost like there was drool coming out of the sides of his mouth. Austin is a much better kisser, tongue or not."
"I like how you threw Austin in the mix there." Deja busted up laughing, almost spilling her drink in the midst of it. "So did you date sloppy Todd?"
Sophie laughed. "Wow, you're on a roll tonight with nicknames...sloppy Todd." Her expression got serious. "No. I just kissed him once. It came out of nowhere. Maybe that's why it was so sloppy. But sloppy or not, I enjoyed it. It's the only kiss, besides Austin and he doesn't count, that I wanted for myself. I even kept it a secret from my mom. I never did that. I didn't want that special moment to be ruined by anything. I knew my stepfather would've found out somehow if I told my mom and then he would have—"
Sophie looked up at Deja taking her eyes off her drink, not wanting to hide the pain when she spoke. Deja would understand. "He would have taught me a lesson in the etiquettes of dating."
"Is there any man in your life that hasn't beaten you?" Deja asked.
"Austin."
Deja nodded her head and smiled.
"Your turn. First kiss."
"Brad Grance. Oh, and there was tongue," Deja said, eliciting a giggle out of Sophie. "We dated until
he wanted more than a kiss. I wouldn't give it to him, so he dumped me. He decided he didn't want to look like a loser and told all his friends he scored even when he didn't. His nickname originally had been Brad-bear. After his lie, it became Brad the ass."
"How come you like to give nicknames?" Sophie asked. She didn't know what else to say. Their first kiss stories weren't much to talk about.
Deja smiled. "It's something my brother and I always did. It was our thing. I haven't done it in a while. A very long while. When I said E-man earlier, it kinda popped out of my mouth without thinking."
Deja started playing with her drink, then looked up like Sophie had when she shared a private memory. "I was known in school as the slut. Slept with every boy that attended. When in reality I was still a virgin. I don't know how that happened, but I'm guessing it started with Brad the ass. I still haven't had that drop you to your knees kind of kiss that I assume you've had with Austin."
"When the right man comes along, you'll get it. I've never thought in those terms until I met Austin."
"I hope so. I was really running out of hope...until I met you."
Sophie smiled warmly. "Well, aren't we a lovely pair? I imagine this isn't how share and tell goes in a normal sleepover."
"Maybe not, but I'm enjoying myself more than you could possibly know."
"Me too." Sophie raised her drink towards Deja. "Cheers. To new beginnings and to my new friend."
Deja clinked her glass with Sophie's. "I'll cheers to that."
***
"How's Sophie? Emmett call yet?" Zane asked, adjusting his bow tie.
"No. Still waiting. If Ava sees you adjusting that tie one more time like that, she's gonna give you an earful," Austin said with a grin.
"Enough to get mad and take me home because of it?" Zane said seriously, adjusting the tie again.
"Not quite. So stop messing with the tie," Ava said, walking back up to them.
"Why are we here again? This isn't our kind of scene, Ava. We're out of place here. We don't—"
"Austin, stop talking. If you're about to say you don't belong in this crowd, you're dumb. I don't ever want to hear out of your mouth that you're just a simple farmer and not good enough here," Ava said with annoyance.
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