by Cara Dee
"I said…now you kiss me." He gently shifted her so she sat sideways across his lap. "His trust in me comes through you."
Sophie wasn’t comfortable at first, her movements shaky and jerky, but Tennyson was in no rush. He cupped the back of her neck and kissed her slowly, coaxing the tip of her tongue out with his. His other hand stroked her thigh soothingly, encouraging her to eventually relax.
"See?" he murmured between soft pecks. "When you're at ease, so is he. If you accept me as a part of your space, so will he."
"Oh," she whispered. Her cheeks were adorably flushed, her green-blue eyes a shade darker. "It's that easy?"
"No, but it's a start." He kissed her again, fucking needing it. "Give it a few weeks, and he and I will be buddies."
That was a sobering thought, though. A few weeks was all they had, and the silence that stretched on told him Sophie knew it, too. She averted her eyes, and Tennyson frowned, wondering what the hell was going on with him. This couldn’t be real.
This weekend would put them to a test, he feared. His mother was disturbingly observant, and he wasn’t sure he could keep a respectable distance from Sophie the entire weekend.
He couldn’t use the PR stunt as an excuse, seeing as there would be no reporters around.
Mom had found out about the fake relationship, and while she wasn’t thrilled her eldest was associating with a young socialite whose reputation was far from good, she understood enough about Hollywood. These things happened.
The Fourth of July hadn't been a major holiday for the Wrights since Tennyson and Asher were kids, so the date had sort of snuck up on him. Now he wished the weekend was no different from any other.
"Tennyson?" Sophie said quietly, never peering up. "I accept you in my space."
Tennyson opened his mouth, only to close it again. Not knowing how to interpret that, he watched silently while Sophie reached over to pat Max on the head. The beautiful Rottie was lying down now, quiet, not entirely relaxed, but not hostile. He was merely staring back at them. Observing.
It would take time before Max accepted men in general, but anyone who said you couldn’t teach an old dog new tricks didn’t know what they were talking about.
"I don’t know if that’s a dirty pun," Tennyson replied, "or the sweetest thing I've ever heard."
Sophie giggled and popped a quick kiss to his chin. "Maybe a bit of both."
Chapter 16
Saturday morning arrived too soon, in Sophie's opinion. It was crazy nice to have the weekend off, but she had no idea what to expect. Tennyson had left her trailer early to go pick up his parents and brother at the airport, so Sophie took it upon herself to plan out the day.
They had a destination; before Daniel had left for LA yesterday, he'd rented a lodge outside the city on the studio's dime. They wouldn’t actually spend the night, but the property came with a private beach, and seclusion was appreciated.
Other than that though, they didn’t have much planned—just that they were going.
As Sophie walked Max, she texted Brooklyn and asked if they could ride together. She assumed Tennyson would go with his family, and it hadn't escaped Sophie's notice that Noah had been flirting with Steph since he got back from Denver. They could go together.
Count me in, Brooklyn texted, although it doesn’t look like we'll get much beach weather.
True, it was pretty cloudy, but that meant Tennyson wouldn’t be too bothered by the sun.
Sophie texted back.
The beach house has a patio with a roof if it comes to that. Should we stop and buy food on the way?
Brooklyn agreed, and Sophie trekked back to her trailer with Max while she pulled up lists of things online she could get to make a good barbecue. Fixin's and all.
With so few things around to distract him, Max was very obedient and calm. The only reason he wore a leash was because Sophie couldn’t have him charging at Noah if he walked by.
Tennyson had been reluctantly okayed by Max, but Sophie was sure it was only the beginning—shit, fuck. She had to stop thinking that this was going to continue.
Shaking her head, Sophie started loading up one of the SUVs, and Max sat to the side and watched, his leash closed in one of the doors.
"You're a good boy, aren't you?" She bent down and kissed the top of his head.
"Sophie?" she heard Noah call. She couldn’t see him, though. "Is Cujo gonna kill me if I come out?"
She snorted. "Where are you?" She glanced around, simultaneously shushing Max, who had started growling quietly. "Easy, baby. Noah's harmless."
Noah poked his head out from behind her trailer. "I was just gonna say that Steph and I are heading up to the beach house."
"Okay." She nodded. Later, she'd try Tennyson's trick with Noah. She wouldn’t crawl up into his lap or anything—much less kiss him—but maybe Max would relax if she hugged Noah. Or in some other way showed Max that Noah was a good guy. "Did Daniel give you the address?"
"Yep, plugged it into the GPS and everything. We have a key, too." Noah grinned. "I'll see you guys soon."
By the time Sophie had packed towels, dog food, a change of clothes, and her e-reader, Noah and Steph had driven out through the gates, and the coast was clear for Max to run free. Other than an employee of the security company that patrolled the area—outside the gates—there were no men nearby.
Sophie laughed when she released Max because he didn’t move an inch. He remained sitting there, watching as she packed.
"Do you know how much I already love you?" She squatted down and placed her hands at the sides of his head. "You're my cuddle beast, aren't you?"
Max chuffed and head-butted her cheek.
*
Brooklyn arrived a while later, and the two finished packing the car together. When Sophie heard another car approaching, she let Max jump into the SUV to wait there.
"You look nervous," Brooklyn murmured. "You okay?"
Sophie nodded and blew out a breath. The thought of meeting Tennyson's family made her uneasy, but she had to deal with it.
An identical SUV parked right next to the one Sophie and Brooklyn would drive, and Sophie waited until all the Wrights had filed out of their vehicle.
Tennyson wasn’t looking very happy. Stepping out from behind the wheel with a to-go cup of coffee, he muttered something too softly for anyone to hear, and then his eyes landed on Sophie.
At least he made irritated look sexy, and Sophie added cargo shorts and white T-shirts to the list of items she now liked on men.
"It hasn’t been two hours and I'm already fed up," he told her quietly as he reached her and Brooklyn. "Where's Max?"
"In the car," Sophie said.
Tennyson nodded, and by then, his family had joined them. "All right. Mom, Dad, Ash, this is Sophie and Brooklyn." He turned to Sophie. "Where're Noah and Steph?"
"They already left," she answered.
"Got it. You'll meet them at the beach house, then," he told his folks. Asher probably already knew Noah and Steph. Facing Sophie and Brooklyn once more, Tennyson introduced his family. "Karen, Griffin, Asher."
Brooklyn seemed eager to greet Asher, so Sophie smiled tentatively and shook hands with Karen and Griffin.
"Nice to meet you," she said politely.
Griffin, Tennyson, and Asher looked very alike—same solid build, tall, and gruff—but the sons had their mother's dark hair and coffee-brown eyes. Griffin had gray hair now and the bluest eyes Sophie had ever seen. It was easy to tell he was former military by the way he carried himself, but he looked incredibly nice with those eyes.
Karen, on the other hand… As Sophie greeted her, she felt scrutinized by Karen's gaze. She was petite, though taller than Sophie's five three. Straight, shoulder-length hair, light makeup—she made the sixties look as good as Tennyson was rocking his annoyance.
"It must be incredible for you to get to work with my son," Karen said. "In such a big production and all, I mean."
Sophie ignored the dig. "Definitel
y. Tennyson is an amazing director." With another polite smile, she walked over to Brooklyn, Tennyson, and Asher. "We should probably get going," she told Brooklyn quietly.
"Of course." Brooklyn had one more smile for Asher.
Asher chose that moment to face Sophie and extend his hand. "We never got to meet in pre-production, but I've seen you in the dailies almost every day. You've impressed, Sophie."
Wow, a sincere compliment?
Even Tennyson looked a little surprised.
"Thank you." Sophie shook Asher's hand, her smile growing genuine. "I've had a lot of help from Tennyson and Claire."
"Not that much," Tennyson murmured with an arched brow. "This isn't the time to be modest." She was pretty sure he threw her a wink behind those Ray-Bans, and it lightened her mood a bit. "Should we get going?"
Sophie agreed, itching to get on the road, although she wanted a minute later to thank Asher for his help with Max. "We're stopping to buy food," she said. "Do you mind joining us and keeping an eye on Max? I can't leave him in the car alone."
"Of course," Tennyson said. "We'll follow you guys."
*
"Well, that was interesting." Brooklyn snickered as she fastened her seat belt.
"It was fucking brutal," Sophie mumbled. She backed out the SUV, glad to be behind the wheel. It'd been a long time since she'd driven, and she enjoyed it. Grabbing her own sunglasses, a pair of aviators, she slid them on and drove out of the gated film set.
She followed the GPS instructions and hooked up her iPhone to find a good playlist.
"Def Leppard?" Brooklyn raised a brow. "You're just full of surprises, Pierce."
Sophie didn’t comment. It was one of those bands she'd listened to in secret, because '80s rock wasn’t cool unless there was a costume theme involved. She'd been so damn stupid.
Later, when they arrived at the grocery store with their windows rolled down, Tennyson and Asher seemed just as surprised about Sophie's choice of music. Further proving that the Sophie she'd shown to the media wasn’t all her.
Sophie was done with her old persona, no matter how fake or true she'd been. After all, she'd put as much pressure on her friends as they'd put on her.
"Here." Tennyson retrieved a credit card from his wallet.
Sophie looked at him strangely. "I have my own."
He chuckled and pressed the card into her hand. "You're not paying for everyone—end of discussion."
"Oh." Sophie felt her cheeks flame, so she needed a quick escape. "Um, t-thank you, Tennyson."
While the Wrights stayed in the parking lot and kept an eye on Max, Sophie and Brooklyn shopped for food. And their trip to the store didn’t come without a few apologetic texts from Tennyson, who was passing on requests from his mother.
There were texts blowing up her old phone, too.
It burned in Sophie's pocket. Daniel had returned it to her before he flew home for the holiday, and Sophie had yet to look at it.
Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.
She clenched her jaw and added apples to their cart.
Buzz.
Over by the produce section, she and Brooklyn picked out vegetables they could either put on the grill or make salads with.
Buzz. Buzz.
"Fuck it," she whispered to herself. Pulling out her old phone while Brooklyn went to grab ice cream, Sophie scrolled up to see a long list of messages from Cassandra.
Ok this is 2 much. youve deleted ur facebook and twitter?
U never pick up!
I totes fucked lachlans baby bro this weekend. Youre missing everything.
Hey bitch im fucking done. You think youre better than us? Btw you’ve gained a lot of weight. Easy to see in the pics. Lol bye skank.
That was about all Sophie could stomach. She briefly scrolled through messages from other "friends," but it was all the same bullshit. Sophie was done. She was sad because she'd wasted time on them—not to mention wasted time being just like them.
When she and Brooklyn got to the register, she sent the few contacts she wanted to save to her new number, and then she erased all apps and personal stuff before taking out the SIM card.
"Want a phone?" She held it out.
Brooklyn looked at her like she'd gone nuts. "Girl, it's almost brand new."
"I don’t want it."
Brooklyn did.
Sophie threw the SIM card in the trash on their way out.
Hopefully, the feeling of disgust—directed at both herself and her former friends in LA—would fade some day.
*
After the store, they drove to the house as fast as was legal before the ice and the ice cream could melt. Karen picked out the ingredients she needed for her apple pie, and then Sophie and Brooklyn unpacked the rest while Tennyson, Asher, and Noah filled a basin with ice and cold beer.
There was too much activity around for Max to single out anyone to be hostile toward, so he stayed close to Sophie. He was restless though, so Sophie wanted to get out of the house as soon as possible.
The big lodge was luxurious and beautiful, but she was here for a relaxing day on the beach, not staying indoors.
"We'll take this outside," Asher announced. The men were occupied with the beer- and ice-filled basin as well as the supplies for the grill.
"Your shades," Sophie reminded Tennyson quietly. "Don't forget them." He'd taken them off when they'd entered the house.
Tennyson gave her a soft grin and then ducked outside with his shades and ball cap on.
Brooklyn followed with a tray of ready-made sandwiches they'd picked up in the store's deli. It was lunchtime and everyone was hungry, but cooking was the last thing they wanted to do when they'd just gotten here.
"Max seems very protective of you," Karen noted, slicing a bunch of apples. "You must have made a big impression on him."
Sophie put away the last of the snacks for tonight. "I don’t think it takes that much to earn his loyalty."
Karen paused what she was doing and offered what appeared to be her first real smile. "You're right. But you give him the safety and stability he needs."
Not sure how to respond to the second Wright compliment she'd received—not counting those from Tennyson—Sophie merely smiled and finished up in the kitchen.
"Come on, boy." She patted her thigh, and he trotted along after her, eager to get out of the house.
With a blanket, a bone for Max, a sandwich, and a bottle of water, Sophie crossed the patio and walked down the beach. It was beautiful; the sand was comfortably warm, and there was a place for bonfires, too. Logs that had drifted ashore were now benches, creating a circle around the fire pit.
Max took off, though not far, but he got hooked on chasing the small waves that rolled in.
Sophie grinned at the sight and pulled out her phone from the pocket of her shorts to take a few photos of him. Then she plopped down on her blanket and picked out the mozzarella from her sandwich. She was steadily, slowly, gaining weight, and she indulged on occasion when it came to favorites like milk shakes and fries, but cheese? Gag. It was gross. Plus, she was already feeling bloated because of cramps. That time of the month, no matter how irregularly it came for her, was always a bitch, and it looked like it was starting today.
Happy fucking Fourth.
Sophie ate her lunch in silence and watched Max chase and be chased by the waves. And it was so peaceful. She could hear the men horsing around up by the house, and then Journey was blaring out of the speakers, but Sophie had a slice of heaven right here, no one disturbing her.
Max's head snapped up, and he focused on however much of Sophie he could see, then moseyed over to her and collapsed down on the blanket.
"You big goof," Sophie chuckled. "You're getting sand and water all over."
Max just laid his head on Sophie's leg and dozed off.
Chapter 17
Throughout the day, Tennyson's gaze sought out Sophie more times than he could count, but he didn’t approach. She appeared to want solitude, and he'd be the
last person to rob someone of that. Though, that didn’t mean he didn’t want to check in on her.
"One more round?" Noah asked, shuffling the deck of cards they'd used for some poker in the past hour.
"I'm good. I think I've lost enough," Ash said. "We should start the grill. I'm getting hungry."
"You still eat like you did when you were a growing boy," Mom chided. "Lunch was only three hours ago."
"Who said I stopped growing?" Asher smirked.
Dad chuckled gruffly and patted Ash's stomach. "Not me."
Getting up from the table, Tennyson brought some dishes into the house, then returned with a bowl of food for Max. Sophie had already come up to get water for Max, and this was the only excuse Tennyson had to go see her. Unless he wanted his mother to grow suspicious, and he didn’t have any patience for that today.
"Anyone want to take a swim?" Steph asked.
Noah was pretty quick to volunteer. He didn’t seem upset whatsoever when Brooklyn wanted to go in, too.
Leaving everyone on the patio, Tennyson headed down the beach and let out a whistle to get Max's attention. It usually helped keep him calm if he wasn’t caught off guard by Tennyson.
Max growled softly but stayed down, and he quieted fast.
Progress.
"Hey." Sophie smiled at Tennyson as he sat down next to her. "How's the family?"
"Doing their job of frustrating me," he said with an easy grin. He held out his hand for Max and got a huff and a nose-butt in return. It was enough, and Tennyson scratched Max behind his ear before setting down the food. "That’s a good boy. We're getting there."
"What's so frustrating with your family?" Sophie wondered. "It's clear they love you."
"And I love them, too." Tennyson got comfortable and leaned back, his elbows hitting the soft sand just outside the blanket. "It's just that my mother never got the memo about Ash and me becoming adults." Sophie laughed softly, brushing some sand off her smooth leg with the sleeve of her long-sleeved T-shirt. It was the only thing she wore with a pair of bikini bottoms. "Despite the fact that we're both almost forty, Mom never stops fussing."
"Aww, but you're her babies." Sophie chuckled and pouted. "She doesn’t want to let go. Sons and mothers—I've heard it's a special bond."