“Because he’s…Brody,” Drew replied. “Tell him he better let us know, or he’s going to run the risk of needing to bleach his eyes.”
I snorted a laugh. Another message from Brody came through, and I threw my hands up in victory.
“He said he’ll be late. He’s going to the movies with Aamee.”
“Wow. The prospect of sex must really mellow you out if you’re happy he’s spending time with Aamee.”
I got up and moved to where Drew was sitting, sinking down toward his lap but careful to keep my weight off his legs.
“Sex with you could make me happy about anything.”
“Such a sweet talker,” he replied, his voice husky.
“I can do more with my mouth than just talk.” My words were reminiscent of what he’d said to me when we first got back together.
“Oh yeah? Prove it.”
I was happy to oblige.
Chapter Twenty-Three
D R E W
Falling asleep next to Sophia was something I hadn’t realized I’d missed until I got to do it again. But it had nothing on waking up next to her.
Maybe I subconsciously thought she might realize how much better she could do and leave in the middle of the night. I’d wake up the next morning to an empty spot where Sophia used to be, and I’d be right back where I was when I’d made the dumbest decision of my life. And I’d made some really dumb decisions, so that was really saying something.
So every time I woke up with Sophia next to me, I said a silent thank you to God. I wasn’t exactly religious, but I figured it couldn’t hurt to show my appreciation. Especially since Brody had made us thank him daily for allowing us to share his bed. If I was willing to thank that jackass, I figured I should give God some love too.
Pulling Sophia closer to me, I tried to gauge whether she was awake. I didn’t want to disturb her if she was sound asleep, but I’d be lying if I said I hoped I couldn’t rouse her. I was always up for another round if she was.
Brushing her hair away from her ear, I kissed her softly. I tried to keep my hips still, but when she let out a quiet moan, I couldn’t hold back.
We didn’t even bother changing positions or removing unnecessary articles of clothing, both of us suddenly rushing to get to the main event. Moving quickly and without a steady rhythm, I wondered how long I could make this last, especially when every time I tried to slow down, Sophia whispered for me to go harder, faster.
The urgency only made the experience hotter, and we both tried to remain as quiet as possible, as we always did. A few seconds later, Sophia muffled her moan with a pillow, and I knew it wouldn’t be long now that it didn’t have to be.
I groaned. “So close…”
Until a loud knock on the door interrupted me. I froze. Brody knew better than to come in, but if he was knocking in the morning, he probably had a damn good reason. At least he’d better.
When we didn’t say anything right away, he knocked again and then yelled, “Come get your phone, Soph. Someone keeps calling.”
I didn’t even realize her phone wasn’t in the bedroom, and I guessed neither did she.
“Just shut it off,” she called back.
“Oh, wow, why didn’t I think of that? Oh wait, I did. But I have no idea where it is.”
I thought the sound of Brody’s voice would’ve killed my erection, but I was so fucking close when he’d knocked, it didn’t matter.
“Ugh,” Sophia groaned. “Hang on.” She got up, grabbed some sweatpants, and headed to the door. She returned a few moments later with her phone. “It was on the counter, dummy,” she yelled to Brody and then closed the door and climbed back into bed.
“Where were we?” I said, crawling on top of her.
“Shit, it’s my dad. He texted and called like a million times. I hope nothing’s wrong.”
I was hovering above her now, just waiting for an invitation. “I’m sure it’s fine. If it were serious, he would’ve called Brody too.”
“Yeah, I know,” she conceded. “Let me just check the voicemail. Sorry.”
Sighing loudly, I waited for her to finish so I could, well, finish.
Brody’s interruption hadn’t done shit to make me any less turned on, but if there was one voice that could make me go from rock hard to completely uninterested, it was Mr. Mason’s. Especially when I overheard his message in her voicemail.
“I know you’re with Drew. You’d better call me.”
S O P H I A
When I’d posted the picture of Drew and me at dinner, I’d done it so I could announce to the world that we were together. I just hadn’t thought it through that the “world” included my parents. Goddamn social media fucking me over again.
I wasn’t in any hurry to call my dad, so I did my best to avoid him for most of the morning, cooking breakfast for Drew and me and even Brody. I’d shut off my phone a few hours ago, but I knew I couldn’t stay off the grid forever—a fact Drew had pointed out more than once.
“Just rip off the Band-Aid,” Drew said when he came into the bedroom after taking a shower.
“If by ‘Band-Aid’ you mean your towel, I’m all about it.”
Drew tilted his head to the side and sighed. The rise and fall of his chest mirrored my emotions. Right when things seemed so right, they had to go so wrong again.
“I know. I’ll go call him.”
Drew didn’t respond as I rose from the bed and headed back out to the living room.
Brody had left to do some deliveries, so I could at least have some relative privacy. Turning on my phone, I lay back on the couch, pulling the blanket up to my neck like I was a child, hoping the fabric would protect me from whatever might be lurking nearby. Only in my case, what I was scared of wasn’t actually in the room with me, which only made me more of a wimp.
My dad picked up on less than one whole ring. “Soph?”
“Hi.”
There was a pause on the other end of the line before my dad breathed deeply and released all his air.
“Don’t ever do that again. I thought you might be dead or something.”
“I’m not.”
“I know that now. But you’re away at school, and your phone started going straight to voicemail. We were imagining all these horrible scenarios. Your mom called some of the sorority girls to see—”
“Oh my God. Dad, I’m an adult. Don’t treat me like I’m a child you lost in a department store.” I heard my voice get louder, more defensive than the casual responses I’d given a moment ago.
“First of all, don’t raise your voice at me.”
Gone was the concern I’d heard a moment ago. As soon as he’d realized he didn’t need to file a missing person’s report, he was back to wanting to kill me.
“Second of all, you may be an adult in the eyes of the law, but you’re still my daughter. And I shouldn’t have to remind you that I pay your college tuition as well as the dues for that sorority you’re a part of, even though you’re evidently not living with them.”
“Kind of like how you pay for Brody’s school and the apartment he doesn’t live in.” It wasn’t a question, and I knew even my dad wouldn’t be able to think of an adequate rebuttal.
“Well, apparently you and Drew are living in that apartment, so at least it’s getting some use,” he said sarcastically.
“Who told you that?” My voice had gotten noticeably quieter, and I waited to hear who the traitor was. Though I should’ve known.
“Your mom found out from someone at the sorority after the president you tried to run against last semester was tight-lipped about it.”
Nice job, Aamee.
But still, I couldn’t let the comment pass uncorrected. “I did run against her. And I won.”
“And for some reason you’d rather play house with some guy than accept a leadership role. I thought I raised you better than that.”
And there it was—the reason my dad cared so much. What I did or didn’t do reflected on him. Who I was
with said something about who he was. Until now I hadn’t realized how important it was that I seem unaffected by my dad’s opinions. I was an adult. And I wasn’t making any poor decisions or behaving in a self-destructive way.
Plenty of college kids were failing out of school or drinking themselves stupid. Brody had basically done those same things—worse, even—and my dad hadn’t treated him like he was a toddler.
“Brody’s in another country. I’m on a different part of campus. Don’t you think that’s a bit of a double standard?”
“This isn’t about Brody. It’s about you.”
“No. It’s not. This is about Drew. Or more specifically, it’s about you and what people might think about me loving someone you don’t think is good enough for me.”
“He’s not.”
“You know nothing about him.”
“I know enough.”
“No. You don’t.” My heart was racing now, and I was standing, pacing around the living room because I couldn’t bear to sit still. “All you know is how to pay for what you want. Well, guess what? Your money’s no good here. Drew and I are together whether you like it or not.”
I could hear the frustration in my dad’s sigh, and I was thankful we weren’t having this conversation in person. I’d found courage on the end of a phone that I knew I would’ve lacked if my dad had been standing in front of me.
When he didn’t say anything right away, I continued. “I’m doing well in school. I’ve always done well in school, even in classes that don’t come easily to me.” I’d even managed to make sociology my bitch with Carter’s help. “I earned a presidency that I allowed someone else to keep because it was more important to her than it was to me. I’m a good person and a hard worker, and I love someone who loves me back and supports my decisions more than you ever have. So you can either accept that or choose to push me away.”
I didn’t know where the words had come from or how I’d found the boldness to say them, but they flowed from me easily, and I didn’t regret any one of them. “If you don’t want to pay my tuition any longer, then don’t. I’ll figure it out with or without you. I’ll take out loans and get a job. I’ll do whatever it takes. But what I won’t do is sit back silently while you dictate how I live my life.”
I could hear him breathing on the other end of the phone, but other than that, he was quiet. For the first time ever, I’d managed to silence him.
Before he thought of what to say back, I told him, “I’m hanging up now. I love you.”
“Love you too.” There was no mistaking the frustration in his voice, but I knew he’d reply because even when he was angry, he still loved me. And he sure as hell wasn’t going to be the one who didn’t say it.
As I hung up, I thought briefly that I’d won this round. I’d gone blow for blow with him and had come out on top.
Too bad the game of life wasn’t actually a game.
Chapter Twenty-Four
S O P H I A
“I think it’s important that we do the car wash,” Farrah argued. “We’d be the only sorority not there.”
Farrah had just moved into the sorority house at the beginning of the new term, and since I’d been spending all my free time at Brody’s, I didn’t know her very well, even though we’d pledged the same year.
There’d been a fraction of a second freshman year where I thought we might become friends, but then I’d overheard her tell another sister that Mean Girls was overrated, and I’d decided I didn’t need that type of negativity in my life.
Jenna, a new pledge from the fall, scoffed. “It’s completely sexist. I can’t believe the school even still allows it.”
I leaned toward Gina. “How did Aamee let this girl in?” I figured our sorority president would’ve sniffed this chick out on the first night of pledging and sent her packing.
Gina shrugged. “The feminism is new. She was totally shallow in the fall.”
“Interesting.”
And it was. I was all for a little boat rocking, especially from someone Aamee had probably expected to be one of her stooges, only to have the girl flip the script. It also took the focus off me, since I’d done more than my fair share of boat rocking last semester. I was more than happy to hand off the torch to someone else who’d willingly make Aamee’s life more difficult.
“I don’t remember voting for her,” I said.
“She didn’t look like that when she pledged,” Gina said.
“What’d she look like?”
“Like an Aamee clone.”
“Ah, so blond and vapid, then.”
Gina snorted inelegantly, which caused Aamee to shoot us a nasty glare. I looked away and refocused on Jenna, who now sported short black hair, and tried to envision her as a blond-haired, blue-eyed witch. I couldn’t see it.
Jenna and Farrah continued to bicker while everyone else looked bored.
Finally, Aamee stood up. “Yeah, okay, I’ve heard both sides. We’re doing the car wash.”
Jenna stood abruptly and opened her mouth, and I found myself scooting up in my seat in expectation of the fireworks that would commence when this girl tried to argue with Aamee. But sadly, one of Jenna’s friends grabbed her arm and pulled her back into her seat.
Bummer.
“Anyone have any other concerns to bring up?” Aamee asked. When no one spoke, she said, “Okay, meeting adjourned.”
Everyone filed out quickly, and I’d nearly made my escape when I heard, “Sophia, can I see you a minute?”
I whipped my head around to see Aamee looking at me expectantly.
“Do I gotta?” I whined.
Gina laughed as Aamee’s lips thinned. When everyone had left, I plodded over to where Aamee was standing and pasted on the fakest smile I could summon.
“You wanted to see me?”
“Well, no, I never really wanted to see you—”
I somehow managed to smile even wider. “Great. I’ll head out, then.” I didn’t make it more than a step before I felt her hand grip my arm.
“Wait, I do need to talk to you,” she said hurriedly, dropping my arm once it was clear I wasn’t actually going to go anywhere.
I sighed deeply. “What about?”
Aamee fidgeted with a pen she held in her hand. She looked…nervous. I’d only seen her look this way once before, when I’d been about to unseat her as our president. I wasn’t sure what was causing her to feel that way now, but I couldn’t wait to find out so I could harness its power and use it at will.
“I’m dating your brother,” she finally said.
I cringed. “Don’t remind me.”
She looked on the cusp of bitching me out but seemed to bite back her words. Another first. Opening and closing her mouth a few times in rapid succession, it became clear that she was floundering. It was a bit like watching a rabid raccoon who’d had all its claws and teeth removed.
This version of Aamee made me nervous. Because for all I joked about disliking her, we’d actually come to a bit of a truce since last semester. Our hatred had become more for show than anything else, which was still fun, but it left me without the all-consuming need to watch her burn on a stake.
The longer she remained silent, the more my concern grew. Christ, what if something had happened between her and Brody? Granted, he was a simpleton, but he wouldn’t have cheated on her or anything, right?
“Aamee, spill it. You’re freaking me out.”
“It’s just…I… Fuck it, I really like your brother, okay? But he’s worried that getting serious with me would ruin his relationship with you. So I wanted to…clear the air.”
I wasn’t sure I’d ever been more confused in my life, and I wasn’t sure where to start trying to make sense of things. Brody thought we had a relationship? Though I guess that wasn’t fair. We had grown closer since starting the business. But he was worried about ruining it? He’d never cared how his actions impacted me before. Could it be possible that my Tin Man actually found his heart?
; “I’m not sure what to say” was all I could think to say.
Aamee must’ve taken my words for a refusal to help her, because she looked as if she was going to start crying.
Jesus Christ, what’s happening to everyone?
“If you cry, I’m leaving,” I blurted out without thinking about how insensitive I was being, because who could think about trivial things like that when the Ice Queen was about to collapse in tears?
Thankfully, that seemed to piss her off. She squared her shoulders and stepped a bit closer to me. “Listen, I’m trying to be nice about this.”
“I know, I know,” I said, putting my hands up in a placating gesture. “I’m surprised is all. I didn’t think either of you would ever care what I thought about you dating.”
“I don’t care.”
“Noted. But Brody does?”
“Apparently.” The word came out like she couldn’t believe it herself.
“Huh” was as eloquent a response as I could muster. “So what do you want from me?”
Aamee sent me an exasperated look. “I want you to tell Brody it’s okay to date me.”
“Aren’t you already dating?” I asked, because the time we’d seen them at the restaurant was seared into my brain, as most trauma was.
“Yes, but he won’t take it to the next level.”
I felt my face rumple in confusion. “What’s the next level?” Was this their relationship or Mario Kart?
Aamee looked ready to rip my head from my body. “Exclusive boyfriend-girlfriend level. He won’t commit to me until you say it’s okay.”
“That feels…all kinds of weird.”
“Sophia, come on. I thought we were friends.”
“You did?” My tone reflected my genuine surprise, but if the glare Aamee gave me was anything to go by, she thought I was being intentionally difficult. “I don’t know what you want me to say. Brody’s never cared what anyone in my family thinks about his choices. It’s surreal that he cares now, especially that he cares what I think.”
Truth or Dare You (The Love Game Book 2) Page 18