Page 24

“No, I want to give it another shot.”

So we did. The next time she was a little more confident, still a little awkward, but it worked for her. So many people would find her charming and would want to buy her a drink or take her out and make her laugh and blush.

After a few more tries, including when she attempted a terrible pickup line, she had a cupcake and asked me what was in the drink that I’d made. I told her and she wrote down the recipe to keep in her phone.

“You know, I don’t really date,” I told her after I’d had my third cupcake. I couldn’t stop eating them. They were so rich and the frosting was absolutely fluffy and perfect.

“Is there a reason for that?” she asked as she leaned back on the couch, facing me.

I pressed my lips together. I guess we were talking about this. It was kind of inevitable.

“Yup. Bad breakup.”

She cringed. “Sorry.”

I waved her off and licked some frosting off my finger. “Not your fault. I mean I’ve gone out with people since then, I haven’t been completely on my own, but I don’t feel the need to get into another serious relationship. I’m good by myself.”

I’d said those words who knew how many times to Cade and Hunter. They were even worse now that they were deliriously happy.

“Two of my best friends are both in love and the pressure for me to pair up just like them is intense,” I admitted. I hadn’t told anyone that. At least I had Jo, but she was so busy with school that she rarely had time for me either.

Sophie frowned. “I’m sorry. That must be hard. And I’m guessing that your friendships have changed now that they’re in committed relationships.” That was true.

“I’m happy for them. I really am. I feel like an asshole for missing them.” I hadn’t told them that either.

“I know what you mean. It’s not the same, but my best friend Larison moved away for school and I know it was for the best for her and her daughter, but it still sucks. A lot.” She frowned and looked at her empty glass.

“Want me to make another drink?” I asked, mostly to extricate myself from the uncomfortable turn this conversation had taken.

“Sure. Use whatever you want,” she said, getting up and following me into the kitchen.

“Let’s see what we’re working with.” I opened the fridge and she had lots of things, including grenadine. Excellent.

I paired some lime seltzer water with some pineapple juice and some grenadine. It wasn’t the best thing I could do on the fly, but it would work.

“You’re really good at that,” Sophie said.

“Thank you. You’d think that after mixing drinks all we I’d want to turn it off, but my brain just kind of does it now without me knowing what’s happening.”

We had our second rounds of drinks in the kitchen and Sophie was biting her lip again.

“Something you wanna say?” I asked.

“Okay, but you can’t be mad.”

I raised my eyebrows. “I’m going to need more information before I decide if I’m going to be mad or not.”

I had no idea what the hell she was going to say. It could be anything from she stole the hair from my hairbrush and made a doll out of it to she accidentally grabbed a piece of my mail and opened it.

“So, uh, when I was waiting for Tyler, I took a look at your bookshelves and then I may, I mean, I did, take pictures of your shelves so I could see what books we had in common and maybe add some books to my TBR. I’m sorry if that’s weird.” She’d stepped back from me and cringed, as if she was bracing for impact.

“I was expecting something way worse. That’s not that bad. I mean, I would have let you, if you’d asked.” It wasn’t an outrageous request. “But now I want to look at your bookshelves.”

Sophie followed me over to the wall where she had three shelves shoved together. They were stuffed with books and a few other knickknacks, including some pictures of her. One of her and Kaylee posing together when they were younger made me gut clench. I quickly looked away. Things like that were going to happen if and when I hung out with Sophie. They were inevitable and I was going to have to deal with it.

Books. Back to the books.

Doing a quick scan, we did have a lot of books in common. A shocking amount.