Page 79 of Between Regrets and Promises (Between Us Trilogy #2)

Instead of returning, I take Mason’s suggestion to heart and decide to text my director and let him know I’m going home and will be back in a day or two.

I feel like a fucking failure and so deflated.

He doesn’t have any issues with it and tells me he’ll see me then.

I’ve kept him in the loop of what’s been going on, and he’s been more than supportive.

Once I’m home, I want to crawl in bed and bury myself under blankets for a week, but instead, I set up my music stand and chair. I’m more than determined to get this right, and there’s no excuse for how I performed today.

Basic missed notes are unacceptable and performing like that, even during a rehearsal, means I could be replaced.

I’ve worked too damn hard for this, and before I go back to work, I need to be more prepared.

I’m pissed at myself for thinking I could walk in there and nail every song.

I’m good, but I’m no maestro, especially after not playing for weeks. So for the rest of the day, I practice.

I practice until I’m fatigued.

I practice until I close my eyes and picture the music notes on the page.

I practice until my arms and fingers hurt.

I deserve this. I deserve to feel the pain.

Page after page, note after note, I repeat bars and measures until I nail each one. But I’m growing more frustrated with myself because I begin to make new mistakes. I stand, stretch, use the bathroom, then go back to my chair, and start at the beginning again.

At some point, I obsessively repeat one melody and play it over and over and over until a knock rings on my door. I ignore it, but my door cracks open.

“Soph,” Liam says cautiously, looking at me with soft eyes.

“What?” I snap. “Don’t you see I’m trying to practice?” I don’t mean to project my agitation toward him, but I can’t help it.

“You’ve been playing the same song for over three hours.” His voice is calm, and I can hear the concern behind his tone.

I’m nearly shaking when I let out a breath. “So what? I have to do this, Liam. I’m fucking up too much. I felt so damn stupid in there today making mistakes I haven’t made since I was fourteen years old. It was ridiculous and embarrassing.”

He walks inside and crosses his arms over his chest. His demeanor grows more serious as he takes the violin from my hand and sets it on the bed. I’m ready to punch him in the face for pulling me away, but maybe he’s right.

“Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity…I think.” He chuckles.

“If you keep on, you’re gonna send yourself into a nervous breakdown.

Hell, you might send me into one too. If I hear those notes played one more time, I’m admitting myself into the psych ward. ”

I swallow down the lump in my throat and groan. I became too focused. “I’m sorry. I just?—”

“I get it,” he interrupts. “ I do, but maybe you should take a break. You don’t want to push yourself too hard, too soon. It’s not productive.”

I stand and stretch again, realizing how stiff I am, and he smirks because he knows he’s right.

“Look, it’s after five. Let’s go out and have a drink or something.”

Shaking my head, I look at him like he’s lost his mind.

“Come on. Please? I’ll pay!” He gives me big puppy dog eyes as he continues to beg.

“I don’t feel like it. Being around people is the last thing I want to do right now,” I admit.

“ Sophie . Pretty, pretty, pretty please. Just one drink. That’s all, I promise.” Liam is ridiculous, and it’s hard for me to say no when he acts like this.

“Ugh,” I say with a groan.

“So does that mean yes?” A smirk plays on his lips.

“I guess! You’re so dramatic,” I tell him. He holds out his hand like he wants a high five, but I totally leave him hanging.

“We’re leaving in ten minutes. I don’t want to give you any time to change your mind,” he singsongs and walks out of my room.

I put my violin in the case, but I’ll practice again tomorrow with a clear head and be more than ready in a couple of days.

The last thing I want to do is to let down my director, my colleagues, and more importantly, myself.

After I change out of my work clothes, I walk out of my room, and he’s already waiting by the door.

“Why are you dressed so nice?” I look at him from head to toe.

“To impress the ladies,” he says matter-of-factly, causing me to snort.

“I’m telling Maddie,” I tease as we walk out to his truck.

“Don’t. She’s the biggest cock block out there.”

And we all know that’s the truth. Maddie’s become braver over the past few months, marking her territory and scaring off any girl who comes within a five-mile radius of Liam when she’s around. It’s quite funny to watch.

Instead of going to one of our regular hangouts, Liam drives us to a wine bar. We walk inside and sit, and I’m excited to try all the different wines they have. The list is a mile long.

“I hope you’re not expecting me to put out after this.” I glance at him after seeing how expensive everything is.

“Nah, but maybe you could do my dirty laundry,” he taunts, but I don’t think he’s kidding.

I order a white zinfandel, and Liam gets a Pinot Noir. Jazz music plays in the background, and light from the candles along the bar flicker against the wall. The mood is dark and quiet, not loud like most of the places we typically go to, and I’m grateful he brought me here. It’s relaxing.

“You know, sometimes when I visit places like this, I like to make up stories about other people in the room. Pretend they’re millionaires who like to slum with the common folk or drug lords. Like that guy over there…” Liam tilts his head.

I peek around and look. “The guy with the mustache?”

“Yeah, he has four wives, and they all live together. Right now, he’s waiting for his girlfriend to arrive so he can propose to her and make her his fifth wife.” Liam narrows his eyes then chuckles.

“Oh my God. You’re ridiculous,” I say, but it is funny. “So what about that woman over there?”

“She killed her husband so she could cash in ten million dollars’ worth of insurance money. Her dream has always been to buy a private island, and once she gets the money, all her dreams are gonna come true,” he says so confidently I almost believe the silly story.

“And the bartender?” I ask.

“Trust fund baby but runs an underground drug ring and uses his inheritance to fund it all. Next.”

“You’re way too good at this. Who would’ve thought you had such a wild imagination.” I’m laughing, smiling, having a good time, and it feels so nice.

“I know. It’s how I occupy myself in airports, considering I’ve been traveling so much lately. There are so many people in there it’s easy to think about how crazy their lives could be. Who knows, it could be true although there’s like a one in a million chance.”

He finishes his wine and orders another, and I get one too, but this time, I switch to a merlot.

For the first time all week—hell, all month—I have a sense of calmness, and I’m grateful for Liam’s friendship, more than he knows.

It’s almost as if I feel like myself right now at this moment, and I don’t want it to end.

“Talk to Mason today?” he asks, abruptly moving the conversation to me.

Our new glasses are placed in front of us. Sipping my wine, I give him a nod. “Yeah, he told me he’d be home somewhat late, but that’s about it.” Before he can continue with Mason as the subject, I quickly change the subject. “So you’re coming to Maddie’s recital, right?”

“You already know I’m gonna be there. You’re trying to deflect. But I’m not gonna allow it.” He smirks when I groan.

“Then I’m gonna need another glass of wine,” I bemuse, and Liam makes it happen.

“I know you two are going through a rough patch and things have been rocky, but he loves you, Soph. A lot. The other night, I heard you arguing about Serena…”

“And? I’m not crazy, right?” My heart races as I think about it.

“You’re crazy, but not about that,” he teases.

“I just want you to know that you have nothing to worry about. If you told Mason to jump, he’d ask you how high.

If you wanted him to wait for you for a decade, he’d wait a decade plus a year.

Hell, he’s been waiting for a woman like you for a long ass time, and he’s not gonna give that up.

Trust me. I’m his best friend. I know him better than he knows himself.

When Mason Holt falls in love, he falls hard, and he’s not ever gonna let that go.

In case you haven’t noticed, in the past three years of knowing him, he’s never had another girl around. Never.”

Heat rushes to my cheeks, and a small smile plays on my lips.

Liam’s right, which makes me feel bad for fighting with him and assuming he wasn’t going to be patient with me.

The alcohol seems to hit me all at once.

I haven’t eaten anything since breakfast, which was probably a bad idea, but I finish my third glass of wine anyway. “I think I’ve had too much to drink.”

I hiccup. “I’m a lightweight, aren’t I?”

“Oh man, drunk Sophie has come out to play, hasn’t she? Maybe we shouldn’t have ordered the eight ounce glasses?”

Laughter overtakes me. “Can we get a pizza on the way home?”

“I said I’d pay for your drinks. I never said anything about dinner.”

I poke my bottom lip out. “Please? Sophie needs food.”

“You’re lucky you’re one of the few chicks I can stand.” He rolls his eyes with a smirk.

“Thanks, I think?”

After he closes our tab, Liam orders a pizza just the way I like it. My head is spinning, and I’m on cloud nine as we drive home. Liam wouldn’t lie about Mason. He has no reason to, and if there’s anyone who knows him best, it’s Liam. I stare out the window, lost in my head when I laugh.

“What’s so funny?” Liam asks as we pull into the driveway.

“I was thinking about all those stupid stories you made up about those people at the bar,” I tell him, noticing Mason is home.

Before he climbs out and gets the pizza, I grab his arm. “Thank you.”

He laughs. “For what?”

“For being a good friend. Albeit a stubborn one, but a good one.”

Liam shrugs as if it’s no big deal. “Being stubborn is the easy part.”

I snort, knowing Maddie would wholeheartedly agree.