Page 15 of Forever, Never, Always (Forever #2)

Sofia

“Can we talk?” I’m already wrestling Harry into his coat, so I don’t bother to look up as Ric looms over me. I can feel everyone’s eyes on us, including Meg’s.

“I need to get Harry home,” I mutter, standing.

“I’ll walk with you.” I want to point out the tension in the room. All the unanswered questions are clearly flying around the air, causing more awkwardness. Why can’t he read the room?

“Meg, I’ll call you,” I say. “Charlotte, thanks so much for having us. Sorry I didn’t get to try your famous curry, but Harry is tired.”

“Please take this,” she says, handing me a container full of curry.

I smile gratefully. “Thank you.”

The second we’re outside, Ric takes Harry from me. I glare, but he continues on like nothing happened, and I follow. “I told her I like you.” I freeze, and he turns to face me. “She needed a reason for me ending it.”

“And you couldn’t come up with anything else?” I snap. My heart is slamming like a hammer in my chest and fear grips me. I can’t lose my two closest friends. “You have no idea what you’ve done.”

“I told her you were unaware,” he adds, and I take a calming breath. That’s something at least. “She needed to understand there were other factors for why I made my choice, not just the abortion.”

“It wasn’t my place to tell you,” I mutter, falling into step beside him.

“It hurt that you didn’t.”

“I wanted to,” I offer.

He shrugs, sighing. “It’s in the past.”

I glance up and see his stoney expression. “You’re upset?”

“Of course, I am, Sofia. She took the choice away.”

I frown. “It was never your choice to make. And look, you’re not even together anymore, so she made the right call.”

“I wouldn’t have left her if she was having my baby.”

I scoff. “You’d have stayed with her even though you didn’t love her? That’s exactly what she didn’t want.”

“Well, I never got to have that conversation with her.”

“Would you have honestly been happy, Ric?” I ask.

“If she’d have told you and decided to keep it, would you have been elated?

” He shrugs. “Children don’t repair a broken relationship.

They might patch it up for a while, but it wouldn’t last. I’m sorry you didn’t get a say, but I agree with Zoe on this.

She had to make the right call for her.”

We walk the rest of the way in silence, stopping outside my house. Harry is snuggled into Ric, fast asleep. “I’ll come in and put him down,” he offers.

“It’s not a good idea.”

He sighs and gently passes Harry to me, who doesn’t stir. “I’m sorry for everything that happened tonight. I don’t want to come between you and Zoe.”

I nod. “Then don’t.” And I head inside.

I take Harry straight up to bed, not bothering to change him into his pyjamas. If I risk waking him, he’ll never settle again, and honestly, I need some time to process the shitstorm that happened tonight.

I carefully remove his jacket and place the blanket over him, smiling at his sweet, carefree face. “I love you,” I whisper.

I head downstairs and out into the back garden to make the most of the evening sunshine.

I love it out here. It’s one of the reasons I brought the property.

I lay my sun lounger back and close my eyes.

“Drink?” I open one eye to see Ric looking over the fence, holding up a jug of iced tea and two glasses, like tonight never happened.

I sit up, frowning at his offering. “Iced tea?”

He grins, lifting one leg over the small fence, then the other. “I made it.”

“You don’t like iced tea.”

He places the glasses on the table. “I like it if you like it.” And he pours us each a glass.

“Recipes online were very contradicting, so I picked out the one I liked the sound of and went with it. I haven’t tried it yet.

” He passes me a glass, and I smile as I raise it to my lips.

He watches, like everything depends on this moment.

I sip, closing my eyes briefly as the sweetness of the peaches coats my tongue.

I take another, and his brows raise in anticipation. “Well?”

“I think that might be the best iced tea I’ve ever tasted.”

“Really?” He looks excited as he takes a sip. “Actually, that’s not bad at all.”

“Did you really make it?”

He nods. “I swear on Harry’s life.”

“Why?”

He takes a seat. “Because it’s your favourite,” he answers with a shrug.

My heart melts a little as I settle back in my seat and sip some more.

He’s making this impossible. The butterflies in my stomach are fluttering, and it’s hard to remember why I’m pushing this gorgeous man away when all I want to do is tell him how I really feel.

“How’s work?” he asks.

My mind goes to Amelia and how she keeps dropping bitchy comments or sniggering whenever Dexter speaks to me. “Fine.”

“And the video?”

I groan. “Let’s not talk about that.”

He smirks. “It wasn’t that bad.”

“It was awful.” I smile too. “I’m mortified you saw it.”

“He’s a tool for not sweeping you off your feet right there and then.”

I laugh. “I’ll be sure to tell him.”

My phone rings, and I rush inside to grab it, seeing Zoe’s name flashing across the screen. I remain inside, accepting the call. “Hey.”

“Sofia, I’m so sorry,” she cries.

“Don’t worry about it. Are you okay?”

“Yes . . . no . . . I don’t know.”

“Do you want to come round and talk about it? Harry’s in bed.”

“Everyone was looking at me like I’d killed their bunnies,” she wails. “They all hate me.”

“They don’t.”

“Charlotte definitely does.”

“She’s biased.”

Ric heads in, and I shake my head, pressing my finger over my lips because the last thing I want is for her to think there’s anything going on between us. But fuck, he looks good standing in my kitchen.

“I’m here if you need to vent,” I tell her. “Things will blow over.”

“Thanks, Sof. You’re a good friend,” she almost whispers. Guilt grips me so tight, I can hardly breathe. “Love you.”

“I love you too, Zoe.” And my eyes connect with Ric’s. He looks just as guilty as I end the call.

“You should go,” I say, barely above a whisper.

He doesn’t move. “Can’t we be friends?” he asks softly. “We’re neighbours.”

“I want to,” I admit, and the truth of it stings. He steps closer, closing the space like he’s been waiting for permission that I didn’t mean to give.

“We’re not doing anything wrong,” he murmurs. His hand comes up, a single finger tilting my chin until I’m forced to look at him. “We’re both single.”

My heart twists. “She’s my best friend.” The words crack in my throat. They should be enough to stop this. This should be the end of whatever this is. But he’s still looking at me like he sees more than I want him to.

“I know,” he says quietly, “and I think about that every time I see you.” That lands like a punch. My chest tightens.

“I didn’t mean for this to happen,” I say, stepping back even though every cell in my body screams to stay close.

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” he says again, like repeating it might make it true.

“We talk, that’s all.” But it’s not just talk.

It’s the way my pulse races when he’s nearby.

The way I wait for a glimpse of him every time I step outside.

It’s the kind of just talking that leaves guilt simmering under my skin.

“And the kiss?” He remains quiet. I shake my head, swallowing hard. “It all feels like a betrayal.”

He looks down, nods, then meets my eyes again.

“Then I’ll go.” And just like that, the warmth between us cools.

He steps back, and the air feels heavier without him in it.

“You’re passing up the opportunity of happiness for Zoe when we both know she wouldn’t do the same for you.

” He heads out, climbing over the fence and disappearing into his own house.

I stare after him, thinking over his words.

Maybe Zoe wouldn’t do the same, but I’m not her.

Eric

I’m disappointed. Not just a little. The kind of disappointment that threatens to choke you if you don’t do something about it.

I feel like marching right back to Sofia’s, banging on her door, and demanding she give us a chance.

We owe each other an honest conversation.

Zoe and I weren’t even that serious. We were convenient, fun even, but it didn’t feel like this.

It’s nothing like how I feel when I’m around Sofia.

I run my hand through my hair and groan, pacing the living room like a caged animal. She feels it too, I know she does. The way she watches me whenever she’s nearby. The way her breath hitches when I get too close, and how her eyes lingered for just a second too long before I left.

Damn it. Before I talk myself out of it, I head through the back door again and step over the fence that separates our gardens.

I stand at her patio doors. She’s inside with her back to me and her head hung low like she’s got the world on her shoulders. I gently tap on the glass, and she spins to face me. She holds eye contact as she approaches, slowly sliding the door open.

“Ric, you can’t be here,” she almost whispers.

“Because you feel it too, Sofia. Ignoring it is an injustice to us both. I get it, Zoe was my girlfriend,” I say gently. Her eyes flicker, hurt and hesitation evident. “I ended it because of my feelings for you. Because I couldn’t keep pretending I wanted her when all I want is you.”

She backs away, her breathing heavy with emotion. “It’s not that simple.”

I reach out, barely touching her arm, and she inhales sharply. “Then tell me you don’t want this. Look me in the eye and say you don’t feel the same.”

She doesn’t. She can’t. But I don’t miss the turmoil playing out on her face.

When she finally looks up at me, her eyes are wide and vulnerable, I don’t wait.

I close the gap between us and I kiss her.

Soft at first, hesitant, like a question, but when she leans into me, when her fingers twist in my shirt and she kisses me back, it’s not a question anymore.

It’s everything we’ve been holding back. And it’s real.