Page 26 of More than Fiction (Misty Springs #1)

Sophia

“It was going great. Until the COO showed up,” I told Devyn as we closed up after another busy Friday night at Boomer's.

“He sounds like a jerk,” Devyn declared, flipping the dining room chairs on the tabletops.

I let out a sharp laugh and considered her words.

I started mentally weighing each interaction on some invisible scale. Our incredible car conversation and mind-blowing kiss had nearly offset the balance of our airplane and hotel encounter toward not jerk.

But he bolted after said mind-blowing kiss. And the way he acted during my interview? The scale didn’t just tip back—it flung itself violently in the other direction.

A loud howling wind rumbled outside, sending some object thumping against the thick windowless walls of the bar. I jumped, letting out a little gasp.

“You’re jumpy tonight,” Devyn jested as she marched toward the bar to start wiping it down.

I shrugged it off. I still didn’t have the guts to tell her—or anyone else—about Landon, and the fact that I agreed to go with him to New York tomorrow. He’d been texting me all week, reminding me.

The box Landon left behind contained a gorgeous gold ballgown and the engagement ring I lobbed at his head. I shoved the ring in my sock drawer, hidden beneath the unmatched ones and ones with holes in them that I couldn’t seem to throw away, its resting place oddly metaphorical .

“I’ll go lock up,” Devyn said as she flung a damp rag on the bar top.

I was focused on putting away the last of the glasses when I heard the bell ring, signaling the door opening. I assumed it was Devyn checking something outside until I heard her voice.

“What the hell are you doing here?”

I barely looked up before my stomach sank. Landon walked right past Devyn like she wasn’t even there, eyes locked on me.

“Can we have some privacy?” Landon asked me, his tone teetering on the edge of impatience.

I glanced briefly at a disgruntled, wide-eyed Devyn before sighing and motioning for Landon to follow me to the other side of the bar.

Devyn gave me an exasperated look in return, and I watched her stare at us in disbelief before she turned to the utility closet, her long curls bouncing with each angry step.

“What do you want, Landon?”

“Did you get your ring?”

“Yes, I pawned it,” I lied.

“You didn’t. I know you better than that.”

He did, and I hated that he did.

“I don’t want the ring, Landon. You bought it, you keep it.”

“Look, I didn’t come here about the ring.” He raked his fingers angrily through his dirty blonde hair. “I came because you’ve been ignoring my texts.”

I didn’t ignore his texts. I just… didn’t respond. Every text merely asked me what I was up to while laced with pet names for me and the familiarity of someone who lost that privilege. I had already agreed to go on this trip with him. That was where my commitment to him ended.

His tone softened, leaning in close. “I wanted to make sure you wouldn’t flake on me. This is a big deal, babe. You know how Alicia can be.”

I took an instinctual step back.

My mind drifted to my friends and how easily Alicia could crush them under her heel without a second thought, just to make a point.

“I’m not flaking on you, Landon. But you never acknowledged my end of the agreement.

I need your word. After this, I owe you and Alicia nothing.

I don’t want you to text me anymore, no more showing up at the bar, no more expectations that I will get over this and get back together with you. You have to agree to fully let me go.”

I spied Devyn inching closer, holding a broom and dustpan. Her fake brushes on the broom, not even touching the floor as she eavesdropped.

He tapped his fingers on the bar and hesitated. A flash of anger hit his face and then disappeared instantly. “This is the last time I’ll bother you,” he finally agreed.

“Then I’ll see you tomorrow.” A sinking feeling settled in my gut.

His face lit up in victory, like he wasn’t taking the rest of my words seriously. I meant them, though. This was going to be it. There was nothing left for him to hang over my head once this was done.

He turned to leave, and I quickly followed to lock the door behind him.

“And Landon,” I said as he stepped through the doorway into the cold late-night air.

He turned to me curiously.

“Stop calling me babe. I’m not your babe anymore.”

I shut the door in his face and turned the lock.

I wanted to scream at the fact that I could never seem to free myself from Landon. It was like a script I couldn’t stop reading from, and I hated that I couldn’t find the courage to flip the page.

And now Devyn was standing there, arms crossed, ready to hurl her opinion at me like everyone always did. Like, I didn’t know how bad this situation was. Like, I couldn’t see the cracks in every decision I made.

“You’re not seriously going with him, are you?” Devyn’s voice cut through my spiraling thoughts.

I bristled at the accusation in her tone, my nerves in overdrive after dealing with Landon.

“I don’t know, Devyn. This isn’t just about him. It’s his family, too.” My words felt defensive, shaky.

Her expression darkened, and she stepped closer. “He’s been blowing up your phone for weeks, showing up here randomly to torment you—and now you’re letting him drag you to New York? ”

“You don’t understand. He came to my apartment last weekend, Devyn. He won’t stop. This is how I end things with him. He just said...”

“You already ended things with him! You don’t owe him anything,” she interrupted.

She didn’t understand. She doesn’t know the Norwood family like I do. Their behavior was borderline insane. They acted like they were some sort of Misty Springs mafia. I knew she wouldn’t believe the lengths they would go if I tried to explain it to her—or worse, she’d try to intervene.

Her jaw tightened, and her eyes flared with anger as she continued. “And he came to your apartment? And you didn’t tell us? Why? Why would you keep something like that to yourself?”

“I didn’t want to burden you,” I said softly, my gaze falling to the scuffed floorboards.

“ Burden us? We’re your friends, Sophia!

This is why we’re here—for you. We care about what you’re going through.

But you always shut us out. You never told us when you quit Brown.

You never talked to us after your parents died.

And you sure as hell never told us how bad Landon was treating you!

We had to watch you nearly wither away from afar.

You shut us out.” Her words were caring, but her tone was bristling.

The weight of her words slammed into me, each jab loosening a stitch I haphazardly placed over the pains of my past. Pain that I never wanted to spread to anyone else, so I tucked it away instead.

But as I stood there, Devyn’s words still hanging in the air, I felt my pain twist into anger—anger at her for not understanding and at myself for always being the one to bend, to concede, to play the role of doormat.

“Why does every decision I make have to go through you like you’re some kind of jury for my life?” I snapped, the tone in my voice surprising both of us. “I can make my own decisions!”

“Maybe your decisions are terrible. La mierda, ” Devyn shot back, her tone cutting like a blade.

“Maybe I’m okay with my shit decisions,” I snapped, my voice rising.

“Maybe you shouldn’t be! ”

Devyn and I locked eyes. This was the first real fight I could remember since junior year. When we both swore the pair of jeans we kept swapping back and forth were originally ours.

I broke first, my voice quieter but still hard-edged. “Maybe you should let me close up by myself, and you can leave and take your judgment with you.”

The bitterness of the words hit me the moment they escaped, regret settling in their wake. I hadn’t meant any of it, but I couldn’t take it back now. My anger may be misplaced, but it was loose and untamed.

Devyn’s expression flickered—hurt, disbelief, and rage flashing all at once—before she turned and stormed out.

Looks like I was in for a cold walk home. I’ve been on such a roll lately. What’s one more disappointment?