Page 29 of Play the Part (Marsford Bay #2)

CONNIE

“ Y our brother is ignoring me.”

It’s late Saturday morning, and I’m having brunch with Sophia at a trendy restaurant in the Central Business District. I’ve been trying to find an opening for the past half hour, but I lost patience and blurted it out.

Sophia’s eyes dart up while taking a bite of her chicken and waffles. She slowly straightens in her seat and grins. A large part of me didn’t want to get her involved in the shitshow that is Huxley and me, but ever since whatever that was last week, it’s the only thing I can focus on.

Dusia wanted me to go over some contracts, so Huxley left without me, and he’s been avoiding me since.

The only communication we’ve had is him texting me, saying he didn’t want me to pick him up anymore.

When I asked why, I was met with no response.

His behavior pissed me off, but I didn’t press the subject.

We haven’t talked in over a week, and it pains me to admit it, but I now need some backup in understanding what’s actually going on with him.

“Who? Ozzy?” Sophia’s grin is far too mischievous to pass as innocent.

“Ha. Ha,” I deadpan as I pick up my mimosa and take a sip. Then, because I’m already desperate, I add, “Has he mentioned anything to you?”

Sophia drops her fork and rests her elbow on the table. Sighing, she lifts her eyes to the ceiling and rubs her forehead in an amplified show of exasperation.

I don’t know if it’s because she basically had to fend for herself most of her life, but I often forget how young Sophia is. She’s always acted far older than her actual age.

“I’m not answering that until you finally tell me what the hell has been going on between you two.”

I feel like I’m about to burst into flames. Or suddenly develop a life-threatening rash. I pick at my fruit cup with my fork and avoid eye contact.

Eventually, I begrudgingly match her gaze and say, “It’s complicated?”

“Great.” She lifts her hands and widens her arms as if challenging me. “Because I have all day.” She drops her arms and checks her phone. “Actually, that’s not true, I work at three, so you’ll need to hurry this up.”

I roll my eyes, and she snickers, digging into her second waffle.

Chewing on my inner lip, I wonder how much I should tell her.

“I just don’t want anybody to know about this … for now — even Jamie.”

Sophia pretends to zip up her lips and throw away the key. I stare at her for a few seconds, not knowing how to start. Finally, I let my shoulders drop and sigh with defeat.

“We hooked up at Jamie’s engagement party.”

By the sheer shock on Sophia’s face and her gaping mouth, I know she didn’t expect me to say that.

“You hooked up at …” Her words trail off as if suddenly recalling something, then mumbles under her breath, “That’s where he disappeared to.” Her eyes dart back to me, eyebrows furrowing. “Weren’t you dating Oliver back then?”

I wave her off and shake my head. “We were barely in the talking stage.” I pause. “But to your point — after that night, I sort of just went back to my life in LA and pretended it never happened.”

“This explains why he’s been stalking you for so long,” she puffs out then shakes her head, laughing dryly. “Oh, Connie, he was barely out of prison, what the hell were you thinking?”

I lean forward, my wrists pressing against the edge of the table. “ I wasn’t ,” I hiss. “And well —” I lean back into the booth. “You can’t deny your brother is hot, he just looked very appetizing that night.”

“Gross,” Sophia sniffs. She takes a large sip of her coffee, staring at me while she swallows, then asks, “So that’s it?”

I slump my hands onto my lap, picking at my nails.

“Not exactly. That was just how it started.” Sophia raises her eyebrows as if urging me to go on, and I exhale slowly.

“When I came back for the holidays, I thought we could at least be civil, which was harder than expected.” I mutter those last words under my breath, staring down at my plate.

“Plus, I had just broken up with Oliver, Huxley was dating someone, and I was kind of seeing that DJ, but things still kind of … happened.”

Sophia chuckles, leaning back into her chair. “You guys are so messy.”

“We haven’t hooked up since I’ve been back,” I say quickly, hoping that will help my cause. “ Anyway , things were getting kind of hot and heavy last week —”

Sophia grimaces. “Spare me.”

I sigh loudly. “Then out of nowhere, he said he couldn’t do it anymore and then told me, ‘I can’t do meaningless with you’.

” I pause and watch Sophia’s expression gradually fall somewhere close to concern.

Her reaction has my heartbeat quickening, but I add one final thing before letting her speak, “He’s been ignoring me ever since. ”

I break into a sweat under her careful appraisal.

“What do you mean by it ?” she says slowly.

“It? Like what are we?” Sophia nods. “I don’t know,” I whine. “I thought we were just having fun — I literally just broke up with Oliver.”

“Are you still hooking up with that DJ?”

I’m not sure where she’s going with this but I answer nonetheless. “I ghosted him after he showed up with flowers on my first day at the Remi.”

She smirks. “Classic.” She pops a piece of fried chicken in her mouth and licks her lips while dusting off her fingers. “And was that the only reason you ghosted him?”

I blink.

Oh.

“No,” I answer sheepishly. “I guess, Huxley was another reason. I didn’t want to flaunt someone else in front of him.”

“Because you …” She elongates her last word as if waiting for me to finish her sentence, one eyebrow lifting expectantly.

Miffed, I reply, “Because I what ?”

She crosses her arms. “Because you care about his feelings, dummy.”

I squirm in my chair, feeling pretty toxic when thinking back on how I’ve acted with Huxley since returning to Marsford Bay. The guilt makes me want to act out and reply as brattily as possible.

“Why does this have to be so serious? Obviously, Huxley has had casual flings before. How is this any different — he was literally fucking another girl just a month ago for god’s sake.”

A little harsh. But not too bad.

Sophia stays silent for a beat. “Connie.” The tone of her voice makes me look up, my heart dropping into my stomach. Her eyebrows furrow with worry. “Huxley went to prison when he was eighteen years old … how many flings do you think he’s had?”

I suddenly don’t want to have this conversation anymore. The reminder that Huxley spent his early twenties in prison has my nose starting to tingle as if threatening a deluge of tears.

I swallow hard.

God. I must be PMS’ing.

Sophia notices my inner turmoil, and her expression softens. She pushes her plate toward the middle and folds her arms on the table, leaning forward.

“You know, Huxley has always been the most sensitive out of all of us. He hates it. He fights it constantly, but it doesn’t change who he is deep down.

And one thing we do have in common is that we avoid talking about our feelings.

So if he’s gone far enough to tell you that this isn’t meaningless to him, I suggest you listen. ”

I don’t know what to say, so I say nothing, mulling over what she just divulged.

Then Sophia blinks, and her face switches from serious to something a lot more unhinged.

“ Basically .” She grins and tilts her head as she stares me down. “Don’t fuck with my brother or I’ll kill you.” Then, as if she didn’t just threaten my life, she swivels her head around to look behind her. “Where’s our server? I need a refill.”