looked just like I feel. She tried to reach out to me, but I was so confused about Corbin and Kayla that I couldn’t be bothered to want to get close. I am starting to feel guilty about avoiding Tobie. I work almost every night just to stay busy, but it doesn’t help that I’m constantly tossed in with Kayla and Corbin, planning this stupid Bash, even though I just work while Kayla barks orders. I turn at the bottom of the stairs and look at Tobie, back to fighting with her tea. It really would be nice to have someone to talk to. Someone to tell about my feelings for Corbin. The feelings that get closer to the surface the more I try and shove them down.
“What are your plans for tomorrow?” I ask her, taking a sip of water.
“Being fat and miserable... Same old.” Her tone is so dry that I laugh.
“Want to have dinner with me before I go to work?”
Her face shifts from a scowl to a smile, her light eyes sparkle. “I’d love to.”
“It’s a date, then.”
I figure if I have to try to forge some sort of normal life again, I should probably start by making a real friend.
xxx
Tobie leans back in her chair a wide smile cracking her face and making her look like a kid.
“I knew it,” she says, throwing a piece of her scone at me, forcing me to swat it away in midair.
“Knew what? All I said is we came here for lunch.” I try to fight the smile that tries to happen and replace it with a glare.
“Sweetie, Corbin doesn’t go on dates. He’s been my cousin since the beginning of time. I have never seen him go on a date that didn’t start and end with sex.”
“It wasn’t a date. And I’m still mad at him, remember. Or do you have baby brain already?”
Tobie rolls her eyes. “Yeah, whatever. It was a date and then he did something stupid. That doesn’t void the date.”
I open my mouth to argue just as Caleb comes by. His lip twitches and he looks at me with knowing eyes. He knows something. Maybe he knows everything, and it makes my muscles tense up. Caleb wouldn’t be looking at me this way if Corbin didn’t say anything to him.
“Hey, Sophia.” Caleb passes the table and swipes a cup from the table behind Tobie. I don’t like the way he says it and the light, fun thoughts of Corbin are pushed out by the truth. Kayla made an idiot of me and Corbin did nothing. And now he just doesn’t talk to me. Like it was all nothing.
This is obviously one-sided, and I refuse to be treated like that. I couldn’t handle it. Not with everything else.
I have to let him go. This is stupid.
“Sophia? Are you okay?” Tobie frowns and I force an immediate smile, pushing the emotion from my body.
“Yeah, totally,” I say grabbing her arm and pulling it closer to me, touching the tattoos that cover her one arm. “Tell me about these? Do they mean anything?”
She frowns at me, seeing right through what I’m doing, but she starts telling me about each of her tattoos. I only partially listen, not because I’m not interested but because my eyes keep wandering to the couch at the back of the coffee shop and how I can’t remember the last time I’d ever felt that comfortable in my own head. I can’t remember the last time I actually felt like me.
Chapter Thirteen
Corbin
My skin tightens around my muscles as the cold water envelops me. It’s mid-June now. The water’s warmer, but not much. The summer heat is coming. Sophia’s been here for a month and can’t remember a day I haven’t seen or thought about her. She’s still pissed at me, and I don’t blame her. I’m trying to give her space. That’s what nice guys do, right? I’ve never been the nice guy.
I push thoughts of her below the surface and swim, steady and strong. Concentrating on my breathing I skip the warm up and go straight into full front stroke. The cold water clears my mind. The in and out of my breath as I turn my head calms my muscles. Through my goggles, I see the murky water beneath me and
“What are your plans for tomorrow?” I ask her, taking a sip of water.
“Being fat and miserable... Same old.” Her tone is so dry that I laugh.
“Want to have dinner with me before I go to work?”
Her face shifts from a scowl to a smile, her light eyes sparkle. “I’d love to.”
“It’s a date, then.”
I figure if I have to try to forge some sort of normal life again, I should probably start by making a real friend.
xxx
Tobie leans back in her chair a wide smile cracking her face and making her look like a kid.
“I knew it,” she says, throwing a piece of her scone at me, forcing me to swat it away in midair.
“Knew what? All I said is we came here for lunch.” I try to fight the smile that tries to happen and replace it with a glare.
“Sweetie, Corbin doesn’t go on dates. He’s been my cousin since the beginning of time. I have never seen him go on a date that didn’t start and end with sex.”
“It wasn’t a date. And I’m still mad at him, remember. Or do you have baby brain already?”
Tobie rolls her eyes. “Yeah, whatever. It was a date and then he did something stupid. That doesn’t void the date.”
I open my mouth to argue just as Caleb comes by. His lip twitches and he looks at me with knowing eyes. He knows something. Maybe he knows everything, and it makes my muscles tense up. Caleb wouldn’t be looking at me this way if Corbin didn’t say anything to him.
“Hey, Sophia.” Caleb passes the table and swipes a cup from the table behind Tobie. I don’t like the way he says it and the light, fun thoughts of Corbin are pushed out by the truth. Kayla made an idiot of me and Corbin did nothing. And now he just doesn’t talk to me. Like it was all nothing.
This is obviously one-sided, and I refuse to be treated like that. I couldn’t handle it. Not with everything else.
I have to let him go. This is stupid.
“Sophia? Are you okay?” Tobie frowns and I force an immediate smile, pushing the emotion from my body.
“Yeah, totally,” I say grabbing her arm and pulling it closer to me, touching the tattoos that cover her one arm. “Tell me about these? Do they mean anything?”
She frowns at me, seeing right through what I’m doing, but she starts telling me about each of her tattoos. I only partially listen, not because I’m not interested but because my eyes keep wandering to the couch at the back of the coffee shop and how I can’t remember the last time I’d ever felt that comfortable in my own head. I can’t remember the last time I actually felt like me.
Chapter Thirteen
Corbin
My skin tightens around my muscles as the cold water envelops me. It’s mid-June now. The water’s warmer, but not much. The summer heat is coming. Sophia’s been here for a month and can’t remember a day I haven’t seen or thought about her. She’s still pissed at me, and I don’t blame her. I’m trying to give her space. That’s what nice guys do, right? I’ve never been the nice guy.
I push thoughts of her below the surface and swim, steady and strong. Concentrating on my breathing I skip the warm up and go straight into full front stroke. The cold water clears my mind. The in and out of my breath as I turn my head calms my muscles. Through my goggles, I see the murky water beneath me and
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