Chapter 31

Chapter Thirty-One

Reid

I awoke with Sophie’s hair in my mouth and her body on top of mine.

I didn’t remember kicking her or hogging the covers or anything else happening during the night.

When I opened my eyes, I found that she was stirring out of sleep as well.

“Good morning,” she said, her voice rough in the sexiest way. She smiled up at me and my heart squeezed in my chest.

Fuck, I had absolutely fallen for her. I’d been trying to deny it to myself, but it was only a matter of time. I’d told Cade that I could stop myself, and she’d been right—the only way to not fall for Sophie would have been to never have met her again in the first place. If she hadn’t moved in here, I never would have given her a thought. Strange how someone renting an apartment could change your entire life.

“Good morning,” I said, kissing her adorable nose. “How did you sleep?”

“Fine, I think. I don’t remember anything. I was dead to the world.” She laughed softly and I tightened my arms around her.

“I just want to stay all day like this with you,” I said.

She sighed softly. “Me too. I would absolutely call out of work, but I’m only there a few hours a week anyway so I’d feel bad.”

She sat up and looked down at me, the blankets falling away from her amazing body and I forgot what we were discussing.

“What?” I asked as my eyes locked on her breasts. If you asked me to create a perfect pair, these would be them.

Sophie put her hand under my chin and lifted my head so I was looking at her face instead. “Hey, since you have the day off, maybe you could come to the library for a little while? You could bring your computer and work on your fanfic if you wanted.”

Now that was an idea. A good one. I had a tendency to get distracted when I was at my apartment and writing in cafes and other places was annoying. A college library was a great place to have some peace and get some words done.

“Okay. Yeah. I’ll come with you.”

“You don’t have to stay my whole shift, but maybe you could drive me and drop me off?” She was only there for a few hours. I could handle that. And if I got bored, I’d just sneak out and get some coffee and bring it to her.

“It’s a plan,” I said, pulling her back down so I could suck one of her nipples into my mouth.

“Reid!” Her indignation quickly morphed into something else. “Ohhh, you’re too good at that.”

“Mmm,” I said as I tongued her nipple and then bit it gently with my teeth. She gasped and I stroked my hand down her belly to stroke her between her legs. She was already wet and ready for me.

An orgasm before breakfast was the right way to start the day.

Sophie and I lazed in bed after we both came, and I told her I was ordering breakfast. She’d brought a change of clothes with her, so we reluctantly got dressed and had breakfast on the couch together, eating bites from each other’s fingers. I guess I was the kind of person who shared food now. Or, I was the kind of person who shared food with Sophie at least.

I drove her to the college and parked in the visitor lot and followed her into the library. She got set up behind the desk and I found an empty table nearby and set up my laptop. If I could get ahead on my fanfic today, that would be fantastic. Then I could spend the rest of my time that I wasn’t at Sapph with Sophie.

Yesterday and last night had changed everything between us. I’d thought about her as my girl before now, but she truly was now. Sophie was my girlfriend and I wasn’t letting her go without a fight. I wasn’t naive enough to think that everything between us was solved by sex, but we’d shared something special last night. A foundation of trust had been laid.

I wanted her in my life, and I’d do anything possible to keep her there. If that meant going to therapy and doing the hard work to deal with my past, then so be it. I’d do it for her. If she told me that she thought I should cut back my hours at Sapph because it wasn’t making me happy, I’d listen.

She’d been right about that. Working at Sapph wasn’t the worst, but it wasn’t filling me up, and sometimes it dragged me down.

Now that I had Sophie in my life, I wanted more good things. I didn’t know what that might look like but exploring options couldn’t hurt. Not at all.

Every now and then I looked up at Sophie and she’d glance over and smile at me. I’d give her a wink that made her blush furiously. The urge to walk over and kiss the daylights out of her was strong, but I kept my hands and my lips to myself and let her work.

By the time she clocked out, I had gotten so much work done and I was ready to eat again.

“Have you had enough of people, or did you want to go out somewhere?” she asked as I dropped my stuff in the backseat.

“We can go somewhere. Stace raves about this diner she and Hunter are always going to. I guess they have great pie or something.” Cake was better, but I wasn’t going to argue with Hunter or Stace about it. Stace could absolutely and unequivocally kick my ass.

“Oh, that sounds good.”

Sophie hummed along with the radio as I drove us to the diner. It was kitschy, but fun with a ’50s feel to the decor.

We ordered and talked about books and college and random shit. It didn’t really matter. We just liked being with each other.

She fought me for the bill, but I ended up paying. I knew I had more disposable income right now, seeing as how she was only working part time, and she’d just spent all her money on moving and rent.

The two of us had just gotten back and were hanging out at Sophie’s while her laundry was in the washer when she got a message.

“Oh,” she said, a little exhale of sound.

“What is it?” I asked from my position on her couch.

“Kaylee read the message I sent her.”

A boulder dropped into my stomach at the mention of her name. I’d been doing my best to avoid spoiling everything by not thinking about her.

“Do you want to hear the response?” Sophie asked and I felt sick that I’d made her the middleman in this. I shouldn’t have done that. It was my responsibility to find a way to get closure with Kaylee without her involvement.

“What did she say?” I asked.

“Just thank you for the message and that’s she’s sorry for everything. Here, you can read it.” The message was short and to the point, like mine had been.

“I’m sorry,” I said, giving Sophie the phone again. “I shouldn’t have used you to get in touch with her. That wasn’t fair to you.”

She leaned her forearms along the back of the couch and gazed down at me.

“It’s okay. I don’t mind, seriously. I wish I could change it, but I can’t. All I can promise you is that I’m not Kaylee.” I knew she wasn’t. I’d known pretty much from the first few minutes I’d actually spent with her instead of being angry.

“I know you’re not. I know, Sophie. This is complicated, but I don’t care. I want to be with you.”

Her smile was bright as the sun. “Really? Even with everything?”

I nodded. “You’re worth it.”

She leaned down and kissed me. “You know you’re pretty much my favorite person. Don’t tell Larison or Juniper. I will deny it if they ask.”

She was absolutely my favorite person. I grabbed the back of her neck to make her stay close so I could keep kissing her.

“I’m so happy you moved here, Sophie.”

“No regrets?” she asked.

I shook my head slowly. “No regrets, baby.”

She liked it when I called her that. I’d have to do it more often.

“Me neither. No regrets.”

She kissed me again and then crawled over the back of the couch so she could lay on top of me.

“Wanna make out?” I asked her.

“Hell yeah,” she said. “I feel like I missed so many of those classic teenage relationship experiences. Making out. Fooling around in a car. Hooking up where you could get caught.”

Her eyes sparkled with interest.

“Are you just giving me a list of things you want to try? Because I’m absolutely up for that.” I ran my fingers through her hair, pushing it back from her face.

“Maybe,” she said. That meant yes.

“You got it.”