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“Can I get a name for the cups?” the barista asked.
“Sophie for the Americano,” she said. “And the Pike is for Maxxie.”
And then she whipped around and took a picture of my face.
“What are you doing?”
She looked down at her phone, and her face split into a huge grin.
“Look,” she said, throwing her head back and laughing while holding her phone out to me.
I glanced down at her phone and saw the photo she had just taken of me, looking like a grade A asshole.
So I took her phone, stuck it in my pocket, and moved down to the pickup spot.
“Excuse me, sir,” Sophie said, still giggling, following me and bumping her body into mine on purpose. “I think you might’ve accidentally grabbed—”
Her voice trailed off and the smirk disappeared as she looked at something behind me. In a split second, a storm crossed her face and the sun was gone.
She looked like she’d seen a ghost.
I turned around, and for a minute, I had no idea what she was looking at.
But then I saw him.
It was that fucker ex of hers, Stuart, walking in our direction with a cute redhead. He looked smug as he headed for Sophie, whereas she looked completely frozen.
Which was surprising because she saw the guy at work every day, didn’t she?
I had no idea what their dynamic was, but I didn’t like the expression on her face.
“Stuart.” I shifted my weight to one foot and looked down at the guy, who had to be a good six inches shorter than me. He was wearing “running” gear, the whole shiny Nike ensemble right down to the marathon fanny pack with two bottles of water, and I hated him on sight.
His friend was also wearing a running outfit, but I didn’t know enough about her to care.
Stuart glanced at me, obviously wondering how I knew his name, and then he did an actual double take.
“That’s right—I’m the guy you took a cheap shot at during your wedding.”
Stuart swallowed and glanced at Sophie.
“I’ve kind of been hoping I’d run into you,” I said, even though I hadn’t.
“Let’s go,” Sophie said, wrapping her hands around my arm.
“But, honey,” I said, wanting to fucking pound him for making her cry and destroying her life. “Stuart just got here.”
She looked at me like I’d lost my mind. “Come on.”
I glared at Stu as she pulled me toward the door, and as someone who’d now punched a total of one person in my life, it was absurd that I wanted to beat the shit out of him with every fiber of my being.
twenty-four
Sophie
“Good morning, Sophie,”I heard from the office to my left.
“Good morning, Ben,” I replied on autopilot, not even looking in that direction as I excitedly headed for my desk. I’d noticed while waiting for my coffee that Edie had “liked” the picture I’d posted on Instagram of Max and me before the wedding, so I was feeling good about the day’s promise.
