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Chapter Eighteen
Exhausted, Sophie plopped down in the booth at Earl’s Diner across from her best friend, hair a mess, sunglasses still in place. She’d thrown on the first thing she’d stumbled upon and wore a pair of jean shorts and a pink T-shirt. She’d seen the mirror; she looked like she’d been on a bender.
And she had been. After two hours of sleep she’d jolted awake and jostled Ryder, whose arm had been draped over her stomach, trapping her, to yell, “I’m supposed to meet Maddie for breakfast in fifteen minutes.”
He’d groaned and gripped her tighter. “You are not a peaceful woman to wake up to.”
She’d squirmed under him. “You have to let me up. It’s too late to cancel.”
He yawned. “Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
Without even opening his eyes, he’d kissed her, rolled over, and said in a sleep-rough voice, “Have fun, darlin’.”
She’d scrambled out of bed, run across the yard in a towel she’d found in his bathroom, gotten dressed, and here she was.
Maddie raised a brow. “What happened to you?”
The real question was, what hadn’t happened to her. Every single muscle in her body ached. She was sore everywhere, and she did mean everywhere.
A waitress came over, and she begged for coffee before turning back to Maddie. “I slept with Ryder last night.”
Maddie put her hands on the table. “Oh. My. God.”
Words she’d yelled about a thousand times last night. “Exactly.”
“How was it?”
Sophie raised her glasses to the top of her head and rolled her eyes. “Have you seen that man? How do you think it was?”
“That good, huh?” Maddie grinned ear to ear.
She shook her head and sighed. “It was the most phenomenal sex on the planet. I literally have no idea how many orgasms I had. And he’s so dirty, Maddie. He’s the best.”
She was addicted to him. Infatuated. Smitten, and all those other words, but it was more than that. They just fit—not just their bodies, but everything.
He terrified her. Excited her. Thrilled her. Made her nervous and happy. The complete gamut of emotions.
Maddie laughed. “So you had a good time?”
“Yes. So good.”
“So now what?”
Sophie sighed. She missed their twenties, when nobody asked about intentions and you could sleep with someone without it having to mean anything or go anywhere. In your thirties, everyone seemed to be pointing to an imaginary clock and saying tick tock.
She shrugged. “I guess we’re seeing each other until I go back home.”
Maddie’s brow wrinkled. “And you’re okay with that?”
The waitress returned with coffee and Sophie said, “Oh, thank God.” Then she tasted it and wanted to pray for death again. She remembered her first day of work, when Ryder had brought her Starbucks because he’d known it would make her happy.
She looked out the window onto the streets of Revival’s downtown. Completely different from the view she was used to.
Saturday mornings in Revival were still busy, but without the congestion of Chicago. Families ambled down the streets pushing strollers, people walked their dogs or stopped and talked to each other. She recognized some of the faces now. Like Mary Beth Crowley, who was outside the auto garage she owned with her husband, and an endearing pain in Sophie’s ass. She spotted Cindy, a librarian at the local branch who was part of the planning committee for the town project. And other people too.
“Soph?”
