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“Soph?” Amusement laced his voice. “Would you like to go out with me sometime?” He smiled.
“Uh… I…” Her first instinct was to say no, because it almost felt like a betrayal to Abe, but the logical side of her said the opposite. Why should she wait for a man who didn’t even see her as more than a friend?
Why pine for someone who brought a different woman home nearly every night of the week? He hadn’t in the last two weeks, but still, that was a moot point. And why in the hell would she let herself love someone who didn’t even remember taking her virginity? She loved Abe, always would, but she needed to realize her dream world would never be a reality.
Abe would never love her like she loved him, and the sooner she moved on, the sooner she could actually start her life.
So, pushing her bleeding heart aside, she blurted out, “Yeah, that sounds great.”
He looked momentarily surprised, like he expected her to decline, but recovered and his grin widened.
“Great. Well, how ’bout I give you a call later to set something up?”
She nodded and returned his smile. She could see herself falling for Hunter. He was smart, handsome, and kind. He didn’t drink excessively, sleep with random women, or pick fights with total strangers.
When she finally left his office, she was in a sort of daze. She sought out Abe, saw he was no longer sitting where he had been, and also took note a blonde was missing. She didn’t let that bother her, not anymore. Tonight was the start of her new life, a life where she didn’t wish there could be more with Abe Rochester.12Abe heard his phone ringing, but he was so fucking tired. The sheets were tangled around him, and he reached out, his hand slapping against his bedside table, trying blindly to grab at the annoyance. The phone stopped ringing, and he relaxed again only to be woken up by the damn thing going off once more.
Peeling his eyes open, he reached for it. His head hurt but it had nothing to do with alcohol. He had spent half the night staring at old reruns on television, because every time he fell asleep, the nightmares consumed him. When he did finally fall asleep, the sun had just started rising over the horizon. A glance at the clock showed it was going on eight in the morning.
Rolling over, he grabbed his phone, saw it was Kid, and slid his finger across the screen to answer it. “Hey.” His voice sounded like he swallowed a bucketful of sand. Despite feeling like absolute shit, just hearing her sweet and soft drawl had all that washing away.
He scrubbed his hand over his mouth and sat up. Clothes were strewn across his floor, and he reached down and grabbed a pair of boxer briefs from the pile. After pulling them on, he headed into the bathroom.
“I didn’t wake you, did I?”
He chuckled and stood. “You know you did, but it’s all good, Kid.” He smiled and knew she heard it by the sound of her smile in her own.
“Yeah, well, you always were a night owl.” There was a long pause, and he wondered what she was thinking.
“So you’ll be here in about an hour?”
She exhaled loudly, and he gripped the edge of the counter. A sick kind of feeling welled up inside him at the sound.
“Kid? What’s up?”
“Well, I’m not going to be able to come by today… or tomorrow.” There was another, longer pause.
“Okay.” That really wasn’t horrible. He knew her life didn’t revolve around him, but the way she sounded when she said it told him there was more. “You workin’ or something?”
“No.”
Okay. “Well, what about later today? I don’t work. We can grab lunch or something.” At her silence, he went on. “I’d like to see you, Kid. I’d like to talk to you about some things.” Obviously, this hadn’t been his plan, but he knew if he didn’t get his ass in gear, he was going to lose her.
“I can’t, Abe.”
Her short answers didn’t make him feel the least bit better. “What the hell is going on, Sophia? You’re being very vague with your answers, and if I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were trying to avoid me.” This was totally out of character for her. In fact, she had been acting pretty fucking weird the past couple weeks. She exhaled roughly, and he gritted his teeth.
“Listen, don’t think I’m blowing you off, ’cause I’m not, but I have…” Her lengthy pause had his heart thundering in his chest. He lifted his hand and started rubbing the center of his chest, as if the motion would ease the ache. “I have a date, and I’m meeting him in a little while.” She said it on a breath, and he couldn’t form any solid words for several seconds.
