“It had to happen eventually. Couldn’t stay a snot-nosed asshat forever.”
She loops her arm through mine, reaching up to kiss me on the cheek. “Don’t talk crazy! You were always the coolest asshat I knew.”
I want to ask her how she sees me now, but I hold my tongue. For at least one night, I can pretend that she doesn’t affect me so dramatically.
“Shall we head in?” I ask, opening the door.
I can’t resist placing my hand on her back to lead her through the restaurant to our table. Though she has a long jacket on, I can still remember how her skin felt when we danced at the wedding so long ago. Making sure she is comfortably seated, I sink into the chair next to her.
“So what do you recommend?” Sophia asks me as she studies the menu.
“To be perfectly honest, I’ve only eaten here once, when Grayson was in town.”
Grayson pays for everything, including my apartment, so I try not to spend more than necessary. She smiles in understanding, Grayson did the same for her. Having never had a family in the past, he is fierce about providing for the family he has now. Even through the vast amount of crap we gave each other, I couldn’t have hoped for a better brother.
“Well, what did you eat when you were here last?”
I scan the menu, trying to recall.
“I remember the Caesar salad with prime rib wasn’t too shabby.”
She looks at me in mock amazement.
“What? The ‘that shit’s for rabbits’ guy actually eats salad now.” She laughs when my face slowly starts to turn red.
“How did you ever survive my teen years?” I ask, shaking my head.
She reaches over, squeezing my hand. Her hand is small and soft, her touch searing into me. I look down at where they connect as my heart begins to pound in my chest again. Just a casual touch sends me into a spiral. I hear her clear her throat as she squeezes my hand. When I look up, her eyes are trained on me.
“Lots of Valium,” she answers with a grin.
Our server chooses that minute to take our order, forcing Sophia to turn my hand loose. “So, what are you planning on doing after graduation? Do you plan on staying in London?” she asks when our server leaves to turn in our order. I look over, finding her eyes, the color of chocolate laced with gold, watching me with interest.
“That’s a good question. I’ve had some offers here, but Grayson also sent me an offer to work with him and Matthew at their firm. I’ve debated just buying a Magic 8-Ball to see what it says.”
“That’s always a good way to make all major life decisions, a Magic 8-Ball,” she says as we both laugh.
The funny thing about Sophia is, when she is around, we laugh together all of the time.
“So tell me, smart-ass, what do you think would be the best choice?” I ask her with a smirk.
“There’s the mouth I remember,” she teases me back. “I was wondering what happened to that mouth. Last time I checked, Izzy had a swear jar that was overflowing from you and Grayson.”
“I think that jar ultimately funded college. I never had my allowance longer than two days,” I say, rolling my eyes.
“So what changed?”
“Well, when your brother kicks your ass because his two-year-old daughter starts walking around the house yelling ‘fuck you,’ you clean up your mouth.”
Sophia throws her head back this time laughing until tears form in her eyes.
“Tell me that didn’t happen!”
“Oh, it happened. I thought Grayson was going to kill me. She even used it in the proper context. They couldn’t take her anywhere for two weeks until they got her to stop yelling it. Every time she blurted it out, Grayson came after me again. I had to go stay with your parents until he calmed down.”
“Well, if it’s any consolation, I liked that mouth on occasion. It was like hanging out with a bad boy.”
She thought I was a bad boy? I was actually just some scared kid full of fake bravado.
