“Nope,” she said with a shrug. “But Sloane and Kennedy seemed pretty sure. They had some elaborate memory of seeing each other when your family visited Oahu back then. Rumor has it, you had quite the crush on me.”
I laughed. “Well, that part sounds accurate. If we met before, I would have been absolutely captivated by you, even at the age of four.” I tipped my head toward the TV. “My dad suggested a Christmas movie.”
“Awesome,” Sophia said, pocketing her phone and walking back toward the dining room to get her hard seltzer. “Do you want another beer?” she asked.
“Yeah, thanks.” I sat down on the couch and grabbed the remote while everyone settled in around us. My parents returned to the room and a spot next to me on the couch was left wide open, even as Jace and Dad settled on the floor.
Sophia came into the living room and handed me the beer, sitting down next to me without even seeming to think twice about it. I took the beer from her, swigged it, and set it on the table next to me as I started a new holiday movie on Netflix that no one had seen yet. The movie opened with a montage of snow and holiday lights on houses in the suburbs,Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmasplaying through the speakers, and Sophia leaned her head on my shoulder.
I tensed as my heart flipped.
“Shit,” she whispered. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to blow our cover.”
I smirked at her. “I think that ship has sailed, Hawaii.” I tossed my arm around her shoulders, and she curled against me, just like she did in my dorm when we watched TV together. “My mom already cornered me into a confession.”
Sophia peered up at me with pink cheeks. “You mean she knows we fuck like bunnies?”
I chuckled and kissed the top of her head. “Not exactly, but she knows we’re certainly not just friends.”
“So, I can stay here under your arm?” she asked, smiling.
“You might as well. I don’t think we fooled the rest of them either.”
She chuckled and rubbed her head against my chest like a cat burrowing in for the best spot before whispering, “I’m not really surprised. We suck at keeping our hands off each other.”
I lay awake inbed wondering what I was going to say to Sophia. I couldn’t very well start with “I’m pretty sure I’ve been in love with you from the beginning,” could I? It might be the most honest thing that could come out of my mouth, but she didn’t deserve an ambush either. The only thing saving me from completely panicking was that she obviously had things to say too, and they couldn’t be too far from how I felt given the way we’d curled up together on the couch in front of my family for two full movies before everyone had started to scatter for bed.
I’d been in the kitchen putting a few things away while everyone else sat in the dining room, when Jace came in, beer in hand, and just stared at me. I’d closed the fridge and turned to face him. “What do you want me to say?” I’d asked.
“I want you to tell me you’re going to smarten up and tell that woman how you feel. Your crush is in love with you too,” he’d said, tipping back his beer.
“Thanks for the pep talk,” I’d said, rolling my eyes and starting to push past him.
He’d grabbed my elbow and spoke close to my ear. “I’m serious, Leo. I may not have found it for myself, but I know what love looks like.” His eyes shifted to our parents. “Tell Sophia how you feel.”
I’d nodded and planned to linger around with Sophia after everyone dispersed, but instead she’d said goodnight and gone to the guest room. Which meant she was just on the other side of this wall. My head and her head were mere feet apart but the wall between us made it feel like a million miles. I thought she wanted to talk to me but maybe I’d been wrong. Maybe she didn’t want to have this conversation in my parents’ home—or at all.
There was a soft sound at my door.Was that a knock?I lifted my head and stared at the bedroom door as it slowly and gently opened.
“Leo?” Sophia whispered as her face appeared in the expanding opening. “Are you still awake?”
“Yes,” I whispered, pushing myself up to sit against the headboard. “Come in.”
She slipped in the door and closed it gently behind her, standing there in the jersey she’d had made for my game last night. The one with my name, and my number, that I’d asked her not to wear again because the way my heart filled with hope when I saw her in it, last night and again right now, was unsustainable.
Is she wearing it to get me to fuck her savagely again or because it means something this time?
“Are you going to get in trouble if your parents catch me in here?” she asked, her hands still pressed to the back of the door.
“Soph, we’re adults, I don’t think we need to advertise our situation to them, but we don’t have to pretend to be celibate either,” I said, noticing her bare legs.
She smiled and tiptoed close. “Can I please lie down with you?”
My heart nearly stopped, needing her to explain herself, but instead, I took a deep breath, moved over, and patted the bed next to me. “Climb on in.”
She lifted the covers and her icy toes brushed my shins as she got comfortable. I jumped. “Christ, Hawaii. Why are your feet so cold?”
She giggled. “Sorry, they’re always cold at night. You probably just don’t notice because we’ve usually just had sex if we’re in bed together. Do you have any idea how cold winters are here compared to where I grew up?”
