Page 64 of The Longest Wait

Ugh, just Alex in general.

Still not making a move to push through the crowd, Sofiapulled her phone out.

“Did you just say fuck Betty Crocker?” a deep voice askednext to her.

Crap, did she say that aloud?

She put her phone back in her purse and gazed back at the manin front of her. Right away, she adored his graphic tee because itsaid “Keep Calm and Reboot.” Another techy was near. She didn’tlike the first impression she gave him.

“I did, but because I never realized she was a fictional character,” Sofia admitted to what she was Googling on her phone. “Let’spretend I didn’t reference the bogus brownie baker because I loveyour shirt.”

This made the cute man in glasses give her an appreciativesmile. “My name is Ian and I’m still shocked by your admission ofhatred toward Betty Crocker. Her snacks got me through college.”

“Sofia,” she said when shaking his hand. “I love brownies andI only spoke ill of her in a moment of panic.”

“Ah. The good old pissed off and who else to blame exceptBetty moments.” Ian and his dry humor was the perfect distractionfrom her friends. Namely Alex and his carefree attitude about themno longer being together.

“Pretty much. Is your shirt also pulling a Betty Crocker?” sheasked and he gave a confused look. “Are you in IT?”

Now he laughed. “I see. Fake baker, fake shirt reference. I’m no Betty Crocker. I work in Cybersecurity Controls and Cloud Support.”

The thrill of finding someone who could drop tech words andnot need to define them lit her up. They talked shop while theymanaged their way through the crowd at the bar.

“I did consultation work for a while,” Ian commented on hercareer. “The inconsistency of assignments though drained me. Isold out and got a tech job at Comcast.”

“Are you to blame when my server is slow?”

He shook his head. “You know better than that. Who are youhere with?”

They got their drinks and conversation flowed between them.She pointed to the table with her friends across the room, notmaking eye contact with them. “My friends are there. You knowwhat—I should introduce you to Lucy. She has a company, Chatter Events, and always needs a tech issue fixed. You were talkingabout doing something more challenging outside of Comcast andshe would love any help.”

He was eager to meet Lucy, so she navigated them both backto the table. She was pumped for him to meet her friends, givingher the energy she lacked before.

IT WAS AS if Sofia lived to annoy him. He hated—detested—Sofianeeding space. Because of his royal fuck up ten years ago, he waspersona non grata to her now. Alex wasn’t an idiot, he realizedhow he felt for Sofia wasn’t only because of great sex. His draw toher wasn’t because she was his younger sister’s best friend, as clichéas it sounded. His easy communication and trust with her wasn’tbecause she meant nothing. No, it was quite the opposite.

This past week of not talking to Sofia opened his eyes.He was in love with her.

Night after night over this hellish week, Alex concluded hewasn’t only in love with her, but he had probably been in love withher ten years ago. Fuck, he even drove himself crazy that perhapshis feeling started when she was in college, but who knew.

He loved her and she was bringing a Sheldon Cooper lookalike to their table. She was glowing with another man by her side.

Sofia was glowing and Alex was miserable.

“Ian is a genius when it comes to cloud services and, Lucy, hecould be a huge help to you,” Sofia rambled on about the greatnessof the new guy next to her. “He can’t run events, but you couldhave another person to call outside of me for any of your techproblems. Especially when I’m in midst of work and can’t help.”

Lucy excitedly took his number and Sofia stood proudly.

“This would free up your time too.” Jack also seemed thrilledabout the newcomer. “Your one setback has been tech concerns,even if it isn’t for clients but troubleshooting your own application.”

Ian laughed. “It all started because of Betty Crocker.”

“Who’s a fraud, by the way.” Sofia nudged him. “What a secretthat was!”

Maybe it was the quick comradery she had with Ian, or themention of secret. Possibly his constant dissection of the quickdemise of his relationship with Sofia. Either way, Alex lost it.

“What’s the problem with Betty Crocker being a secret.” Alexwas the only one not laughing. “You like secrets.”

Tess, who apparently was also not a fan of the bickeringbetween Alex and Sofia, spoke up, “We were doing so well, can wego back to having a night where we all get along?”