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I have trust issues. Many women have tried making a buck on my name after spending a night with me. I should be wary of revealing too much to Sofia, but somehow, I’m not. I am ready to trust someone, and if I am burned in the process, well, I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it. This is a risk I need to take. She seems like she’s worth taking that kind of risk.
“I’ll tell you, but first, can I ask why you want to know about that song specifically?”
Sofia considers that for a moment. “I guess it stood out. All the other songs on that album are powerful and either angry or about having fun and fucking around. They all fit together, except for ‘Late Night Legs.’”
“You would make a good music critic,” I say, and she rolls her eyes.
“Then there’s that one line . . .”
“Which one?” I ask.
“I think it’s something like, 'Late night legs, wrapped not around me.’ Your voice changes when you sing it. It’s a bit . . . broken. Like maybe you’re sad? I’m thinking someone hurt you, and that’s what the song is about?”
I smile at her but can’t hide the hurt inside.
“I’m sorry,” she says. “You really don’t have to tell me if it’s too personal.”
“It’s about my ex, Emma.”
“Oh.”
I nod. “I came back early from a tour date to surprise her and found her in our bed with someone I thought was my best friend.”
“Oh, Bren,” she says. “I’m so sorry.”
“Me too.” I take a sip of my beer.
“Did you love her?”
I consider that for a moment and decide to be honest with Sofia. “I thought I did. I thought she was the one. But looking back, she clearly wasn’t.”
“I’m sorry it ended like that. Must suck to also lose your best friend in one fell swoop.”
She doesn’t cease to amaze me. Not only did she pick up on a subtle shift in my voice in that song, but Sofia looks at my situation and doesn’t focus simply on the relationship. She understands I lost two people that night, not just Emma.
When I’d come to beg Sofia for her time, the last thing on my mind had been Emma. I’ve never wanted to speak of it to anyone. Fritz and Roger don’t even know the whole story, though I’m sure they suspected when my best friend was no longer a constant presence around us. They never asked.
“Hey, thanks for telling me,” she says.
“I’m trusting you here to keep my secrets. I have trust issues, so treat them gently,” I warn her.
“You’re not alone,” she says. “For different reasons, but I have trust issues too. Especially with men. I think that’s what sometimes draws me to women—”
“So, are you bi?” My eyes widen at how stupid that just sounded.
Sofia only laughs. “I don’t really like labels. I mostly enjoy men, but every now and then, for the right woman, I don’t know.” She shrugs. “I guess I feel...safe. Less on guard than I do when I’m with a man.”
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked that.”
“It’s okay, Bren. I’m not offended.”
I relax a little. “So, tell me, where do these trust issues with men stem from?”
“That, my friend, will take you and an army of psychologists to figure out. Though I suspect my father’s abandonment or witnessing the heartache of literally every one of my friends at the hands of men has something to do with it.”
“I have an uphill battle here, don’t I?”
“You sure do,” she admits.
