Page 85 of Then There Was You

“Sure. What’s wrong with her?”

“It’s the pregnancy sickness. She can go weeks and feel fine and then suddenly, out of the blue, it hits her. She’ll probably sleep the whole time you’re here.”

“I’m leaving now. I’ll be there in five.”

“Thanks, Seb.”

A little over five minutes later, I pull up outside Cade and Sophie’s place. Cade is on the porch, and he jogs down the steps when he sees me.

“I’ve really got to go,” he shouts from the driveway. “I won’t be long. Make yourself at home.”

I raise my hand in a wave and wait on the road while he reverses off the drive. Parking my bike where his car was, I climb off and head inside. The house is silent, and I guess Sophie’s still asleep. Heading into the kitchen, I open the refrigerator and grab a can of soda before making my way into the living room and flopping down on their oversized sofa. I turn the television on with the remote and search for the sports channels. Finding a baseball game that’s just started, I make myself comfortable, putting my feet up on the coffee table in front of me.

About twenty minutes into the game, there’s movement on the stairs.

“Cade?” Sophie says, her voice thick with sleep.

“It’s me, Seb. Cade had to go on a house call. He asked me to come over in case you got sick.”

I stand from the sofa and go to the bottom of the stairs. She’s only wearing one of Cade’s t-shirts and some panties, the material stretched over her swollen stomach.

“He didn’t need to get you to come over and babysit me. I’m sure you have better things to be doing.” She stops on the stairs and pulls on the material of her t-shirt. “I should get changed.”

I climb a couple of the steps and take her hand, guiding her down the stairs and into the living room. “Don’t on my account, and I had no plans today. I don’t mind. How are you feeling?”

She smiles. “I’m feeling a lot better after a nap. Cade worries about me. I would have been fine on my own while he went out, but thank you for coming.” She sits on the sofa, curling her legs underneath her and covering herself with a throw that was over the arm.

“I think I was third choice,” I say with a chuckle, sitting down next to her. “Paisley and Ash didn’t answer his call.”

“Well, I’m glad it’s you that’s here. I don’t feel like we spend any time together anymore.” She leans over and bumps my shoulder with hers. “No plans with Taylor today, then?” She raises her eyebrows in question, and I sigh.

I should be surprised she’s asking me about Taylor, but it seems my entire family knows something was going on between us, despite us trying to be discreet. “No. I’m not even sure we’re friends right now.”

She frowns. “Why? What happened? You looked pretty friendly outside the upstairs bathroom on Christmas Day.”

My eyes widen. “You saw us kissing?” She nods. “I didn’t think anyone was upstairs.”

“I’d gone up to try and take a nap. I couldn’t fall asleep, though. I was just coming out of Cade’s old room when I saw you. I went back inside until you went downstairs. I didn’t want to embarrass you. It was clear if you were sneaking around upstairs, you didn’t want anyone to know.”

“We weren’t sneaking around…” I trail off, knowing that’s exactly what we were doing.

“Was that the start of something between you two?” she asks.

“More like the end, I think.”

“What happened?”

I sigh. “We’d been messing around since just after she arrived in Hope Creek. Neither of us was looking for anything serious, at least not in the beginning.”

“But it developed into more?”

“I guess it did for both of us, even if I couldn’t admit it to myself. She told me a couple of weeks ago that she was falling in love with me.”

“And you don’t feel the same?”

“Yes. No. I don’t know.” I drop my head into my hands and groan. It should be weird to have this conversation with Sophie knowing how I felt about her a few months ago. I can’t tell her the reasons I don’t want to get into a relationship, or that starting something with Taylor scares the hell out of me, but regardless of all that, I need to talk to someone about it before I lose my mind. “It doesn’t matter. I don’t want to be in love. I don’t want to get hurt aga—”

I stop mid-sentence, realizing I’m about to say too much. She heard me, though, and I groan internally as her eyes widen.

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