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Shaking my head, I pivoted on my heel and headed for the backyard and my session with Kevin. As I walked away, I tossed her a quick, “Don’t forget our coffee date later.”
Some mindless, repetitive exercises were just the thing to clear this weird fog in my head and get over that ugly scene with Nix.
Only now Nix’s words were rolling around in my mind.
This is purely transactional.
I felt like an asshole, because he was right. I had been treating Sophia that way. And I really didn’t like the realization.
Chapter Twelve
Sophia
I watched in bewilderment as Rome left for his workout. That whole scene with his brother had been confusing. And sad. But then, I knew all about screwed up family dynamics. I was pretty sure my mom wouldn’t willingly talk to me for a long, long time.
I shook the weird mood off and turned to the kitchen to grab something to eat before Jeff showed up. Scrounging around, I found a ton of avocados, but Rome didn’t have anything even somewhat like bread to use for avocado toast. His diet must be hardcore. Ugh. Instead, I grabbed a hard-boiled egg, some fruit, and called it good. Apparently, I’d also be on a healthy diet as long as I stayed here.
Waiting for Jeff, the silence in the house was deafening. I was jittery. Rome’s internet wasn’t working for me. I wanted to take my mind off that ugly scene with Nix. All these reasons were really excuses for why I did what I did next.
I pulled my phone out and opened a social media app.
Major mistake.
My notifications were in the thousands.
Thousands.
The number mocked me as I scrolled through my feed, pretending that I had the willpower to ignore that massive red number. My mentions were huge. My DMs were insane. But I was content to look at pictures of my high school friend’s new puppy. I didn’t care to know what people were saying about me. I wasn’t at all curious to see who had slid into my DMs.
Ha.
I lasted all of a minute. Maybe.
Then I clicked on the DM icon.
There were names I didn’t recognize. Roman Grier fans maybe? I scrolled past them and clicked on the first name I did recognize. Alyssa Anderson from college.
Alyssa: OMG. Please tell me that the news is true. Are you seriously dating Roman Grier?!?!?!?!
Then a day later…
Alyssa: Lucky bitch. I fully expect all the details when things calm down.
Alyssa: P.S. Are the rumors true? How much is he really packing?
I laughed at her last message. I could all but hear it in her voice. Dang, I missed Alyssa. I wanted to reply, but what would I say? Yes? Yes, but? And I was worried that anything I said to her would be broadcast everywhere. Alyssa wasn’t exactly known for her tact or secret keeping. Plus, there was that whole NDA I’d signed.
I kept scrolling. A few reporters, judging by their handles. On a whim, I opened one.
ReporterCarla: Hi, Sophia. I’m with KALI News and would love to talk. I’m available whenever you are.
Heh. Nope.
Aside from a few names from high school and college—that I could already guess what they said—I didn’t recognize anyone else. Oh wait. Sabrina, one of my writing critique buddies had messaged me back when the pics of me and Rome first went up days ago. Without a thought, I clicked on the message, and immediately wished I hadn’t.
SabrinaHartley: Can’t believe you’re getting ahead by laying on your back. Disgusting.
That…that burned. I clicked out of her message and hit the block button. I wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of replying. Still, I couldn’t deny that it didn’t hurt. Sabrina and I had been online writing friends for years. Met on a writing forum and had traded pages and dreams for so long. And for her to thinkthatabout me? Had we ever really been friends?
