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“You already know I’m going to be there. You’re trying to deflect. But I’m not gonna allow it.” He grins when I groan.
“Then I’m going to need another glass of wine,” I bemuse, and Liam makes it happen.
“I know you two are going through a rough patch. I know things have been rocky, but he loves you, Soph. A lot. The other night, I heard you arguing about Serena…”
“And? I’m not crazy, right?” My heart races as I think about it.
“You’re crazy, but not about that,” he teases. “I just want you to know that you have nothing to worry about. If you told Mason to jump, he’d ask you how high. If you wanted him to wait for you for a decade, he’d wait a decade plus a year. Hell, he’s been waiting for a woman like you for a long ass time, and he’s not going to give that up. Trust me. I’m his best friend. I know him better than he knows himself. When Mason Holt falls in love, he falls hard, and he’s not ever going to let that go. In case you haven’t noticed, in the past three years of knowing him, he’s never had another girl around. Never.”
Heat rushes to my cheeks, and a small smile plays on my lips. Liam’s right, which makes me feel bad for fighting with him and assuming he wasn’t going to be able to be patient with me. The alcohol seems to hit me all at once. I haven’t eaten anything since breakfast, which was probably a bad idea, but I finish my third glass of wine anyway. “I think I’ve had too much to drink.”
A hiccup escapes me, and I giggle. “I’m a lightweight, aren’t I?” I ask, shamelessly slurring my words.
“Oh man, drunk Sophie has come out to play, hasn’t she? Maybe we shouldn’t have ordered the eight ounce glasses?”
Laughter overtakes me. “Can we get a pizza on the way home?”
“I said I’d pay for your drinks. I never said anything about dinner.”
I poke my bottom lip out. “Please? Sophie needs food.”
“You’re lucky you’re one of the few chicks I can actually stand.” He rolls his eyes with a smirk.
“Thanks, I think?” I snicker.
After he closes our tab, Liam orders a pizza just the way I like it. My head is spinning, and I feel as if I’m on cloud nine as we drive home. Liam wouldn’t lie about Mason. He has no reason to, and if there’s anyone who knows him best, it’s Liam. I stare out the window, lost in my head when I start laughing.
“What’s so funny?” Liam asks as we pull into the driveway.
“I was just thinking about all those stupid stories you made up about those people at the bar,” I tell him, noticing Mason is home.
Before he climbs out and gets the pizza, I grab his arm. “Thank you.”
He laughs. “For what?”
“For being a good friend. Albeit a stubborn one, but a good one.”
Liam shrugs as if it’s no big deal. “Being stubborn is the easy part.”
I snort, knowing Maddie would wholeheartedly agree.
Chapter Thirteen
Mason
It’s nearly dark outside, and I’ve been staring at the computer screen for nearly twenty minutes. Instead of wasting more time, I decide to leave. Sophie agreed to watch a movie with me, and I’m not going to pass up the opportunity to spend time with her. I’ve been trying to shift us back to where we were in our friendship before the Serena argument and without all the awkwardness. It’s still a struggle, being up and down, but I won’t complain. After what she went through, I’m still so proud she’s come this far and continues her therapy to help her.
I try to give her space and let her do things in her own time, but I also refuse to let her go through it alone. Sophie is sometimes too proud to ask for help, to ask for anything. She’s always so concerned with everyone else, she often forgets about herself, but that hasn’t changed since the first day I met her. Nothing can change her kind soul, not Weston and not his brother either.
On the way home, I pick up a pizza, just the way Sophie likes it. There’s little to no traffic tonight, and it takes me no time to arrive, but then I notice that Liam isn’t home. While I love his company, I’m happy to spend some alone time with Sophie since he rudely interrupted our breakfast this morning.
When I walk in, I see that all the lights are off. I call out Sophie’s name but don’t get a response. Setting the pizza down on the coffee table, I go to her room and knock. When I don’t get an answer, I crack open the door, but she’s not inside. Her violin case is on her bed, and her music stand has sheets on it. Knowing she played today makes me smile because I know how much joy it actually brings her when she’s not pressuring herself. Though I talked to her earlier and know she didn’t have the best day, she still came home and practiced. That’s the type of determination that can’t be taught. Some people have it, and some people don’t. It’s proof Sophie is a fighter.
