I think we both knew our mouths had done enough talking.
It was time we finished what we’d started.
Chapter Twenty-Six
S O P H I A
The sun streamed into the bedroom through a gap in the curtains, leaving a bright streak of light across Drew’s chest. I rubbed my fingers over it lightly, feeling the rhythmic way his chest rose and fell as he slept.
We’d spent the entire weekend in bed, and it had been glorious. Sharing space with Drew—not just living together but actually occupying the same physical space—for a prolonged period was novel, and I wasn’t looking forward to bursting the little bubble we’d created.
There’d been a few texts from my sorority sisters digging for information about my bidding on “Brody,” but I’d ignored them. My parents had called too, but I’d sent them directly to voicemail. Nothing could lift a sexual haze like my parents, and since I was perfectly content in my fog, I had no choice but to refuse their calls.
“Why are you tracing me?” Drew’s voice was sleep-rough, and the low gravel tone of it rumbled through me.
“I’m trying to braid your chest hair.”
His eyes popped open, and he actually looked down at where my fingers were caressing him.
“Really?” I said. “You don’t even have enough hair to braid.”
“Sorry I’m not up on the hair-length standards for braiding. What time is it?”
“Time for you to go get us breakfast.”
“Me? You’re the one who’s been up for hours petting me like a creeper.”
I withdrew my hand from him and propped it on my hip, which probably looked ridiculous since I was lying on my side. “Be sure to remember how creepy it was when you’re begging me to pet you later.”
“Mmm, I’ll beg now if you want,” he replied as he made his eyebrows dance.
Flopping backward, I sighed dramatically. “I would, but I’m afraid I haven’t been adequately fed in order to keep my energy up.”
He rolled on top of me, his weight pressing down on me in the best way.
Maybe I’m not hungry after all.
I shimmied a little, and a sexy smirk appeared on his face. “What time is your first class?”
“Ten,” I replied, a little breathless as I allowed myself to get lost in the feel of him. “Please.” My voice was a low whine, but I didn’t have it in me to care about how needy I sounded.
But Drew didn’t make me wait long. He was the consummate lover, knowing when to tease and when to make me see stars. Even after we fell over the edge together, it took a while to come back to myself. But when I did, I couldn’t help but be a bit of a brat.
“I believe I was promised breakfast,” I reminded him.
His eyes slid slowly open. “You’re going to hold me to that?”
“I’m just trying to help you out. I wouldn’t want you to fail a challenge you set for yourself.”
“How helpful of you,” he muttered dryly.
“What can I say? I’m a giver.”
He burst out laughing. “You certainly are.”
I smacked him as I joined in his laughter. “Perv.”
When he settled down, he took a breath. “Bagels okay? I think we still have a couple.”
Sighing, I replied, “I suppose.” I didn’t anticipate the tickling, though I should’ve. His fingers dug into my ribs, and he didn’t quit until I was a squealing mess.
“All right, I’ll make food while you get ready,” he said when he finally crawled out of bed.
“Sounds like a plan.”
I rushed through a shower and getting ready. When I made it out to the kitchen, a bagel was toasted and smothered in cream cheese waiting for me. He’d even made coffee.
“How did I ever survive without you?” I asked before taking a large bite.
“Beats me.”
There was a prolonged silence after that, as if we both knew there were things that needed to be discussed, but neither of us wanted to be the one who initiated the conversation. Or maybe that was all me and I was projecting. Either way, I was suddenly glad I had to hurry to get to class on time.
It wasn’t that I didn’t want to talk more about the future, but I was also afraid I might find out we weren’t on the same page. We had a lot working against us, and part of me couldn’t blame him if he decided the hassle wasn’t worth it. The other parts were all figuring out where I could dump his body if he didn’t agree to be my boyfriend immediately.
But rather than voice any of that, I said, “I better go.” After gathering my things, I walked over to where he was leaning on the counter and pressed into him. “See you later?”
“Absolutely. I work tonight, but I’ll be home from class by four thirty. We can at least have dinner together.”
“Good.” I lifted up on my toes so I could press a kiss to his lips—a kiss he willingly met, and I almost bagged school so I could drag him back to bed. But instead, I broke the kiss and mentally lauded myself for my restraint.
We said our goodbyes, and I burst out into the chilly morning, ready to confront the day. Until I ran into Sam and Macy when I entered the liberal arts building.
“Oh my God, Sophia, where have you been?” Macy asked as she dragged me into a hug.
“At home,” I replied haltingly, unsure why they seemed like they’d been ready to search local morgues for me.
“Everyone’s been trying to reach you,” Sam said.
I thought everyone was a bit of a stretch, but I couldn’t deny that I’d been dodging quite a few of them all weekend. It probably hadn’t been my wisest move if I wanted to beat Aamee, but I hadn’t exactly been thinking about the presidency over the previous couple of days.
“Sorry,” I said lamely. “I needed a couple days to…decompress.” That’s one way to say it. “The auction took a lot out of me.”
“I bet,” Sam said.
It wasn’t snide. If I had to guess, I’d say she was concerned, which I couldn’t deny made me feel warm and fuzzy inside.
But she continued, voice hushed and eyes darting around furtively. “What was the deal with you buying Brody?”
I should have prepared an answer to this question.
I probably looked like a deer in headlights as I stammered out an explanation. “I, um, well, I kind of…” I took a breath and told myself to chill the fuck out. And in doing so, I had a moment of clarity. “I had a suspicion that Aamee had put someone up to bidding on Brody as a way of messing with me.” I forced out a laugh. “Which I guess worked since I blew a shit ton of money on him. But since he was only in the auction as a favor to me, I didn’t want to chance him ending up in a bad situation. So I just bid on him myself.”
They shared a quick look with one another, as if trying to telepathically figure out whether they believed me or not. After another couple seconds, their postures relaxed, and they seemed more at ease.
“We figured it was something like that,” Sam said.
I managed to quash the urge to call her a liar, knowing she’d probably at least half believed whatever sordid rumors were flying around the sorority house. Not that I could blame her. I was sure what I’d actually been up to was much more X-rated than anything they’d managed to come up with. Minus the fact that they thought I’d been with my brother. That definitely elevated the MPAA rating.
“Your auction was great,” Macy said. “I’m glad it went so well for you.”
I smiled at them. Her words sounded genuine, so I let myself believe they were.
Other than Macy narcing on me to her mother, I’d never had issues with either of these women. I’d pulled away a bit recently in light of everything going on, but I’d need to do better by them going forward, whether I won the presidency or not.
If I couldn’t give them a better leader, I could at least be a better friend.
“I need to get to class,” I said softly. “But I’ll stop being such a stranger. I’m sorry I didn’t answer your calls.”
&nbs
p; “No worries,” Sam assured me. “We get it. It all gets a little…much sometimes, having so many girls in your business.”
It sure did.
I don’t remember a thing about my classes. All I could think about was what had happened since the beginning of the school year. Some of my thoughts were about the situation with my sorority. Most of them were of Drew.
By the time I headed home, I was mentally exhausted from thinking about my relationship with Drew.
Were we in a relationship?
I knew I wanted to be in a relationship, but I didn’t know where he stood. I had a feeling he was in this as deeply as I was, but it was easy to second-guess. When I finally got back to the apartment, I was done with wondering.
We’d have a nice dinner, and then we’d talk about where we stood. It’d be good to clear the air and get everything out in the open. With this new resolve, I nestled into the couch to do some homework until he got home.
It wasn’t long before I heard the door unlock and creak open. And before I knew it, I was off the couch and launching myself at him.
We could talk later.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
D R E W
I woke up to Sophia snuggled against me, my face buried in her dark hair. It was a familiar and welcome way to start the morning. Definitely beat tossing around on Brody’s couch while I hit snooze for the third time. Enjoying the moment, I breathed in deeply, and it wasn’t long before Sophia stirred.
She wiggled against me and said, “Are you huffing me again?”
“Something like that,” I whispered against her neck. “I would’ve said ‘inhaling’ though. ‘Huffing’ sounds so…dangerous.”
“I’m dangerous.”
She flipped over so we were facing each other, and I had to agree. She was dangerous. “Dangerously sexy maybe.”
That made her smile. “Why is being sexy dangerous?”
Adjusting my arm so I could prop my head up on my hand, I stroked her hair before moving my hand down her back and up again. “I guess all of it’s dangerous.”
Her eyebrows pushed together, and she seemed more alert at my comment. Like the implications of it brought about a feeling inside her that I couldn’t quite identify. But it also brought up a whole slew of questions I was pretty sure neither of us was prepared to answer.
“I mean…” What did I mean? “I mean I like what we’re doing. I like you, Sophia.”
“I like you too.” She smiled, but there was a caution to it. “You’re making me nervous, though. I feel like you’re breaking up with me or something.”
I didn’t realize how much a comment like that could mean until she’d said it, and judging by her expression, she hadn’t thought it through fully.
“You think of me as your boyfriend?” I couldn’t disguise the stupid grin that slid over my face because, as much as this was all so new, it also felt like it was long overdue.
Shrugging as much as she could while still lying down, she covered her face with her hands. But I could still see her cheeks flushing between her fingers.
“I don’t know. Maybe? Is that weird?”
I pulled her hands down one at a time until she couldn’t help but make eye contact with me. Then I leaned over to kiss her. Innocent and simple, it lacked the passion our other kisses had, but somehow that made it more intimate.
“It’s not weird at all. I’ll be your boyfriend if you’ll be my girlfriend.”
“I feel like we’re in middle school,” she said on a laugh. “This feels weird.”
“Does it?” It felt so right to me.
“I don’t know. What are we gonna do? You’re supposed to be my brother.”
Groaning, I rubbed my hands over my face. “Don’t remind me. I’m not sure how we should play this.”
“Me neither.”
We were quiet for a while, both of us staring at the ceiling like some sort of answer was magically going to scribe itself across the dull white of the paint.
When neither of us had come up with a new idea, I said, “Maybe we can just keep it a secret.”
“For how long?” she asked.
It was a great question.
I was reminded of how this entire setup was doomed from the start. Eventually Brody would come back and have to return to his classes, letting everyone in on the fact that I wasn’t him. Which I guess wasn’t all bad since that meant Sophia and I wouldn’t have to sneak around any longer. But then there was the issue of Sophia lying to everyone, including her sorority sisters, to protect Brody and me.
“For as long as we need to?” I offered as more of a suggestion than an actual answer.
She sighed heavily, probably because the solution wasn’t a great one. But unfortunately, it was the only one. “’Kay,” she agreed. “We’ll keep it a secret for as long as we need to.”
I couldn’t resist rolling onto her, kissing her, feeling her squirm beneath me. “I like having you all to myself anyway,” I said, but a knock at the door interrupted us. “Ignore it.”
Both of us tried, we really did. But when the knocking continued, Sophia wiggled out from underneath me.
“I’ll get it. Don’t go anywhere.”
I looked down at my erection, wishing it was getting the attention it deserved and hoping it would as soon as Sophia got rid of whatever demonic being had interrupted us. I expected her to return quickly after dismissing whoever was at the door.
What I did not expect was to hear her say, “Mom? Dad? What are you doing here?”
If there was ever a sentence that could kill a boner, that was it.
S O P H I A
I hadn’t talked to either of my parents in a few weeks, and now here they were, standing at my—well, Brody’s—door.
“Hi, Sophia. Can we come in?” My mom pushed past me before I could answer.
“Sure. It’s good to see you guys,” I lied.
I was scared shitless. A visit from them right now was akin to the FBI showing up to investigate a human trafficking ring I’d been running out of the apartment.
I hoped like hell they wouldn’t find Drew in Brody’s bed, because that involved one of two possible confessions: Drew was impersonating Brody, or Drew was a guy I’m sleeping with. Both were equally terrifying.
“It’s nice to see you too,” my dad said, bringing me in for a hug. My mom followed, and I noticed how ill at ease they both seemed. Nervous, even. Maybe the FBI was after them, and they’d come here to hide out.
My mom walked toward the small hallway that led to the bedroom, and I felt my heart jump out of my chest. Thankfully, she didn’t leave the living room.
“Is Brody here?”
I hoped I wasn’t silent for too long, but it was hard to get a sense of time when I had various possible answers and explanations running through my head. This was like one of those Choose Your Own Adventure books, only in this story, none of the endings were happy.
“No,” I said because that seemed like the most logical answer. If I said he was here, they’d clearly want to see him. But what if they went snooping around because Brody had been ignoring them—which I’m sure he had—and they found Drew? I’d have no choice but to introduce him as my boyfriend.
“Do you know where he is?” my dad asked. “It’s a little early for Brody to be up and out of the house.”
“I think he’s at work.”
My mom’s eyes widened. “Brody has a job?”
Of course not.
“Yeah. He works at the pizza place down the street.” Why was I such a fucking moron? They’d just decide to go visit him there.
“It’s nine in the morning,” my dad pointed out.
“Oh, um, I’m not sure, then. He’s probably around campus somewhere. Maybe he didn’t come home last night. He could be at a friend’s or something.” That sounded more like Brody.
“We know what’s going on, Sophia.”
If I thought my heart was beating fast before, the pace of it now made me wonder if I shou
ld call 9-1-1 to report my heart attack before it became too late to save me.
“You do?”
They didn’t exactly seem mad about it, which was definitely unexpected. Maybe they knew Brody would fuck up eventually. Or maybe that was just because they were talking to me. I definitely had something to do with covering for Brody’s absence, but I was only an accomplice. Hopefully my parents would save their real rage for him.
“Social media is a modern-day truth serum,” my mom said with a sigh that seemed more coated in disappointment than anger.
I found myself feeling bitter about her reaction. She’d been madder when she’d found out I was running for president and hadn’t told her. Brody always got off so easy. The moron must’ve posted a picture of himself in Europe while he was drunk or something.
“I was hoping he would be here when we got here, but we’ll just wait for him to get home I guess.”
She sat down on the sofa and looked to my dad. He took a seat next to her, leaned forward, and folded his hands. My dad schooled his features and exuded a calm exterior, but he couldn’t quite hide the pensive set to his body.
“You’re gonna wait for him?”
My mom ignored my comment and said to my dad, “I can’t believe he didn’t trust us enough to share this with us. That’s what hurts. He is who he is. I just wish he knew how much we love him.”
My dad smiled, but it was only the corners of his lips that lifted with it. Then he put an arm around her and rubbed her shoulder. “It’ll be okay.”
“I just can’t help but feel like this is somehow my fault.”
I could see the tears in my mom’s eyes as she spoke. Tears for fucking Brody, who was on the other side of the ocean doing God knew what and posting a picture of it while I covered for his stupid ass. Fuck this.
“I can’t believe you’re not mad.”
They looked offended. Speaking first, my father said. “Mad? Why would we be mad?”
“Why wouldn’t you be? He’s in another country, and you’re acting like you caught him taking a drag of a cigarette in middle school.”
Never Have You Ever (The Love Game Book 1) Page 21
