"You think he'll learn from this?" I ask, my voice quiet and unsure. I don't know if I genuinely want the answer to thisquestion. "Do you... think people can change?"
Tonya tilts her head, raising a brow at me like she already knows the question behind the question.
"Worried he'll think he's got a shot again with Sophie if he says sorry enough times?"
My silence is answer enough, and Tonya sighs in exasperation, crossing her arms and giving me a stern look.
"Yeah, I think people can change. I think if someone actuallyownsup to their shit, and learns from it... yeah, maybe they deserve a second chance."
My heart drops for a second, fear like ice-cold water through my veins. Tonya doesn't let the words settle for long before she continues, eyes sharpening.
"But I also think some thingscan'tbe forgotten. Sophie's got a kind heart, and I think she could forgive him. Butforget?" Tonya scoffs, shaking her head slowly. "No fucking way. Not after what he did to her. That's a scar that she'll wear forever."
Those words land hard and heavy to my chest, thinking of the pain she felt, that I know she probablystillfeels. She spent six years with Paul, and she had a life with him. They went through college, vacations, holidays, and shared a home together. She loved him—I know she did. It wouldn't have wrecked her if she hadn't.
But she's here now, with me, and she seems completely happy with me. First as friends, and now asmore.
But...
I can't stop the images in my head, the version of this life where Paul didn't cheat, where she ends up marrying and starting a family with him. Living the rest of her life with him. She'd be his, and I would pass her on the street as a familiar face in Starling Cove—never really knowing her, never hearing herlaugh, never feeling her hand in mine, never knowing what her lips feel like against mine.
Now that I know her, Idon'twant to know what it's like not to.
I would prefer her not to be suffering from cancer, and I would give anything to take that from her, but that was the first domino that led her to walk into my store. I told her once that maybe these things happen so we can forge a better path, but will she see it that way? Will she thinkthisis the better path? Does she ever miss him?
Will Sophie be okay with my simple, boring-to-most life plan of staying in Starling Cove and continuing to run the store with my mom?
Paul could potentially be mayor one day. He's well-connected, well-traveled, handsome, and charming. He's got a family that already adores Sophie, and they had already planned to build a life together.
Do I pale in comparison?
"Oh, for fucks sake. Get that look off your face," Tonya snaps at me.
"What look?"
"That kicked-puppy, insecure,'woe is me'thing you've got going on right now," Tonya steps closer to me, blue eyes narrowed. "You know what I do think? She'llrememberwho showed up. Whochoseher, over and over again? Sophie's not stupid, Callum. Sheseeswhen the better option is standing right in front of her."
Tonya's words are soothing, despite the harsh tone she's using. I’m instantly chagrinned, because I was doubting Sophie, doubting myself, and that's not fair to either of us. I'm not Paul, but that doesn't make me less. Sophie had already told me it was worth it—that Paul cheating on her was worth it to meet me.
God, those words had almost knocked me on my ass. The way she had said them so genuinely, I shouldn't ever doubt Sophie orher words. I trust that she knows her feelings, and she's always been honest with me.
Tonya nods in Sophie's direction. "That girl's got fuckingcancer,and she's still smiling brighter than the goddamn sun. And that? That's because ofyou, Romeo."
As if sensing our gaze, Sophie glances up. Those bright blue-green eyes I dream about catch mine, and I can't help the smile that takes over my face. She's so damn lovely. Not just the kind of pretty that knocks the wind out of you—which, yes, she absolutely is—but the kindness, the gentleness I ache to protect, the warmth I want to burrow into and never leave.
All of those things make up the wonderful woman that is Sophie, my sweet girl.
The smile she gives me is beautiful, toothy and wide, with a cute pink flush to her cheeks, and the entire world... fades.
"Yeah, so I'm going to take that as my cue to leave." Tonya barks a laugh, grabs her helmet, and slings it over her shoulder. Sophie is already standing up, and Tonya lands a smacking kiss on Sophie's cheek as she passes her. "Enjoy your night, guys! Wrap it before you tap it!"
Sophie's face goes crimson, and I feel my face heating up from Tonya's words. When we hear Tonya's cackling laughter fade as she walks out the front door, I'm turned into a stuttering, nervous mess.
"I—I'm not expecting any, uh,tapping," I blurt, and immediately wish I could crawl under the rug and die. "I mean—not that I don't want to, obviously I really want you, because you're—you—but not now. Not that I'm saying never. Later? Later is fine. If you wanted later, that is. Or not later. I mean, I would never expect—"
"Callum."
Sophie's voice is soft but cuts through my rambling like a hot knife through butter. She's walking closer to me, eyes sparklingwith laughter, and God, she's so beautiful I almost forget to breathe.
