“You’re lucky he was right behind you. Can you imagine having to do all of that in that weather by yourself?” She bounces Jack, then turns when Ben fusses from the other room.
“Yea. Dad made him though.” I finally stand and wobble to my Muck boots.
“Mason didn’t make him change your tire, Soph.” Lori tips her chin down to look hard at me.
It takes me a solid moment to realize what she’s implying. “Ew, no. I have a boyfriend, Lori.”
“Do you? Some vague invisible guy that you don’t even know his name?” She ducks to glance out the window. “Oliver’s hot.”
I follow her gaze to see him outside in the warm sun wearing a tight t-shirt and a low slung tool belt, pacing between two rows of wooden panels where concrete is supposed to go for the extension.
His bicep bulges with every swing of his hammer.
“I’m not arguing that fact,” I sigh. “But I really do already have a man.”
She blinks at me, furrowing her forehead. “The book club guy? When do you actually meet him?”
My lip curls between my teeth.
“I, um, I did.” I haven’t told her.
Because ofthatface she’s making right now.
“You did?” Her voice climbs. “Tell me everything! What’s his name? Do you have a picture?”
Wiggling my heel to sink into my boot, I try to avoid meeting her eyes. “It’s complicated.”
Damn it. I didn’t want to hurt her.
But the flash of pain she shows breaks my heart.
“I swear, I’m not keeping it from you.” I cup her elbow earnestly. “It’s this thing we’re doing. He wore a mask.” I swallow hard, waiting for some sort of judgement.
Her grin surprises me.
“Oh. Like one of your books. Girl,” she laughs, pivoting towards the kitchen. “You had me scared for you there.”
Then she abruptly stops in front of me. “Wait, you really don’t know though?”
I just shake my head and reach for my coat.
“Soph,” she groans, setting Jack down in the playpen with Ben. “Were you at least careful? What if he ends up being someone crazy?”
“Also, no.” I give her a half-assed smile, then head outside.
That’s the question that is driving me nuts. “What if?”
I feel as if I know everythinginsideof Biggie.
And I’m ready to learn the rest.
Hugging Oliver’s big coat to my chest, I trudge my way across the muddy parking lot to where he’s working with his guys.
“Hey, Sophia. Feeling any better?” He steps over a stack of rebar and slides his hammer into the loop on his side with a practiced movement.
Like a gunslinger from the Old West.
“I feel worse than I look.” I gesture to my uneven sweats stuffed in my boot, and the wild locks of hair that I know are flying around my head.
