“So how long are you here, and will I see you before you go?”
“Bitch, are you dumb or just that desperate? No, you won’t see him, but you can see me if you want,” Sophie said.
My dick got hard at the feistiness in her response.
“You don’t know me like that, bit?—”
“Ay, don’t get fucked up in here tonight. I think you know better,” I said, cutting her off.
She eyed Sophie for a moment more before she stepped off.
“International, I see.” Sophie pulled her hand from beneath mine.
I chuckled and leaned back to get cash from my pocket. I placed a hundred on the table and stood.
“You can’t get mad about shit that happened before you. I told you what I was about. I wasn’t committed to anyone but myself before you, Sophie.”
“But that just happened,” she snapped, pointing toward Queda.
“True, but as a result of something that happened before we met. The only pussy I’ve been in since we been here is yours, so that,”—I pointed at Queda—“didn’t just happen.”
Sophie rolled her eyes and got up, but didn’t say anything. I hugged her from behind and she tried to shrug me off, but I wasn’t having that.
“Ay, you not gonna do that, aight? Now let’s go. So I can get you high and knock them walls down. You need a reminder about who’s important to me.”
She loosened a little in my embrace and I kissed her neck before I let her go. Yeah, it was time to go.
Isat out on the balcony enjoying the light breeze passing through as I watched the moon reflect off the ocean—some tranquil ass shit—and being high made it that much better. I glanced inside at Sophie, sleeping peacefully on her stomach, tangled in the sheets, and smiled. Her body was perfect. Just the right amount of everything, and once I unlocked that freaky side, she fell in line and started taking it there, so I was definitely satisfied. She really had me fucked up in the game. I was on some committed type shit, not sure how I’d gotten here. I wanted her to be happy and was willing to do anything to ensure that.
Maybe that was what love felt like. I damn sure didn’t know. No one ever loved me, so I had never experienced it. I didn’t know how it felt or how to give it, which was why I lived the way I did. I wasn’t a greedy man who just wanted to run through women because it was the thing to do. I might have even been serious enough to settle with someone if they’d been strong enough to make me. Before Sophie, none of them had been.
I thought maybe Orin could have at some point, but deep down inside I knew better. I used to think she loved me, even though I never returned it, but now I thought she just loved the idea of having me because I was unobtainable. Not just that, she didn’t treat me like Sophie. Sophie made me respect her and what we had, so I really felt like shit for fucking with Orin behind her back in the beginning. I didn’t really have a reason and couldn’t justify it, so I wasn’t about to try.
Sophie had her ways, but she respected herself, and that made me respect her. Something women didn’t understand. Men treated women how they allowed them, and if they didn’t care enough to give them what they needed? They weren’t men, just boys, and the women needed to walk. I didn’t know if Sophie even considered that, but she damn sure wouldn’t let me fuck her over. That was sexy and a turn on.
A man like me needed that, so I needed Sophie. Story made me promise to keep her happy, and I would do that. Not just because he asked, but because I wanted to. Maybe he was right, maybe I did care. I wouldn’t say it was love, but Sophie had me in my feelings, and that was a first.
The only issue I had was this family shit. Story wanted me to leave it alone, but I really wanted to handle her father, and Sophie deserved to know who she really was. Fuck all that other stuff. But I didn’t want to put anything out there that would get in the way of us.
The issue was if she found out from anyone but me and realized I knew, she would damn sure be pissed. I didn’t know if her mother would ever come clean, so I was stuck trying to decide what to do. I had a feeling the conversation would come sooner than later. I just prayed it didn’t destroy us or her.
Chapter 18
Sophie
Iwoke up to my phone ringing and vibrating on the table next to bed and instantly got pissed. It was still dark, so it was early. I grabbed it, placed it to my ear, and groaned.
“Sophie, wake up, where is Trooper? I need to talk to him,” Maddie said, sounding panicked, which forced my eyes open and me to sit up.
After I focused, I looked around and Trooper wasn’t in bed with me. “Trooper? Why, what’s wrong?” I asked, trying to shake my sleepy state.
I climbed off the bed and laid eyes on him stretched out on one of the wicker lounge chairs on the balcony. He looked like he was asleep.
“Carlos got arrested and said to call Trooper, they…”
“Arrested, what do you mean arrested?” I asked, moving toward Trooper.
“Just let me talk to him, please. I need to tell him what happened, Sophie.”
