“Oh, I will.” Jamie smiled. “But we do have to be selective. We love what you’re doing, and I think Salacia has huge potential. But we’re a business. We need to see the return and you are still very small.”
“Salacia will be worth it,” Ilias cut in, draping an arm over Jamie’s shoulder with practiced ease. Then, turning to Sofia with a faint smile. “Jamie here plays hard to get, but she’s got a good heart. TerraVive kept sponsoring me, even during my two-year break.”
Sofia’s eyebrows lifted. She hadn’t known TerraVive had stood by him. That didn’t exactly endear him to her more but it did explain their relationship.
“You had a rough time,” Jamie said, tone soft.
“It seems she did too,” Ilias added quietly, nodding toward Sofia.
“I’ll see what I can do,” Jamie replied, pulling back. “God, you’re such a charming asshole. You have to be careful with him,” she told Sofia. “He’s dangerous.”
“Really? I never would’ve guessed,” Sofia had to stop herself from rolling her eyes.
“Come on, Jamie. There are other adjectives you could use to describe me: gorgeous, mysterious, magnetically irresistible…”
This guy had the inflated ego of a surfer who won too many medals. Sofia just stared blankly at him. But her silence didn’t dull his grin.
“Alright, I need to run,” Jamie said. “See you at the competition. Let’s hope it’s a great one.”
She kissed Ilias on the cheek, waved at Sofia, and was gone in a whirl.
“You’re welcome, habiba,” Ilias said, still grinning. “See you tomorrow.”
She didn’t know whathabibameant, but the sound of it, spoken in that low, teasing voice, slid under her skin. Before she could stop him, he leaned in, tall, definitely at least 1.90 cm, and kissed her cheek. His palm cupped the side of her neck, his fingers brushing into her hair. The touch was brief, but her whole body betrayed her.
Goosebumps raced down her arms. A shiver started at the base of her spine and spread upward until her breath caught in her throat. Heat followed. Slow, unwelcome, curling low in her stomach like an ember she thought she’d buried months ago. It felt infuriatingly familiar.
This was exactly what she’d promised herself she’d never let happen again. Not after Thomas. Not after the lies and the humiliation, not after she’d been made to feel small for loving too much, for trusting too blindly. Attraction had been herundoing once. It had cracked open her judgment, made her mistake obsession for devotion, desire for safety. She wasn’t going to let it happen again.
And yet, her body didn’t listen. Her pulse was a drumbeat in her ears, loud enough to drown out reason. His scent, salt, sunscreen, something faintly earthy, filled the space between them, and she hated that she noticed it. Hated that she liked it.
She told herself it was nothing. A reflex. Biology doing what biology does. But even that excuse burned on her tongue. Because she knew herself too well, knew the slope of that descent. One touch, one look, and she’d start inventing reasons to let someone close again.
Not this time. Not with him.
She stepped back, heart racing, forcing a breath past the chaos in her chest. He was still smiling, oblivious, like he hadn’t just pressed a detonator inside her.
She hated him for that. And maybe, a little, she hated herself more.
Then he stepped back, winked, and walked away.
“What did he say?” Alejandra materialized at her side.
Sofia whipped around, arms crossed, cheeks burning. The only way to mask the charge running through her was to turn it back on her friend. “Why did you invite him?”
Her best friend shrugged. “He’s a good guy. Just needs to heal from being an asshole to women for most of his life.”
Sofia groaned and slumped into the nearest chair. She couldn’t keep thinking about Ilias; she had to shove that feeling into some remote corner of her brain and lock it away for good. She’d taken refuge in the same thing that had kept her afloat for the past six months—Salacia.
She didn’t have a sponsorship yet. But she would. With TerraVive or with someone else. She needed that funding.Needed that leap forward. TerraVive was the dream, but if they backed out, she’d find another way.
Who, though? She had no idea.
“Are you okay?” Alejandra asked, sitting beside her.
“Yeah. Today was amazing. But… why do I always feel like I need more?”
“Because you’re an overachieverputa.” Alejandra laughed. “Look at what you’ve done. You’ve created something amazing today, and if TerraVive doesn’t sponsor you, they are idiots.”
