Page 33 of The Longest Wait

She tried to pull free, but his grasp on her wasn’t budging. “I don’twant to talk about this.”

“Well, I do.”

His other hand landed on her hip and he leaned close to her,attempting to whisper something. This has gone on long enough. Ifthey kept this up, someone was going to notice them this close to eachother. People would assume they actually liked each other. Or worse,people might wonder if they have a past.

She had to stop this before anything bad happened.

She did the only over thing she could thing of and she poured herdrink down the front of his shirt. It was a snap decision, but her emotions were bubbling up and she did not want to revisit the past. Alexjumped back, flinging the frozen drink off of him. She heard Dominicyell something and clap, and instantly Sofia regretted her actions.

Not because she ruined his shirt.

Absolutely not. Exasperatingly enough, the man still lookeddelicious.

She was mad she caused a scene, even if it was only Dominicwho witnessed it. This time, it wasn’t even her fault. Once again,Alex ruined the day. Before she could cause any more damage, Sofiahightailed it away from him.

WHY WAS SHE so damn complicated? She was determined to makehis life a mess. Before it was a figurative statement, but now she literallymade him a mess. Alex brushed off the frozen drink from the front ofhis shirt.

“Not sure if getting her drink thrown on you was your end goalor not, but I hope you have a plan B,” Dominic winced at the messSofia caused.

Alex shot him a dirty look while they stood in the hallway.Connor laughed. “She is such a firecracker.”

“That’s being nice,” Alex gritted out.

Dominic said with gratefulness in his voice, “This is why I never

mess with her. Not only do I love my platonic friendship with her, Idon’t have to worry about ruined clothes.”

For some reason, hearing Dominic confirm he never slept withSofia comforted Alex, even though it shouldn’t. He had always wondered if Dominic was one of the men she left heartbroken in herlifestyle to never commit to someone. “I didn’t mess with her. She’s onlybeing difficult.”

Connor peaked over Alex’s shoulder toward the reception. “At leastno one noticed Sofia’s drink is residing on your shirt. If I were you, I’dfix the mess before walking back to the reception.”

If only he knew how to fix the mess and he wasn’t talking about hisshirt. But, looking down, there was no way he could hide the wreckageshe caused. He shook his head, understanding the irony of the entiresituation. Sofia was the one who didn’t need to do damage control, hewas. She always got away with murder, but he wasn’t letting her offthe hook. Not this time.

His face grew sinister. “You know what, I am going to fix this mess.”“You know I meant for you to fix your shirt, not whatever shit isgoing on with Sofia. Right?” Connor pushed as if he did not one to bethe one to blame if something happened. Like if Sofia did bodily harmto Alex. With her temper, who knew if that was an option.

Connor didn’t get an answer, so he turned to Dominic. “You heardme say that, right? To not mess with Sofia.”

Dominic shrugged. “Alex, it’s probably better off you leaveher alone.”

Alex glanced at his friends. He knew Sofia well enough to leaveher alone for the night. But, the distance wasn’t going to last long, hewould make sure of it.

Chapter 11

IN EFFORT TO act like she didn’t care, at all, she was havingdinner with Alex, Sofia did the whole casual look for their nightout. She wore a green long-sleeved shirt that appeared low key buthugged her curves, faded jeans, and a pair of cream-colored boots.Casual, but the look took some effort.

This outfit also screamed not a first date. Not that she wouldknow what to wear on the first date. She’d have to call Tess andLucy for help if a date ever happened. Which wasn’t likely. Sofiawas in no rush to date.

Ever.

But, it wasn’t like she was in a dress or wore too much makeup. To her, all of that effort would scream date, which was not whatshe was going for.

The atmosphere at Oloroso was upbeat. It was noisy andseemed like a spot friends went to before a night out in the city.Just like her outfit, the restaurant wasn’t first date material either.She assumed so, anyway. If she remembered correctly from a Cosmopolitan article Tess gabbed about, the less noise the better for aromantic evening. Sofia avoided that at all costs.

She surveyed the room and Alex was already there, drinkingwine and talking to the waitress. Unsurprisingly, the waitress wasblushing as he flirted with her. In an odd way, it relaxed her to see

The Longest Wait

him in his natural state. This meant it wasn’t a big deal to him tograb dinner with her. It shook off some of her nerves. Not that shewas a huge fan of him flirting with anyone who wasn’t her; it wasa reminder of their situation. Which was nothing serious. Just likethe noisy bar. Their night was not a date.