Page 57 of The Longest Wait

“I never said it doesn’t exist,” Tess attempted to appease her.“It just doesn’t happen for everyone.”

Lucy started to laugh. “Well, Sofia isn’t dating now. But whenshe does, it is going to be filled with electricity. You and the wholeworld will know about it. It might make the news.” They all giggled, and Sofia was relieved her friends misread her statement offollowing her heart. Right now, hers ached.

AFTER THREE SHARED bottles of wine, Sofia was ready toleave and Lucy said she would walk home with her. They got abouta block away from Daltons before Lucy said, “You were awfullyquiet when we talked about Tess and her boyfriend. I saw the lookon your face when she said you never even had a boyfriend, whichwas why I made the joke about your dating life making the news.What’s going on?”

Sofia felt nauseated. She had never felt like that before, andit was because she wasn’t a fan of lying to her friends. Sofia gave aweak smile. “You caught that, huh?”

Lucy linked her arm through Sofia’s. “Hook, line, and sinker.”Sofia didn’t want to lie, but she wasn’t ready to share her secretabout Alex. Especially not with Lucy. If Lucy was in a situationwhere she had to pick sides, Alex was clearly the winner. He washer brother, after all. “While I appreciate the fishing reference, thisisn’t about me finding a catch. I’m just tired. The travel has takena toll on me.”

Crap. She meant Alex’s travel, but she wasn’t able to explainthat. Maybe Lucy will drop it.

As best friends do, Lucy didn’t drop it. “From your weekendwith Alex in New York? I guess that would be stressful for you twosince you never get along, but that was almost a month ago.”

Lucy internalized this for a minute. “Neither one of you havetalked to me about the trip. To any of us actually. How was thetrip to New York?”

Sofia almost tripped in her heels. That was a subject she wishedshe could avoid, but it wasn’t like she could make a mad dash awayfrom her friend. That would definitely be questionable behavior.

Sofia shrugged. “We didn’t kill each other, so that was impressive. I’d say the highlight was seeing Travis again. I got to meet hisgirlfriend, Melody, and we really got along. We exchanged numbersso if she comes to visit or if I’m back in New York we would beable to catch up.”

Lucy must have noticed she skimmed over mentioning Alex.“Interesting.”

Sofia didn’t like that tone. She knew Lucy and she knew thattone meant something. “It isn’t interesting.”

Lucy flagged down a taxi when they arrived at Sofia’s apartment. “Quite the contrary—it’s beyond interesting. I’ll have toreach out to Travis and invite him and Melody for our next gettogether. Have a good night.” She gave her a kiss on the cheek andjumped into the taxi.

This wasn’t a good way for the night to end.

TWO WEEKS INTO his assignment felt like two weeks into hell.The hours were constant, he was exhausted, and he hated he hadno cell phone service to hear Sofia’s voice. Her voice was a calm inthe storm. Nighttime was the worst. He was unable to sleep on thecot provided for him because much to the camera team’s surprise,they were not staying in a hotel. Quite the contrast, they werecamping. Every time his eyes were about to shut, he would hear anoise to remind him of the assignment which left him scarred. Ofall the reasons he had to wait over a year to get a decent project.

Now that he had an assignment most would do anything for,he wanted to go home.

He was there, taking pictures of the violence the country hasensued with constant civil unrest due to politics, and every snapof his camera was adding a weight to his life. His heart wasn’t init anymore. He empathized, without a doubt, and despised whatwas happening. But there was something else Alex needed he nolonger found behind the lens.

For Alex, being on a job was crucial to the situation he captured. It was his opportunity to bring to the forefront what wasgoing on in the world. He owed it to the people in Venezuela todo his job.

But after this, something had to change.

Chapter 18

SOFIA WAS RIGHT, once Alex returned home, the nagging pit inher stomach vanished. His first weekend back, he wanted to go outto dinner. He mumbled something about needing a nap becauseof three weeks with no sleep, but that was all he mentioned abouthis assignment.

She tried, once, to see if he would tell her more detail, but heshut it down rather quickly. She respected him and wasn’t goingto push him to confide in her. He would when he was ready. So,until then, they were going out to dinner.

The plan was for Alex to pick her up at eight.

Since they have known each other forever, Sofia guessedshe wouldn’t have the first date jitters, but she was wrong. Afterdebating what to wear and having no one to consult with sinceher friends had no clue she was seeing Alex, she had to solve thewardrobe problem alone. She went with an off the shoulder blackdress that was comfortable in cotton and paired it was her redsandals. The dress might have seemed low key, but the edges ruffledwhenever she moved, showing some skin on her thighs. Besides,she figured she couldn’t go wrong wearing black, it looked goodon everyone.

When he got to her apartment, his smile made her mouthwater. Alex in jeans and a T-shirt rivaled any Calvin Klein model.

The Longest Wait

“After dinner, we’re coming back here so I can rip that dress offyou,” he growled as they left her apartment and got into an Uber.

“If you break it, you buy it,” she responded cheekily.

He scooted close to her in the back seat. “Be careful what youwish for,” he whispered in her ear.

She actually giggled at his comment and turned her head tokiss him. Their lips were locked for the rest of the car ride, tothe point where the Uber driver had to uncomfortably cough toget them to realize they were at Bellerin’s Steak House. They hadreservations and were seated immediately. They reached for eachother’s hands across the table.