Page 66 of The Longest Wait

IT MAY HAVE been a total of ten minutes of her being alonebefore her friends raced over to her, in route to her apartment. Shewas relived they knew she needed them, without having to ask. Shehad only wished it would rain, to really solidify how she felt. Insilence, the three of them walked together, Tess holding one hand,Lucy holding the other.

Once in Sofia’s apartment, she flopped down on the couch, asLucy and Tess sat across from her.

She shrugged, ready to get her vent session started. “So, Alexand I had sex.”

Tess nodded, while Lucy stayed quiet. This made Sofia nervous.She never wanted to get Lucy involved and, because she couldn’tkeep her cool when Alex baited her, now the secret was out.

Since the secret was out, she was going to explain it all, fromthe very beginning.

“I guess it all started when we moved into the dorms freshmenyear.” She bit her lip. It was a real riot that the woman who plannedto never fall in love was head over heels. She had been in love withthe same man since she was eighteen years old. But the ending wasalways the same, it never worked out.

“I was obsessed with him,” she admitted. “To the point, whereI vowed Alex was the only one for me.”

176

Lucy was confused. “This doesn’t make sense. All throughcollege, you had like a million guys salivating over you. Sorry tobe crass, but every other week our senior year, you had someonesleeping over. How were you vowing Alex was the one when youweren’t with him? And when you did see him? You always flauntedthe other guys around him. I always thought it was because youdidn’t care.”

Tess, such the caretaker, rubbed Sofia’s hand. Lucy, though, shedidn’t make the move to comfort her. If there was any heart of Sofia’sleft, it would’ve broken from Lucy’s indifference to the situation.

“Another secret, I never had sex with those guys.”“What!” Tess shrieked.

Sofia nodded, full of gloom. “I mean, I made out with them

and all, but nothing else. When they didn’t want a repeat performance, I didn’t care because…well, because they weren’t Alex.”Lucy slumped down in her seat.

“The summer after we graduated, you know I lived with Lucyand her family. Fourth of July, I was adamant for Alex see me asa woman whom he could pursue. I pushed his buttons by flirtingwith all his friends. He was pissed and ended up dragging me backto his house. I lost my virginity to a man who didn’t even careabout me.”

“Gross,” Lucy murmured. “My brother and my childhood home.”

Tess glared at Lucy. “Regardless, that’s not how anyone wantsto lose their virginity.”

Sofia gave an empty laugh. “It was Alex, so in one way, mytwenty-one-year-old heart burst with happiness. But his reactioncrushed me.”

“What did he do?” Tess sweetly prompted.

She let out a deep breath. “He yelled at me because I didn’ttell him I was a virgin. The following week, he started dating somegirl from work. After that, I was like fuck men, fuck commitment.Outside of my friends, I wasn’t giving anyone another shot in arelationship. I couldn’t let my heart break again.”

The tears that were slowly building started to fall. “A fewmonths ago, like complete idiots, we secretly started hooking upagain. I didn’t want to tell anyone yet. He kept pressuring me todo so and, well, now we’re here.”

Tess kissed her on the forehead and went to the kitchen. Sofiaturned to Lucy. “Please don’t be mad at me.”

Lucy wrapped her arm around Sofia’s shoulders. “I’m not madat you. I’m upset you had to go through this all by yourself. I wishyou would’ve talked to me sooner, like say, ten years ago.”

Tess rejoined them and handed Sofia a cup of tea, which madeher frown. “What are we, British? I know for a fact I have winein there.”

“Of course, you have wine.” Tess got comfortable in the loveseat. “The last thing you need is to get drunk and text him. You’rethe worst drunk dialer on the entire planet.”

Lucy smiled. “This is true. She did you a favor.”

Sipping her tea, which would’ve better if it was wine, shesmiled at her friends. “I don’t know what to do.”

“Do you want to be with him?” Lucy always went to thebottom line.

More than ever, but she wasn’t sure if she could.

“Alex is the absolute worst,” Sofia said faintly.

“Tell me five things you love about him,” good oldTess encouraged.