Page 7 of The Longest Wait

“These are the moments I wish Sofia and I didn’t friendzoneeach other,” Dominic joked.

“You’re better off. Sofia has a mean streak.” Alex climbed up thestairs to Lucy’s house. It was habit, when her name was mentioned,he had a jab to throw at her expense.

“Only with you, man,” Connor said, confirming what Alexalready knew.

Dominic opened the door and turned back to Alex beforewalking in. “She’s the male version of me. We would never surviveeach other.”

Alex waited for a minute outside when they walked in. Sofiawas like having another Dominic around, but she wasn’t alwaysa commitment-phobe. He remembered that girl from years ago,and sometimes wondered, if he was the reason she refused tosettle down.

A LOW-KEY PARTY was exactly what Sofia needed. She refilled her champagne in the kitchen while admiring the photograph hung on the wall. It was of a lion, slowly creeping toward the camera as if the photographer was his prey. It was a piece of Alex’s work. This exact picture was his first photo to make the cover on NationalGeographic, and Lucy had it framed immediately. She was such a good sister.

Sofia would’ve burnt it.

Mostly because it was a picture Alex took and nothing to dowith siblings. Not that she would know about the sibling bondeither; she was an only child.

With her flute full, she was ready to return to the party whenshe saw Dominic and Connor walk through the front door.

She yelled from the kitchen doorway, “Look who could fit usinto their schedule!”

Dominic came over to her and kissed her cheek. “We went toDaltons before coming here.”

She rolled her bright, blue eyes. “A bar pregame before a houseparty? I expected nothing else.”

“If Connor and Alex didn’t force me, I may have stayed,” Dominic confided to her. “If you want to leave here early, we could goback to the bar. We can wingman each other.”

“I’m not going anywhere where people are dressed up. In caseyou missed it, I’m not exactly wearing bar clothes.” Going out afterthe party was a solid no for her. “Besides, I’m not in the mood toplay wingwoman. I actually like being somewhere I don’t need toscream over the music to be heard by my friends.”

“What is wrong with everyone?” Dominic mumbled under hisbreath when he walked away.

Another person walked into the party, and it was the oneperson Sofia hoped would bail. Alex Copeland, looking betterthan ever with his mused dark hair, brooding brown eyes, andfive o’clock shadow, stepped into the house. He smiled when Lucyhugged him and then again when Jack gave him that weird guyhug before heading toward her.

Sofia quickly sidestepped him and retreated back into thekitchen to avoid looking like a creeper spying on him.

Which she was not.

Not a creeper or trying to spy. Honest, it was poor timing. Hewalked in and happened to be in her line of vision. He probablyplanned it. She sipped on her drink and realized it was almostempty again, so she turned back to pour another glass.

She busied herself with putting the champagne back into therefrigerator, when Alex stood in the kitchen, neither of them speaking. The room dropped in temperature, and not because she wastedelectricity holding the door open. Not at all.

It was because Alex showed up and had the nerve to crowd herspace in the kitchen. He was basically leaning on her against openrefrigerator. And he was nothing but cold.

LAUGHTER BUBBLED OUT of him, despite trying to hold itback. Sofia wore a shirt that read “Resolutions Are For Quitters.”The shirt, with all of its sass, was perfect for her. He wouldn’tadmit it, but she also looked perfect in it. Her jet-black hair wascurled and tumbled down her back. Her sapphire eyes glowed, notneeding makeup to make them sparkle. Sofia Winton, as she hasalways been, was a knockout.

“I wasn’t spying on you.” She slammed the refrigeratordoor shut.

“Did someone insinuate you were?” He stepped closer to herand reopened the door for a beer.

She frowned. It came naturally to her whenever she was nearhim. “No, how could they say something when I wasn’t staringat you?”

“Now that you bring it up: I did see you looking at me whenI walked in. Could it be that you were waiting for me to get here?Do you want to spend time with me? Should we sit down andtalk?” He mocked her.

Alex had his beer and took a step closer to her. While mostpeople would instinctually take a step back, Sofia didn’t. Instead,she defiantly stuck her nose in the air. Since she wore some killerheels, which had a lethal pointy toe and gave her a few inches tobe closer to his tall stature, she felt more empowered standing upto him.

“This kitchen isn’t big enough for the both of us,” Sofia saidwith a glare.

He loved riling her up. “Maybe we should hug it out?”

“You wish,” she said in her saccharine tone. An odd comparison to a woman who was less then sweet with him.