Page 3 of Tough Luck

Working full time for the marketing firm could be fun. I’d be able to use my witty skills for good.

“I guess I’d better go give him a call,” I said as I looked down at my hands. They were still shaking. “If he’s willing to hire a full-time professional failure, then I’m in. It’s that or I’m joining the circus.” I threw up my hands as the snow deepened. “At least they expect you to act like a clown.”

“That’s the spirit!” Nova cheered and wrapped her arms around me as we started walking toward our dorm. “Pack your boxes, Sofia. We’re going back to Golden.”

“We?” I stopped and looked at her.

“Sure. You can’t expect me to stick around here without my bestie, can you? Besides, James has been begging me to go to full time for a while.” She shrugged and threw her arm over my shoulder again as we started walking toward our dorm room. “Plus, I already have enough credits to get my bachelor’s.”

“You do?” I stopped and frowned at her. “When? How?”

She chuckled. “The last class I needed finished up two days ago.” She shrugged. “I didn’t want you to feel bad for being so slow.” She nudged me playfully.

“Then why were you still sweating over an essay today?”

She laughed. “I wasn’t. I was putting the final touches on my resume. I’m trying to come up with something that will impress Mr. Mylonas and convince him that I can handle my own marketing team. I really want him to bring me on as CMO.” She shrugged.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

She tilted her head and a sad look crossed her face. One of pity. I knew it well lately. “I knew you were struggling. I wasn’t going to leave you alone in your time of need.” She hugged me.

“I’d have another full year to get my bachelor’s,” I groaned. “I shouldn’t have taken that first year out of high school off.”

“You did what you had to do,” Nova pointed out.

“I sat in my parents’ basement and had a pity party after Parker left me,” I reminded her.

“He’s an ass.” She nudged me. “And you’re over him.”

“I am.” I nodded and straightened a little. Though, deep down, my heart still ached. He’d been the boy of my dreams. The one I believed I would spend the rest of my life with. We’d known each other since, well, forever. So it had been a huge shock when he’d ditched me the day before our high school graduation.

Ditched wasn’t the right word. Obliterated was more like it. Seeing him kissing Leslie Kennedy had broken me. I still hadn’t gotten over the betrayal. And I had yet to kiss another man. Ever. Parker had been my one and only. In every aspect.

Nova had tried to convince me to go on dates since then, but instead, I’d buried my face in books, like I had always done when the real world got shaky.

Which is probably why my grades in the first few years of college had been so good.

Maybe it wasn’t just time for a change in academics, but in that part of my life as well?

Sofia Ferreira, the girl who had dreamed of getting a degree, was going to be just a girl with a job and a permanent vendetta against wool blends, I thought as I tugged at my sweater again.

“Come on,” Nova said, leaning against my side. “Think of it as an early retirement from poverty. Besides, Golden misses us. The mountains are calling, and so is a steady paycheck.” She wiggled her eyebrows.

“I’m pretty sure the mountains are calling to tell me that I’m a loser. Besides, I was just in Golden last weekend for my parents’ anniversary dinner.” I took a deep breath and almost choked on the frigid air as more snow fell around us. God, when was it going to be summer already? “Okay, let’s do it. To a new chapter. To a new Sofia.” I smiled and tried to hold my head up high.

Chapter 1

Sofia

One Year Later

My move back to Golden had been less of a “triumphant return” and more of a “stealth mission.” I spent the first few days cramming my entire existence into a studio apartment so small that I could practically cook dinner while sitting on my bed. Still, the rent was low, and it was less than two blocks from my new full-time job.

There was another plus. One of my windows looked out directly onto Clear Creek. There was even a small balcony where I could sit and watch the kayakers load up in the river, just by the bridge.

Of course, James Mylonas had excitedly agreed to bring both Nova and me on full time. Nova hadn’t quite made CMO, but she’d been put in a position directly under another friend of ours, Jax Mylonas. Jax was the boy Nova had always crushed on. He hadn’t gone to the same school as us, but since he was friends of her family, they had known one another for years.

I had only met Jax a handful of times before we’d come back to Golden. After that, anytime we hung out with friends, Nova had invited Jax along.