With Brave Wings (13 page)

But Trisha did it for him. "And falling out." She nodded and looked down. "I appreciate your honesty, Tennyson. I really do. I think I needed to hear it." She managed a small grin. "So I take it this means you want something…wilder?"

He chuckled softly and withdrew his hand to finish his drink. "Whatever it is, I'm sure it's going to kick me in the ass."

Chapter 11

"Holy shit, you're slower than…I don’t even know." Brooklyn grabbed the dark purple, smoky eye shadow from Sophie to do it herself. "Close your eyes."

Sophie huffed but obeyed.

So what if she wasn’t superexcited about tonight's party?

Too many people were coming. She'd told her closest to invite friends who worked in the industry—because they knew the importance of privacy—but it had gotten out of hand, in her opinion. Noah was bringing almost a dozen friends over, Brooklyn had invited five, and Daniel and Zane were bringing over a whopping fifteen.

"Did you shave your legs?" Brooklyn asked.

"Yes." For fuck's sake, Sophie wasn’t stupid. With the little black dress Brooklyn had picked out for her, Sophie had shaved more than her legs. "Did I lock the rooms?" She didn’t want anyone taking advantage of a few certain beds.

"For the third time, yes. Please relax, hon."

"You sound like Tennyson." She kept her eyes closed as Brooklyn applied more eyeliner.

"Mmhmm, speaking of that daddy hunk… Are you gonna snatch him up for real anytime soon, or are you finally ready to move on?"

After last night, Sophie had expected this question. She'd been picking up dinner with her when Brooklyn's phone had been blowing up with messages. People knew she was friends with Sophie, and everyone wanted to know why there was a picture of Tennyson and his ex going viral on Twitter.

Director Tennyson Wright back with bestselling author Trisha Cummings?

Considering Kayden and Tennyson's parents had been at the same dinner, it was a valid question. And then, to top it off, Griffin and Karen had left with Kayden, leaving Tennyson and Trisha alone to have drinks.

Sophie's initial reaction had been a spark of anger. She'd been extremely peeved because Kayden was her son too, and it didn’t feel right that new or old partners were introduced to their son without her knowing it.

Feeling entitled to that anger, it had been easier to ignore the surprise of seeing Tennyson with another woman…and the jealousy. The latter had been a surprise, one she didn’t want to think about.

Brooklyn had noticed her reaction, and that was probably why she was asking now.

Whatever annoyance Sophie felt toward Tennyson had faded later, though. He'd called after having a big fight with his mother, and he'd told her everything before he even knew about the media leak.

"Tennyson and I are only friends," she said eventually. "I think he's destined to be my 'The one who got away.'"

"Okay, you can open your eyes. Why do you think that?" Brooklyn searched through Sophie's makeup and picked up a new brush and some shimmer.

"Well, for one, he doesn’t see me that way anymore. But otherwise…because we'll never be on the same page, I guess." Sophie fidgeted with the silver bangles around her wrist, frowning. "There are parts of him I adore, and I'm so freaking comfortable around him, it's not even funny. But then I think about what I want in the man I settle down with in the future… I don’t know." She closed her eyes again as Brooklyn brushed shimmer over her cheekbones. "He's all about letting me be independent and spreading my wings and shit. He wants me to be out there and live my life."

"And that’s wrong?"

No, of course not, but… Sophie licked her lips, pondering. "Isn't it like every girl's dream to be chased? I don’t wanna be saved or be some damsel in distress, but I want…" She couldn’t find the words.

Brooklyn could, though. "You want a man who guides you, not controls you. Someone who lets you be strong but isn't afraid to go caveman on you and treat you like a dirty girl in the bedroom. A gentleman who treats you like an equal. A man who's possessive enough to fuck you like a savage if someone flirts with you. A faithful sweetheart with a devil on his shoulder. Someone who's mature but doesn’t have a stick up his ass."

"
Yes
," Sophie groaned. "
God
, yes. Where can I find him?"

Tennyson was that savage, but only between the sheets. Out of the bedroom, he kept pushing her away.

"Girl, I have no idea, but if you ever find out, let me know. Maybe he has a brother."

Sophie laughed. "I wonder if a guy like that even exists. Imagine if he liked kids, too." She sighed, and she couldn’t help but wonder… "My uterus has fantasies sometimes. Is that weird? I mean, I'm not even twenty-four yet."

"You're speaking to someone who had her daughter at nineteen. Trust me—uteruses can have fantasies at any age." Brooklyn picked up a lip gloss and smirked. "If Tennyson had been all that when you guys hooked up, would you be with him now? Maybe there'd be another little one on the way."

"Dude, I was a mess back then." She shook her head. "No. I wasn’t ready."

"Are you ready now?"

She hesitated for the first time.

Loneliness was slowly but surely creeping up on her, and she was
tired
. Emotionally and physically. She had farfetched fantasies of having someone to lean on, but she couldn’t do that, could she? It was too soon. Her friends handled things on their own just fine, and she didn’t want to be weak. She didn’t want to be the one person who couldn’t be independent.

It also bothered her that whenever she imagined that person to lean on, it was Tennyson, the man who was instead encouraging her to stand on her own. While he always pulled her in for the best bear hugs, his comfort felt more like a pat on the shoulder. Like, "I'm here, but you can do this yourself."

Maybe he and Brooklyn were right about Sophie being more social, though. She'd progressed by leaps and bounds when it came to work, and she'd fallen head over heels in love with being Kayden's mom, but she had no social life whatsoever.

"Brooklyn. I need to have fun—I'll leave it at that."

Brooklyn beamed at her. "Oh, I know just the thing. But first, check out your sexy self." She pointed to the mirror.

Sophie blinked. "What the fuck?" she laughed shakily. "Brooklyn, I
love
you, but…I didn’t know we were aiming for a gang bang with a crayon factory."

"Shut the hell up, Grandma. You look fabulous. You need some color in your life!"

*

Loud music, drinks flowing freely, and a loft packed with people brought Sophie back to life for one evening.

She'd found a corner by the dining room table where she had drinks with Noah, Brooklyn, Daniel, and Zane, and there was no denying she really needed this.

This morning, Noah had told her, "I've got this." And he did. He'd turned her loft into a home version of a club. The only things missing were flashing lights and a DJ.

"Hundred bucks, I gotta carry home Josh tonight," Noah said, pointing at Josh over by the couch. He was sitting with a bunch of people, basically pouring beer and shots down his throat. Everyone around him was having a blast, either shooting the shit—loudly over the music—or dancing in the area that had been cleared. But yeah, Josh looked miserable.

"I'm not taking that bet," Daniel laughed. "It was me three years ago. I remember it too vividly."

Sophie opened a bottle of vodka from the dining room table to refill her drink. "Is something wrong with him?"

"He turns thirty tomorrow." Noah grinned wryly. "He's depressed."

"Oh,
please
." Brooklyn rolled her eyes.

"I know." Noah shrugged. "My license says thirty-five, but my abs say twenty-one—I'm all good."

Sophie cracked up and lifted Noah's shirt just to make sure. "Oh, never mind. Damn."

"You wanna feel me up, babe?" He winked.

She shook her head in amusement and took a sip of her drink. "You're such a fucking flirt."

"Come on." Brooklyn chuckled and grabbed Sophie's hand. "Let's leave the boys and go shake what our mamas gave us."

She downed her drink like a pro, and then batted her lashes at Noah. "Bye," she sang. She followed Brooklyn through the crowd until they ended up in the middle of everyone, dancing to some mainstream club song.

Closing her eyes, she smiled to herself and got lost in the beat. She was back to being young, and it was goddamn glorious.
Albeit loud.

It was nice finding a balance between responsible and carefree. She'd never done it before.

She was parched several songs later, and Brooklyn was dancing with some guy, so Sophie tried to make her way back to the dining room table. But the floor between the couch and the flat screen had gotten so crowded that it was impossible.

Someone accidentally stumbled into her, causing her to fall back against the couch.

"I'm so sorry!" The woman who'd bumped into her looked mortified.

Sophie just laughed and shook her head. "It's okay!" She blew out a breath, feeling hot, and made sure she hadn't created some domino effect with falling people. But everyone was okay, and she noticed she'd ended up right next to where Josh was drowning his sorrows. "You okay, Josh?" she asked over the music.

Josh lifted his head, his eyes red from alcohol. "I'm almost thirty!"

She grinned and patted his knee. "I heard. What's so bad about it, though?"

"I haven't reached my business goals." He grimaced. "Fuck, it's so loud." He groaned and fell back, rubbing his palms against his eyes.

Damn, the man was really shit-faced.

"Want me to get Noah?" She looked over her shoulder and tried to see where he was, but she couldn’t spot him.

"Nah…" Josh sat forward again. "S'all good, beautiful. I'mma—I'mma go. I need some fresh air."

Sophie winced in sympathy as he pushed himself off the couch and stumbled through the crowded makeshift dance floor. She wanted to make sure he made it to his place across the hallway, so she took the opportunity to follow while the path was clear.

The hallway between the two lofts was a lot quieter, and she caught up to Josh while he was digging for his keys.

"Need some help?" she offered.

It was both concerning and amusing to see him like this because he always came off as in-control. He and Noah could be like frat boys at times, but Josh was still the guy who got up at five every morning to run ten miles. He worked his ass off to build a name for his clinic, and Sophie rarely saw him drink more than a beer.

"You need to go away, Pierce," Josh slurred. He tried and failed to stick the key into the lock. "Too beautiful to l-look at."

Sophie's mouth shaped an "o," and she didn’t come any closer.

This was new—coming from him. There hadn't been the slightest indication he saw Sophie in any way other than as part friend, part neighbor.

"Aw,
man
." He planted his forehead to his door. "The key doesn’t fit anymore."

"Christ," Sophie whispered. "Let me help you." She walked forward and stole the keys from him because this was nuts. The man couldn’t stay out here until he'd sobered up enough to open the fucking door himself. "God, you're drunk."

"That’s…that’s no lie." He smirked crookedly. Once she got the door open, his smirk softened, and he brushed some hair away from her face. It made her freeze and notice their close proximity. "Gorgeous."

Sophie searched his face, wondering why she'd never really noticed him before. Maybe it was because she didn’t know him very well? But he was certainly attractive. His eyes were the darkest shade of blue she'd seen. His brown hair was always styled to perfection. Cutting jaw—no scruff. Smooth.

Hm.

"I should go. You—you need to sleep it off." She took a step back and tried to clear her head. "Goodnight, Josh." She turned around and headed back to the party.

*

Sophie didn’t see Josh the following two days, but since their encounter in the hallway, her mind strayed to him often enough.

It was so weird. Almost foreign to her now. She hadn't been interested in anyone but Tennyson in ages, so she didn’t really know what to do. Hell, while she'd lived in Australia, she'd practically forgotten what sex was—even with fingers and toys. She'd lived and breathed work.

She could worry about that another time, though. Today she was helping Brooklyn look for a new apartment, and then she wanted to take Brooklyn and Maliah out for dinner.

"Well, that was fucking disgusting." Brooklyn sighed and got in the car after yet another building had grossed them out.

Sophie turned the key in the ignition and pulled away from the curb. "I feel so stupid. I thought it was easy to find a place in LA."

"Sure, if you have the money." Brooklyn blew her a kiss. "But I'm not complaining. I've come a long way from where I started. Plus, with Ken moving to Philadelphia, nothing's gonna ruin my day."

Yeah, her ex was something else. Ken forgot birthdays, stood Maliah up constantly, and didn’t care about her in general. It pissed Sophie off so much, so when Brooklyn had told her about Ken's moving, they'd celebrated together.

"We'll toast to his deadbeat ass being Pennsylvania's problem tonight at dinner." Sophie slid on her sunglasses and got back on track. "But back to the apartment search. What about Pacific Palisades?" She loved living there.