Plot Twist(58)
So when Sophie closed the door behind them, she also gathered her courage. She didn’t wait for Carla to settle in. If she was going to say the things she’d always been afraid to, she would just have to do it.
“Carla, I need to tell you something.” Sophie wrung her hands as she spoke. “I realized that I have this...pattern with people I date where I just kind of let them decide everything for me, like, what we do, where we go, what we eat. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes I like when those decisions are taken off my plate, so to speak, but if this is going to work, I want you to get to know me.”
“Okay.” Carla crossed her arms and studied her. “Do you not want the tacos?”
“No, no, I very much want the tacos. Tacos are delicious. But I’m just saying, like, moving forward.” Sophie gestured in front of her, as if to the future.
Carla gave an affectionate smile and placed the take-out bag on the kitchen table. “I can do that.”
“So you’re okay with everything I said?” Sophie’s hand had instinctively gone to her pacemaker, and she held a finger against the scar there.
Carla opened the bag of food and began to take tacos out one at a time. “I want you to be yourself. If ordering food does that, then you will order food.”
Sophie waited for the familiar swirl of tension that came whenever she was in a situation that might make her unlikable. Confrontation made her skin crawl. She’d spent so much time making sure everyone else was happy that she hadn’t spent much time being clear about what made her happy. But relief swept through her like a balm.
“So how do we do this?” Carla’s hands were on her hips, her stance was wide, and she looked like she was analyzing next steps in a surgical case. “Do you want to talk about what happened between us?”
“Maybe it’s better if we just start over.” Sophie approached Carla and rubbed her hands across her shoulders. “I held back a lot when I was with you, but I want to make this work. I don’t need to hash out everything that went wrong.”
“Okay.” Carla finally relaxed, and her hands fell to her sides. “I just want to be here with you.”
Those words were so sweet and earnest that Sophie wanted them to punch her in the gut with flutters, but none came. Still, Sophie wrapped her in a hug, and Carla embraced her back, and they stayed like that for a few long moments. Sophie breathed in the soapy scent of her and tried not to think about how Dash smelled like the earth and freshly cut wood.
Because the thing was, she could see a life with Carla. They could be good together if Sophie stayed away from Dash.
But when Carla’s fingers wove through Sophie’s hair and pulled her bun loose, Sophie tensed. Carla gently grabbed a handful of her hair and tilted Sophie’s head back so they locked eyes as she searched for permission, but Sophie wanted to take things slow, especially as she learned to set boundaries and speak about her own needs.
As Carla leaned in, Sophie stopped her with a finger. “Could we just hang out tonight? I want to get to know you again before we...”
Carla’s full lips parted, then closed. She straightened and loosened her hold on Sophie, but not unkindly. Finally, she said, “Yeah, let’s just...be together.”
Sophie knew there had been a moment between them, and she’d not ruined it, exactly, but she hadn’t played along either. To her surprise, though, Carla wasn’t upset. She was just trying to recover from the small rebuff. Sophie gave her space by grabbing plates from the kitchen. As her back was turned, she took a deep breath and reminded herself that she’d be lucky to be with Carla—a successful doctor who’d already proven herself to be relationship-ready. Still, as they arranged themselves in front of the TV, none of what they were doing felt quite right. Because what Sophie wanted was to be seated next to Dash, with all those annoying fluttery feelings between them.
24
DASH
Dash wished he was sharing a table with Sophie. But instead, he was seated across from Cindy—or, as he’d known her best, @craftycindy. Cindy was tall and thin and wore her straight brown hair down and around her face. But her curtain of hair couldn’t hide the intense way that her eyes had locked onto his.
Dash regretted agreeing to this meeting. But at the time, he hadn’t seen a way around it. Cindy was only willing to talk if they met face-to-face, and Dash hoped that in doing so he could convince her to stay quiet and leave him and his family alone.
The Sunset Tower had seemed like the best meeting spot option, because celebs loved to frequent the hotel’s restaurant and bar, which meant there was a heavy security presence, so there was backup in case he needed to call over a bodyguard or two. And based on the fact that Cindy’s foot had snaked its way to his ankle, Dash planned to call one over very soon.
Dash moved his foot away from her and wiped at his forehead with the back of his hand. Their table was outside by the pool; being in the open felt safer than a cozy indoor booth, but the summer sun beating down on him only added to the stress sweating.
“I know that you told a journalist about my...recovery,” he said in a hushed tone. He waited for Cindy’s reaction, but she frowned and sat back in her chair, as if confused.
“What? No, I didn’t.” She reached her hand across the table toward his, and he had to lean fully back in his chair to avoid the contact. She slid her sunglasses off and a sincere expression crossed her face. “I would never do anything to hurt you.”