My eyebrows draw up. I keep quiet, not wanting to interrupt and make her lose her nerve. Call me curious to get more information about her and Liam.
Sophie rattles on. “I created a Fuck It list for my time traveling with Bandini. Basically, it’s a mix of different things I googled, from normal bucket list stuff to sexy items.”
I choke on my drink. “Did sweet Sophie come up with a naughty bucket list? How bold of you.” I waggle my brows at her. She snorts, not holding back.
“I was tired of living the perfect life my dad wanted. So I decided to create a list before I came here.” She pulls out a small laminated square from her purse, unfolding the page so it becomes the size of a standard piece of paper. I have no clue how she did that.
I check out the different items, my eyebrows rising at a few of them.
“Then what’s the connection to Liam?”
“Well…remember the time we sang karaoke in Shanghai?”
I nod my head.
She swallows a gulp of sangria before continuing. “The list fell out of my bag and Liam grabbed it. He knows about it and added, ‘Go on a date with a bad boy.’ See?”
Black scrawl mars the bottom of the page, messing up her perfectly color-coded list of items. Dots connect in my head.
“Oh my God, he offered to help with these?”
Red flush crawls from Sophie’s neck to her cheeks.
“I only agreed to this one date. That’s it, no others because I don’t want his help. No matter how hard he tries. But I wanted to tell you because we’re friends and all, which means we share everything together.” Her honesty fills me with happiness because our friendship has reached a new level of trust.
My brother did, in fact, disagree with the date. Not a shocker.
He paces the floor of my room while I finish getting ready, his feet dragging across the carpet while he mumbles to himself. I snicker as he runs a hand down his face for the fourth time today.
“You’re going to give yourself wrinkles by thirty if you keep that up.” I point to his face with my mascara wand. He crosses his arms against his chest and scowls at me.
“Why Jax and Liam? Seriously, it couldn’t be anyone besides them?”
I give him a pointed look. Yeah, right. Imagine if I had said Noah asked me on a date.
“What about the nice guy you talked to at the press conference last week? Nerdy, has a combover, but can ask a decent question?”
If the combover isn’t enough to ward me away, the suspenders are a hard no.
I shake my head at him and exhale. “It’s a favor for Sophie. She begged me to join her because she didn’t want to go alone with Liam. So here I am. No need to freak out about it.”
He should congratulate me for sacrificing myself for the greater good and my friendship.
“Do you need to wear that?”
I look down at my short red dress and shrug. “Eh, it’s cute. I don’t want to be underdressed since we’re going to a nice restaurant.”
A growl of frustration leaves his lips. His overprotection may be sweet, but the charm wears off pretty quickly when I deal with it weekly.
“Don’t worry, big bro. I’m not even interested in Jax. I would rather be in the hotel room in my pajamas than going out right now.” I find minimal appeal in attending a fancy dinner, unlike my brother who lives for this life, with crowds of people feeding his energy. He loves the glam and glitz of the F1 community. But me? I prefer a cozy life of snuggling up with a good book or a new TV show.
I shudder at the thought of him hooking up with other girls. Damn, Sophie, why did you have to tell me about that?
“Fine, but try to be back here before midnight. I won’t be able to fall asleep thinking you’re out there with them.” He doesn’t have to tell me twice because I like midnight bedtimes.
The last thing my brother hears is my laugh as I exit the hotel room, the door thudding behind my back. My eyes meet Noah’s as he exits his room.
Seriously, he stays on our same floor?
These run-ins are becoming way too common with us. It concerns me since I feel like he’s wearing me down, little by little.
His gaze explores my body before he closes his eyes, his lips moving like he’s saying a silent prayer. His reaction tells me I get a gold star for the red dress choice.
I giggle at the sight of him being rattled, which is so unlike his usual calm and collected self.
“Going somewhere?” His blue eyes reflect two dark pools. My breaths shallow as his eyes rake down my body again. He follows me to the hotel’s elevator bank, meeting my strides, step for step.