Chapter 52
52
CONOR
C onor took pains to quietly let himself into Christian’s house through the deck. It was after eight in the morning and he had ended up going home not with Natalie, but with a young woman named Sienna. She had been fun, eager, and just the distraction he needed. Now he hoped to slip into his room to sleep it all off.
But as he started past the kitchen, he noticed Sophie peering into the refrigerator. Wearing very short shorts and a tank top with a visibly hot pink bikini top under, she was a delicious sight.
“Morning,” he said.
She turned quickly and then smiled at him. “Hi. Have a good night, then?”
He raised his eyebrows. “I did, actually. You going to lecture me on chasing girls again?”
“Nope. Hungry?”
He smiled. “Starved,” he told her.
“If I can get this thing to work,” she said, and gestured to a waffle maker on the counter, “you’ll be all set.”
He sat down in the corner of the breakfast nook and leaned his head against the window behind him with a yawn. In a half-daze, he watched as she squeezed oranges for fresh juice, sliced strawberries, scrambled eggs, fried bacon, and pressed waffles out of the iron.
“Coffee?” she asked as she placed a full plate and juice before him.
“No, I’m headed straight to bed after this. Thanks, though.”
He piled the eggs, bacon, and strawberries onto the waffle, covered the whole thing with maple syrup, and folded it like a taco. He devoured it in three bites and drained his glass of juice.
“I’m sorry I was a jerk to you last night,” she said.
The apology took him by surprise. “No, you were fine. A bit drunk, but no harm in that,” he said with a smile.
He wouldn’t have changed a thing about the night before. Watching her karaoke performance had been thoroughly enjoyable, as was the flirty way she acknowledged the attraction he felt for her. Even if she did make the point that she was in love with Gavin. Of course she was. He knew that. And that was why he took the out she had offered by suggesting he had kissed her just because she was convenient.
But Sophie Kavanaugh was not a girl one wanted simply out of convenience. She was the kind of girl you willingly followed into all kinds of inconvenient situations, as he was only beginning to understand.
“I shouldn’t have said what I did, though. I don’t want you to think I’m playing games.”
Sitting up, he examined her more closely. There was a little line in between her eyebrows, revealing her worry. It occurred to him then that she was feeling guilty over the fact that his attraction to her wasn’t one-sided. That she was beating herself up over being drawn to him.
As flattering as that was, he suddenly didn’t want to toy with her. Not if it meant she would be hard on herself over it. No, he’d rather help her rationalize it away. To help her understand that attraction could be seen as just a basic physical response. It didn’t equate to love or any kind of betrayal—not necessarily, at least. Because surely the nervous way she played with her glass of juice meant she was worried she’d done something really wrong.
“So, em,” he started, “I know you don’t care to see me hook up with girls like I do?—“
“You can do whatever you want.”
“Yeah, you’re right. I just mean to say that it’s all harmless. You know, these … connections I make, they’re surface-level. It doesn’t really go beyond that. But finding and indulging in that attraction, that’s definitely a rush. Sometimes, I’ll admit, that rush overtakes me, sweeps me away. But, in the end, I’m content to let it go. You know what I mean?”
She met his eyes and kept his gaze for a long moment. In the silence between them, he thought they shared an understanding. Their attraction and whatever flirting or line-crossing they’d done, it wouldn’t lead to anything more.
When she gave an almost imperceptible nod, he released a breath, only now aware of his need to put all of this into perspective. He’d made a mistake on the beach that night. It was reckless and entirely unlike him to lose control. But now, they could move forward and put all of that behind them. They could return to their roles. She as his best friend’s girl. And he as the guy on the prowl—for other women.
He finally noticed that she was sitting opposite him with nothing but coffee and juice in front of her. “You’re not eating?”
The change of topic made her blink and sit up straight. “No. I couldn’t sleep, so I thought I’d get things ready for later. I’ll wait until everyone gets up.”
He ate the slices of strawberries that had fallen out of his waffle taco, then took his time wiping his mouth and hands with his napkin.
Finally, he sighed and hoped it didn’t sound as wistful to her as it felt to him. “This domesticity suits you. And me, for that matter. Thanks for the trouble of this. Very sweet of you.”
She smiled in response as she arranged her glass and mug on the placemat just so.
He stood and stretched. “Gavin’s a lucky man indeed,” he said, before leaning down to quickly kiss her on the cheek.
Shuffling off to his bedroom, he shook his head at his predicament. He was infatuated with his best friend’s fiancée. Despite what he had just tried to tell her, it wasn’t just physical attraction—not for him, at least. His heart was absolutely involved, too. But there was nothing he could do about it.