8. Sophia
Chapter 8
Sophia
“How was your date?” Colt asks as he hands me my morning coffee.
“Good,” I sigh, taking a long sip.
“Why do you sound upset by that?”
“Because he’s a nice guy and he’s hot, but it doesn’t matter. He doesn’t want me and I shouldn’t want him.” I stare out the picture window at the backyard.
Snow’s chasing a bird through the yard, but she stops before she crosses the property line. She sits down and watches the bird, waiting to see if it comes back to where she can chase it. She’s such a good dog.
“Why do you think he doesn’t want you?” Colt pulls out the chair across the table from me and rests his arms on the wood. Concern knits his brows together, making him look a little like Cody right now.
Dang, I miss Cody and Jax. They’re exactly what I need at this moment. Cody would wrap his arms around me and kiss the top of my head. He’d tell me Pecker wasn’t worth my time and he’d find me someone better to date.
Jax would be pacing the living room. He’d be ranting about how he’s going to knock on Pecker’s door and demand to know why I'm not good enough for him. He’d threaten to beat the crap out of him and then tell me I'm too pretty for Pecker anyway.
My brothers might be overwhelming and annoying at times, but I know they always have my back. My entire family does and that means the world to me.
“He only asked me out because you told him to.” My brows draw together as reality crashes into me.
Does anyone ever ask me out because they actually want to be with me? I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve been asked out when guys find out who I'm related to. We go on a few dates, but as soon as they meet my brothers or their teammates, I never hear from them again. Why am I never enough?
“If you want alone time with Leslie, I can stay in a hotel. You don’t need to keep forcing Pecker to ask me out just so you can spend time with your girlfriend without me around. I'm not trying to bother you. I thought Leslie was still living alone when I planned this trip. I found out she was living with you the day before I came here.”
“Sophia, you’re not going anywhere. You’re not a bother and I'm not trying to get you away from us. I just wanted to take her on one date. That’s it.”
I glance over at the Christmas tree they got last night. Leslie said he surprised her and then they spent the night decorating it. I came home to a house full of decorations and moaning coming from their room. Thankfully I had my headphones.
“I get it. If we weren’t so worried about Jimmy being here, I’d offer to stay at Leslie’s house.”
“Stop looking for another place to live. I want you here. If you try to leave, I'm going to throw your ass in jail.”
“For what?” I glare at him.
“I don’t know! I’ll think of something!” He throws his arms up in the air and lets them fall to his sides again. “Why are you always so difficult?”
“Because that’s the way God made me. Take it up with him.” I stick my tongue out, making Colt chuckle.
I'm just about to get up when my phone pings on the table. I swipe the device off the cool surface and check to see who’s texting me.
Pecker: Any chance I can convince you to come over tonight and decorate Christmas cookies with me?
Sophia: I’m not sure. Can I let you know in a little bit?
Pecker: Of course. My niece and nephew are over here talking a lot of smack about my decorating skills. They agreed to let me have a partner since it’s two against one. I think you’re the perfect woman for this challenge.
Sophia: Ok, I’ll let you know soon.
Ten seconds after pressing send, my phone starts ringing. Pecker’s name is flashing on the screen with a photo of us from last night. He insisted on taking a picture together and forced me to make it his contact photo.
I mumble something to Colt about needing to take this call and hurry towards my room… the room I'm staying in. I'm not living here. I'm not living in Maple Springs and I need to remember that.
“Hello?” I ask weakly.
After Pecker brought me home last night, I couldn’t fall asleep. No matter how many times I thought about the great time we had, I kept going back to him being forced to ask me out. He didn’t do it because he wanted to.
It hurts more than anything because that was the best date I’ve ever been on. Not only did I have fun, but Pecker is the kindest and sweetest guy I’ve ever met.
“What’s wrong, sweetheart?” Pecker’s deep voice flows through the line, making butterflies swarm in my stomach.
“Why would something be wrong?”
“Because if everything was fine, you would’ve given me some smack talk to pass along to Danny and Bree. Or you would’ve said they were going down. Something to say we were going to beat them.”
“I didn’t even agree to come,” I say softly.
“That’s true, but I still think you would’ve made some joke or comment about beating them if you come… Talk to me, sweetheart.”
“There’s nothing to talk about.”
“I'm on duty right now, but I can be at Colt’s house in three minutes. I don’t think he’ll mind me stopping by. We’re having a rather slow and boring day today.”
“There’s no reason for you to come here.”
“There is if you don’t tell me what’s going through that pretty head of yours.”
I let out a long sigh and shake my head. Why does he have to care? Why can't he be stupid and oblivious like every other guy?
“I'm not sure I want to hang out with you,” I whisper, squeezing my eyes shut.
“Oh… Ok… Well, I wasn’t expecting that… I’ll be honest, that kinda hurts.”
“No, it doesn’t.” I roll my eyes. He doesn’t need to do this just because of Colt. I’ll just spend a little more time in this room and less time with Leslie when Colt’s home.
“No, I'm pretty sure it does. I had fun with you last night, Soph. I'm not going to force you to spend time with me, but I was hoping you would want to.” The vulnerability in his voice has my brows drawing together in a frown. Why would he be upset? He should be relieved he doesn’t need to babysit me anymore.
“You mean like how you were forced to ask me out last night?” I don’t do well with feelings. I don’t like to wear my heart on my sleeve or show emotions, so I get sassy instead.
“What are you talking about?”
“Colt told me about your conversation. You only took me on a date because he asked you to. Of course you did it, he’s your boss and you’re the new guy. You didn’t want to get on his bad side.” I wave a hand through the air like that wraps up this entire conversation.
“Sophia, I like you. I mean I really like you. If I thought there was even a tiny chance you’d stay in Maple Springs, I’d be begging you to be my girlfriend. Yes, Colt asked me to keep you busy last night, but I jumped at the chance. It gave me an excuse to ask you out, knowing you wouldn’t say no. I wasn’t sure if you’d say yes to a date without him helping me.”
“Why wouldn’t I say yes?” I frown, wishing I could see Pecker right now. I want to be able to look into his eyes and know if what he’s saying is true.
“Because you’re gorgeous, smart, and funny. You’re out of my league and I know it. Why do you think I was falling all over myself the night we met? I never do that. I won't claim to be the smoothest talker out there, but I typically don’t make a fool of myself anymore. I instantly knew you could do so much better than me and I didn’t have a shot.”
“Well, that’s not true,” I murmur, unsure of what else to say.
“It is, Soph. And the more time I get to spend with you, the more I realize how amazing you are and how much I don’t deserve a chance with you.”
“Why would you say that?”
“Not only are you this incredible person, but you have this amazing family. This huge support system who probably pumps you up whenever you need it, but they’re most likely right at your side when things go south. If you called your family right now and told them I treated you poorly, what would they say?”
“Cody would drive here just to give me a hug. Charlie would be livid and say you probably have a micro penis. Wyatt would be telling me to forget about you and try to set me up with Covey.”
“Damn, Covey? He seems like a giant teddy bear.”
“He totally is.” I chuckle. “Jax and my dad would be figuring out how to beat up a cop without going to jail and my mom would bake me a batch of cookies so I could eat my feelings. And if Mulberry Lane found out… Let’s just say more people would be storming this town than it has in permanent residents.”
“Exactly. I don’t have that. I have a sister and her kids. No one else. There’s not much I could give you even if we were dating. I'm a small-town sheriff’s deputy. I’ll never be able to give you a fancy house or a lavish lifestyle. Nothing you deserve. You’re literally out of my league in every way.”
“I would’ve said yes,” I mumble.
“Yes to what?”
“A date. If you had asked me out for real, I would’ve said yes. If I was staying in Maple Springs and you asked me to be your girlfriend, I would’ve said yes.”
“Hey, Soph?” I can hear the smile in his voice for the first time and it makes a grin spread across my own face.
“Yeah?”
“Will you move to Maple Springs?”
“Why?” I giggle.
“Because I’d really like to make you my girlfriend.”
“Let’s see how the next week goes. I was debating on extending my stay, but that might kill Colt.”
“If we can catch Jimmy, you could move into Leslie’s old place. There’s no way she’ll move out of Colt’s house now.”
“I guess you better work harder then, huh?”
“I'll work my ass off if it means I get to keep you here a little longer.” A radio chirps and a voice mumbles something I can't understand across it. “Hey, I have to go, but would you be interested in coming over and helping me beat a couple of kids at decorating cookies? Colt didn’t ask me to keep you busy. This is me wanting to spend time with you, but I have to babysit tonight.”
“Yeah, I think I will. But you better tell them they’re going down! They won't be able to beat me.”
“There’s my girl. I’ll text you my address. You can come over around six and I’ll have dinner for us.”
“I already have your address. It’s part of your completed contact information.” I grin.
“That’s right. Perfect. I’ll see you tonight, beautiful.”
“Bye, Peck.”
I fall back onto my bed with a happy sigh. I swear my heart skipped a beat when he called me his girl. I’d love to stay in this town just so I could date Pecker, but I'm not sure I want to live here long term. I don’t think I could handle being away from my family for that long.
But Wyatt had a great idea. I should give it a little bit of time and see if there’s something between us. If there is, we can figure things out. If not, at least I’ll know.
Now, I need to figure out what to wear tonight, and I think I'm going to stop by the grocery store to get some fun things for decorating. After all, I need to make sure I beat all of them.