Chapter 17
CHAPTER 17
SOPHIE
“ I ’ll be right back,” Will reassures me from the entrance as he rustles into his jacket, the sound echoing in the living room. “Just hang tight.”
Will has been here for twenty-four hours, nonstop. Despite me telling him we were fine and that he could leave, he wouldn’t budge. It’s probably a good thing he did, because I ended up being sick a few more times, and so did the girls. He kept Julian fed with bottles, and he watched over the girls whenever I went in the nursery to pump milk. Now I haven’t thrown up in twelve hours, and I’m able to feed Julian at the breast. But I can’t imagine hauling myself and the girls all the way to the grocery store when we’re still feeble and dizzy.
“I survived on my own for a year,” I call out, eliciting a squeal from Julian in my arms. “I think I can hold down the fort.”
We’re running out of medicine, and I don’t have any bread left to make toast—a great snack of choice when recovering from whatever bug this is. I was supposed to go grocery shopping yesterday, until all my plans got halted by this sickness. So, when Will offered to go out and grab us a few things, I didn’t object.
Still, there’s a slight pinch in my chest when the door closes behind him.
It hasn’t been five minutes since Will left when my phone rings from the coffee table. Barely moving from the couch, I stretch out to grab the phone and see Matt’s name on the screen.
I hold back a snarl. So now he’s calling me back?? Then I pick up and speak before he can. “What took you so long?”
“I got held up at work.” That doesn’t explain why he didn’t call me back last night or earlier this morning, but I’ve long since abandoned arguing with this man. “What’s the issue?”
“The girls are sick.” My voice is still hoarse.
“Okay …” He sounds confused. “And you can’t handle that?”
I roll my eyes. “Typically, yes, Matthew, I can handle that. But I caught whatever they have.” I think about Will, who dropped everything—including his other clients—to come to my aid. Something blossoms from the bottom of my chest before I can smother it. “But you know what? I don’t need your help anyway, since Will decided to step in. So you can just go on about your day now.” No one needs you, Matt. Least of all me.
“Will?” Matt’s voice is bitter and loud. “Will Béchard?”
“Yes.” Despite a new wave of nausea coming up, my voice is steady.
Next to me, Gwen stirs. She looks up at me with big eyes clouded with pain. My baby.
“You let that prick around the girls?” Matt exclaims. Seems like he took Will’s departure from their friendship quite personally. Good.
My brow furrows. “You didn’t give me much of a choice. Anyway, he’s the one who offered. I could barely feed Julian.”
There’s silence on the other end of the line, except for Matt’s breathing, which gets louder with each passing second.
“Mommy, what’s wrong?” Gwen croaks next to me.
I cover the phone with my free hand and give her a reassuring smile. “Nothing, sweetie. I’m talking to Daddy.”
“Oh.” She nods and closes her eyes with a small smile. “Is he gonna come take care of us?”
Her words squeeze my heart in tiny little fists. Matt chooses that moment to finally speak. “I’m coming over to pick them up.”
My breath catches. “This isn’t your time with them,” I retort. “You can’t just pick them up when you feel like it, Matt.”
“You’re sick,” he bites back. “I’m not irresponsible, Sophie. I’m coming to pick up my girls. And I’m sure as shit not letting that asshole take care of them in my place.” Before I can argue, he hangs up.
My pulse starts to race, and so do my thoughts. I’m conflicted; on the one hand, I did ask Matt to step up and take the girls a bit more often to give me time to work on my business, if only in the short-term. And even though Will is here helping me, I can’t deny they should be with their father instead of their sick and weak mother right now.
On the other hand, we were doing just fine. And even though it makes absolutely no sense, there’s a desire pulling at me from deep within. Looking at it head-on makes me dizzy.
I want Will to stay a bit longer.
Yes, I do. Because right now, I feel like I’ve been getting to know him from a completely different perspective, and I’ve had so little time to do so. But will he stay if I don’t need help with the girls anymore? There’s still Julian, but I’m not helpless. Plus, he probably has a bunch of other stuff to do that doesn’t involve caring for an overwhelmed mom who smells like puke.
“So is Daddy coming?” Gwen asks as she scoots closer to me. She leans her head on my thigh and closes her eyes again.
I stroke her hair as I ponder everything. “Yes, he’s coming.” There’s a pit in my stomach I can’t dig out. I have to stop thinking about Will. About the way his shirt rides up his defined back when he’s reaching for a bottle, or the way his strong arms hold Julian as if he were his own.
What would those arms feel like around me?
No. I squeeze my eyes shut. I am absolutely not entertaining these thoughts. Is Will way hotter than he has any right to be? Sure. Is the vision of him caring for us while we’re sick arousing feelings my body hasn’t felt in over a year? Maybe.
But it wouldn’t be worth it. As much as I’m sure a night with him would make me see stars, I don’t do one-night stands. Or several-night stands. I can’t imagine opening myself up to someone like that—letting myself be vulnerable in that way—without a deeper connection first. And in knowing it would never last.
So it’s out of the question.
“Okay,” I say with a sigh, softly pressing against Gwen’s back. “Let’s get you ready before Dad arrives, then.”
I spend the next ten minutes pulling Heather from a groggy sleep and getting them ready to go; at least both of their fevers seem to have broken. From how woozy I feel as I’m coaxing them into clean clothes and packing their suitcases, I don’t think mine has broken yet.
I’m just zipping up Heather’s suitcase when the doorbell rings. “Come on in!” I yell from Heather’s room; the door opens and heavy footsteps walk into my home. I head back to the entrance, dragging the pink and flowery suitcase behind me with way too much effort for what it should be.
I’m out of breath by the time I reach Gwen’s suitcase in the entrance. Matt is standing there with his arms crossed, his white-blonde curls mussed, a deep scowl marking his soft facial features. “Holy shit, you look like hell,” he breathes out upon seeing me.
“Dad, you’re here!” Gwen’s voice echoes from the living room. Matt’s head immediately turns toward the sound.
“Like I said, I’m sick,” I retort flatly.
He gives me another look before he heads to the living room. He comes back out with Gwen in his arms; she’s snuggling her face in her father’s neck. “Where’s her jacket?” he says dryly.
I open the entrance wardrobe and hand him Gwen’s baby blue autumn jacket, then head into the living room to grab Heather. She’s fallen back asleep, so it takes some effort to get her into her jacket when I bring her back to the front door.
“Let’s strap them into the car, then I need to talk to you.” Matt scoffs under his breath. The look he gives me could pierce through me, but I don’t let it. I don’t care what Matt thinks of Will. I gave Will enough hatred for both of us. And now that I’m seeing him in a new light, I’m not going to let Matt poison my chance at having a friend.
Because even though I’m nipping my physical attraction to him in the bud, I wouldn’t mind having another friend. Especially one who likes being around my kids.
“Fine,” I respond without much enthusiasm. Once the girls have their boots and hats on, we bring them out to Matt’s SUV and strap them in. The car is still running to provide heat against the day’s harsh chill.
“I love you,” I whisper in Gwen’s ear before giving her a soft kiss on the cheek. I do the same to Heather, then head back inside to grab their suitcases—and to endure whatever Matt has to say.
As I’m walking back up the stairs to my door, I hear Matt say to Gwen, “I’ll be right back, honey. Don’t worry, okay? I’m going to take proper care of you and your sister.”
I roll my eyes at the saccharine tone in his voice. I’ve barely managed to step in and grip the smallest suitcase when Matt enters and slams the door behind him. He stands tall, trying to look imposing, but he doesn’t scare me.
I straighten up and release the suitcase, turning to face him directly.
“You should have called my mother if yours wasn’t available,” he spits out. “I can’t believe you’d be this irresponsible with our kids, Sophie.”
“Irresponsible? You’re the one who didn’t answer the phone. And I’ll be damned if I call your mother.” The woman never liked me. Even when I treated her son like a king. I think she would have preferred if her son chose a domestic woman who’d stay home with the kids instead of running her own business.
Matt gets closer. I don’t back up. “Like I said, I got held up. And it is not your place to bring Will around the girls.”
“Not my place?” I scoff and point to myself. “I’m their mother. And Will finally woke up and realized how much of an asshole you are, which gives me even more reason to have him around.”
“So is that it?” Spittle flies around his mouth. He leans even closer, our chests touching, his eyes fiery. “You’re trying to get back at me?”
Suddenly, the door swings open behind Matt. Will stands in the doorway, eyes wild like I’ve never seen them before. All of a sudden, he looks so much more imposing. There’s an aura about him that I can’t quite pinpoint, but if I were the one he was staring at, I’d want to shrink back into myself.
But it just so happens that it’s Matt he’s looking at, not me.
Matt swings his head to look at Will. Their eyes meet, and for a moment, there’s a tight silence. Something in the air is about to snap. Matt isn’t shrinking back; on the contrary, he puffs up his chest and makes a slight move to get closer.
“You don’t belong here,” Matt says, breaking the tension first. “What do you think you’re doing, hanging around my girls?”
Will narrows his eyes. Then, he shuts the door with his foot without facing away from Matt and me. “It’s none of your business what I’m doing here,” he replies with a steady voice, but there’s an edge to it I’ve never heard before.
Matt stays still for a moment, then chuckles once before craning his neck toward me. His eyes look me up and down with vitriol. “So that’s it, then, huh?” He glances back at Will with another chuckle. “I always knew you wanted to fuck her.” Then he turns back to me. “But to think you’d stoop so low as to whoring yourself out to him just to piss me off?—”
Will is so fast I don’t even see his fist move, but the gut-wrenching crunch echoes through my entire body when it meets the side of Matt’s jaw. Time stops; Matt veers sideways with an oomph , stumbling closer to me. My eyes keep shifting from Matt to Will, and I can’t choose where to focus; that fire I saw in Will’s eyes earlier is ablaze, threatening to consume him.
“You fucking prick,” Matt spits out as he straightens back up. As he’s about to swing, I jump to him and grab both of his arms to hold him back.
Matt may be stronger than me, but not by that much. I’m heavy with a strong enough grip to keep him in place while Will moves aside; even though I can’t see it, I can guess that Matt is foaming at the mouth from the snarls that are escaping him.
“That’s enough,” I say firmly through clenched teeth, doing my best not to scream. I tighten my grip against Matt’s arms until my nails are digging into his skin, and he gets the message; he stops struggling. “Get out.”
He turns to face me again, his face wild with rage. One hand moves to cup his jaw, which is now painted an angry red. “You know what, you both deserve each other,” he spits out, his eyes on Will, who’s now further away by the kitchen table. “You get that one for free. But touch me again and you’re dead.”
“Speak to Sophie like that again, and you’ll wish you were dead,” Will responds, his voice still steady. How he’s keeping himself this calm, I can’t fathom.
Me? I’m anything but that. I should be frightened, but instead, every nerve in my body is lit up brighter than the sun. I’m alive with primal want.
Matt looks like he’s about to utter a rebuttal, but I grab his shoulder and start pushing him toward the door. “Out. I’ll be back for the girls tomorrow morning; have them ready by seven.” Still pissed, he lets me push him outside, and I slam the door in his face.
I turn and lean against the door, the nerves suddenly catching up to me. My nausea is back, and I can’t tell if it’s from the flu or from everything that’s just happened finally catching up to my body. Cold prickles spread through me as my heart hammers against my chest. The flames of desire are stoked for now.
I raise my head and meet Will’s gaze. He doesn’t waste a second and closes the space between us in two long strides. His hands cup the side of my arms in a soft touch. “Are you okay?” he asks, and for the first time since he’s come back, his voice is unsteady. Gone is the wild flame in his gaze, leaving space instead for deep, warm concern.
And the want is back.
As I look up at him, a deep urge sweeps my entire body; all I want to do in that moment is close the small gap between our lips. Seeing him swept up in this moment, going from fiercely protective to so caring, is lighting up my core in a way it hasn’t in a long, long time.
I blink once, twice, then sweep this ridiculous desire to the back of my mind, where I hope it goes to wither and die. I already told myself I’m not pursuing this. “I’m fine.” I look down at his right hand on my left tricep. “Never mind me, are you okay?”
Will looks down at his hand, then seemingly catches up with himself and winces. He lets me go, taking one step back, and my skin screams for his touch on my now cold arms. “Shit.” His knuckles are red with one patch of skin ripped away from the impact. He opens and closes his fingers once, then looks back at me. “Sophie, I’m so sorry.”
“Sorry?” I can’t fathom what he could be sorry for. That was the most epic thing I’ve ever seen. Seeing Matthew reeling from the impact after running his mouth satisfied a year-long itch. “I should be thanking you.”
“That was inappropriate,” he says with a shaky voice as he cups his injured hand with his left one. “And that could have escalated everything and put you in danger.”
“Will.” This time, I’m the one who takes a step closer. I softly take hold of his right hand. When he lets me, my toes tingle from the contact. So many words rush to my brain at the same time. I want to apologize for misjudging him. I want to give him a fucking medal for doing to Matt exactly what I’ve wanted to do since I found him cheating last year.
But all of these thoughts are pushed aside when I remember what Matthew said to Will right before he called me a whore.
I always knew YOU wanted to fuck her.
What did that have to do with anything? That’s what I want to ask Will—why would Matthew think that?
I tighten my grip on Will’s hand and open my mouth to speak, only to be interrupted by a wail. I close my eyes in defeat. Julian.
Instead of asking the question at the top of my mind, I let go of Will’s hand and give him a bitter smile. “Well, that’s my cue.” I sigh as I leave him there, wishing I could freeze time.