Chapter 13
Colton
“What do you think of this?” Sophie lifted a green minidress for Colton to see.
“It’s fine, I guess.” Colton shrugged half-heartedly, already holding five bags full of clothes she’d bought from other stores. He felt like they’d been shopping for several days, but in reality, it had only been an hour. And it didn’t seem to be ending anytime soon.
Sophie was in town for a photo shoot for Vogue, staying with Colton while she was there.
When she had said "I’ve got a great idea! Let’s spend the day hanging out around town!" that morning, being her couture jockey was not what Colton had envisioned.
“Do you really need me here for this?” Colton huffed, exasperated and exhausted from carrying her bags.
“We’re spending time together. Aren’t you having fun?” Sophie batted her eyes with a little pout.
Fuck no! Dental surgery is more fun!
“Sure. It’s nice to spend time with you,” he whimpered with a shrug.
Sophie smiled and gave him a light peck on the cheek.
“There’s this great new club in town I want to go to tonight. Serena and Chastity are going and asked us to meet them there.” Sophie said, still holding up garments in front of a mirror while admiring herself, ducklips in full effect.
Colton did his best not to roll his eyes. He’d already gone over this several times with her.
“We have dinner reservations at eight.” He reminded Sophie, again. “And Dean invited us for drinks before dinner at his loft.”
“Ooh! I’d love to see his loft! Will his dancers be there?” Sophie grinned and turned away from the mirror for a split second.
“Probably not.” Colton chuckled, remembering Dean’s words from backstage at his concert. “But they do live in the building, so I’m sure he would invite them up if you wanted to see them.”
Sophie cocked her head, a confused look spreading across her face. “They live in his building?”
Colton smiled. He realized it was his first genuine, happy smile of the day. The thought of Dean, and what he did for his staff, brought some joy to this mind-numbing day.
“Yes. Dean actually owns the entire building. He gives all his staff their own apartment, and they pay significantly cheaper rent than they would anywhere else in the city.”
Sophie stopped admiring herself and the garments in the mirror and made eye contact with Colton's reflection, “That’s probably the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard.”
Colton smiled again. “It really is. And it’s a beautiful building. I can’t wait for you to see it.”
Sophie paused for only a moment, then returned to thumbing through the clothes racks. “Okay, so…drinks with Dean, then dinner at eight, and then the club after dinner?”
Colton sighed, feeling his entire body deflate. He didn’t have the strength for this anymore. “Fine, but I cannot be out late. I have a game on Sunday afternoon.”
“You’ll have all day tomorrow to recover.” Sophie replied as she patted his cheek, then gave it a pinch. “You’ll be just fine.”
Colton inwardly huffed. Did Sophie even care that he had a job to do? That he had demands and expectations from his entire team, and millions of fans counting on him to perform at his very best? Football fans expect a championship, not some half-assed, post-party performance.
“I need to find a restroom,” he said. Not that it mattered, seeing as Sophie practically ignored him, too busy sifting through her designer clothing options. Colton dropped the bags and stomped off to find a toilet. He didn’t need one, but he desperately needed a minute to himself.
He planted his hands on the bathroom counter and stared into the mirror.
What’s the deal?
Sophie was a great girl…well, most of the time. That particular day, she was acting like a selfish, spoiled supermodel. She’d been acting like that more and more, ever since Colton proposed.
They used to have fun. Even going clubbing had been fun at the beginning, but Colton was starting to understand it had just been the thrill of a new relationship, and not the club itself.
Now, the thought of spending the evening with Serena and Chastity, and Sophie, if he was being honest with himself, made him want to wretch.
That's not the life he wanted. Not anymore. What did that mean for him? Was it too late to back out?
He had never loved hanging out with Sophie, except for in the bedroom.
The sex had always been pretty good. As good as can be expected, at least. Sex was fine for Colton.
It felt nice, and an orgasm always felt great, but Colton never really understood what all the fuss was about.
For him, sex wasn’t the earth-shattering, knee-wobbling experience people claimed it to be, even though sex was probably the most satisfying part of his relationship with Sophie.
But everything else…all the shopping, clubbing, drinks and dinners with her boring, vapid celebrity friends? Colton was growing increasingly tired of it all. Was that what his life would become once they are married? Endless days of shopping and nights of clubbing? The thought made Colton shudder.
Colton proposed. She said yes. But that’s as far as it had gone. A date had not been set, and no plans had been made for any ceremony, showers, or parties. More and more, he recognized this was not the path he wanted for his life.
Could he back out? Sure.
But what would happen? Would Sophie freak out and verbally trash him any chance she got? Would he be a laughingstock with his team because he couldn’t go through with the marriage?
Would he be skewered by the fans? That’s probably a given. The fans would skewer him for anything, no matter what.
Regardless of the consequences, the reality was becoming crystal clear, and it punched him right in his gut. Dean put him at ease, Sophie stressed him out. Colton would rather spend time with Dean than be with Sophie.
Although, that wasn’t realistic, was it? Sure, they were friends, but Dean deserved love…real, passionate, long-term love. Colton couldn’t give him that.
At the same time, he was beginning to understand those feelings weren’t there for Sophie either. The more time they spent together, the less they had in common, and the less interested he became.
Colton did love Sophie though, even if he wasn't in love with her. The last thing he wanted was to trap her in a lifeless, loveless marriage. That wasn’t fair to her.
She deserved love and passion just as much as anyone else, and suddenly, Colton didn’t feel he could give her what she wanted, what she needed.
Those thoughts haunted Colton for the rest of the day. Sophie seemed oblivious to any of it. Maybe she was too caught up in her own bubble to see it, or maybe Colton was better at hiding it than he thought. Still, he was becoming more miserable by the second.
His misery only lifted at the prospect of seeing Dean later this evening. The thought of drinks at the loft brought a smile to his face as he was dressing for the evening.
Dean greeted them at the door wearing jeans and a ‘St. Olaf’ sweatshirt.
Colton's face gleamed, immediately focusing on Dean’s dancing eyes and bright smile.
Then Colton’s gaze shifted lower, to the jeans Dean was wearing, so tight they fit his beautiful legs and butt like a second skin.
Colton felt his mouth going dry, his throat closing a bit, as the urge to reach out and run his hands across those thighs and squeeze that ass came over him.
Sophie noticed Dean’s sweatshirt and howled in laughter. “Where did you get that? I fucking want one!”
“I don’t get it.” Colton said with a puzzled look.
Sophie scoffed, “It’s from The Golden Girls, it's a TV show.” She turned to Dean. “Rose is my favorite!”
Dean grinned widely. “I honestly love all of them, but being from the south, I have a kindred connection with Blanche.” He cleared his throat, “’We mature faster in the south…I think it’s the heat.’” Dean quoted the show with a thick southern drawl.
“’I think it’s the gin.’” Sophie quoted right back, and they both giggled gleefully.
Colton just shook his head.
Sophie looked gorgeous, in a slinky, emerald-green Versace gown, showing lots of skin while her long brown hair covered her shoulders. Colton was wearing a navy-blue Prada suit, tailored to perfection.
“You two look fantastic. Come in, and let’s get you some cocktails.”
“Dean, this place looks fantastic! You have to show me around.” Sophie smiled, looking around the loft.
With everyone’s drinks in hand, Dean began his tour…
“At first, I was just looking for a luxury apartment for myself.
But nothing I saw was blowing my hair back, and I was searching for my dream home.
Then my realtor suggested new construction, and reminded me I could design my own space.
That really intrigued me, so he started showing me parcels of land where we might be able to build," Dean paused before continuing.
"As fate would have it, we were driving back into the city one day, after viewing some lots south of the city, and we drove by this building. My realtor suddenly turned the car around and parked in front. He turned to me and said, ‘This building is for sale. It’s an old factory and warehouse. You could renovate the entire building, live on the top floor and sell the rest of the units as condos.’ I got out of the car and took a look at the building.
” Dean said as he led them across the loft to his bedroom area, continuing the tour.
“It was completely dilapidated from years of neglect, but at that moment, something clicked in my head. I wouldn’t sell condos, I could have my business office and housing for all my staff and myself in this one building.
Right then and there, I made an offer on the building.
We didn’t even tour the inside first. I knew this was what I wanted and that this was the perfect building for it. ”