Chapter Twenty-Two
I reared back so fast, I lost my balance and grabbed a chair to steady myself.
Smoothing down the skirt of my dress, I glared at her. “What are you talking about?”
“You know damn well what I’m talking about,” Denise snapped. She took a step closer to me. “I’ve been watching the two of you all night, and there’s definitely something going on between you guys.”
“There’s nothing going on between Alex and me but friendship.” I crossed my arms over my chest and steadfastly avoided her eyes as I craned my neck around her to see if Alex had returned.
“Bullshit.” Denise jerked my arm until I was forced to meet her gaze. “Alex looks at you like…” She paused, slowly shaking her head. “Like he’s in love with you.”
I despised how my heart lurched, but I especially hated how my tongue couldn’t form words to reply.
Denise clenched her jaw and turned to stare out over the crowd. “You can deny it all day, but I saw you kiss.”
“What?” I choked.
“Yeah, I saw your little kiss on the dance floor.” Denise pivoted, her dark eyes capturing mine. “He’s dating Caitlin, or did you forget?”
“Of course I didn’t forget.” I angrily swiped my hand through the air. “It’s a fact that’s haunted me incessantly.”
Her mouth was a firm line. “Then what are you doing? Why are you getting involved with him? Do you like being the other woman? Why would you possibly want to be with a guy who would treat his girlfriend so cheaply?” Denise suddenly tilted her head. “Are you trying to hurt Caitlin?”
My mouth fell open, and it took me several seconds to recover. “Why on earth would I want to hurt Caitlin?”
Denise looked at me as if I had sprouted a horn from the center of my forehead. “Because she’s lived a charmed life? She’s smart, wealthy, blond, and beautiful. Guys have used you to get close to her in the past.” My friend arched a brow. “And now she’s dating your dream guy.”
Unable to articulate a reply, I stupidly shook my head.
Reaching out, Denise grasped my hand. “It’s okay to want things for yourself, but not when they already belong to someone else.”
“Th-that’s not what this is.” I licked my lips while my mind raced. “I’m not jealous of Caitlin. I love her.”
“You love her so much you’re sleeping with her boyfriend?”
I flinched like I’d been struck.
“I don’t understand.” Denise squeezed my fingers tightly. “You’ve built a whole platform highlighting the discoveries and innovations stolen from women throughout history, and yet you’re willing to steal from another woman. I thought you were a girl’s girl.”
Anger surged up my throat. “You’re not being fair.”
“How am I not?” Denise splayed her arms. “Holy shit, Sofia, what are you going to do when she gets here—”
“Hey, I got us some water.” Alex appeared behind Denise, and his smile slipped as his gaze darted between me and her. “Is everything okay?”
“No, it’s not,” Denise said succinctly. Stepping back, she immediately pivoted on her heel. “I need a shot.”
Alex watched Denise stalk away, frowning. “Did something happen?”
I shook my head. “No, it’s fine. We’re just…” I sighed. “Having a moment.”
The thought of telling Alex what Denise had claimed about me and my character made me want to dissolve into the ether. It’s like my mind conjured Denise to berate me with all the recriminations I had done my best to ignore.
And I was desperate to ignore all those horrible truths now.
Glancing at Alex, I dug deep to drum up a smile. “Thanks for the water. I needed it.”
The water rushed down my throat, the coldness of it shocking my system and helping me settle my rioting emotions.
Alex wrapped one of my curls around his finger, releasing the corkscrew to bounce up. The wrinkle hadn’t been completely smoothed from his brow, but he didn’t look as concerned as he had moments before. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I am.” The song changed to an iconic Celia Cruz number, and I jerked my thumb to the stairs. “I’d really like to dance again.”
“Is that right?” Alex slid his hand around my back to pat my ass. “Then that’s what we’ll do.”
The rest of the night was an exercise in compartmentalizing.
Somehow I managed to laugh and dance with Alex, chat with Camila over the music as we sipped drinks in the booth, all the while trying not to notice how Denise watched me.
She’d been joined by a few friends, and the group alternated between dancing and drinking and chatting at the booth, and anytime I was around, I sensed her gaze on me.
It was so foreign not to feel comfortable around Denise.
To feel judged by her…but even in my rum-clouded state, I understood why my friend was upset.
If the roles were reversed, I would be upset with her, too.
Denise had every right to her anger—I just wasn’t ready to confront it yet.
So I poured my attention onto Alex, which was easy to do because he was so happy to be there. With his sister. With me. I grasped every minute we were together with both hands, because things would be different as soon as Caitlin arrived.
Alex stood next to me as midnight approached, our gazes trained on the clock displayed on a video screen above the dance floor. While the crowd shouted the numbers as they counted down, Alex’s arm slid around my waist as he lowered his head to mine.
“Thank you for making this last year so great,” he murmured in my ear.
“I thought the Scorpions made it great.”
“I mean, it’s my dream job and working with the team has been the highlight of my career.” His hand ran up and down my back. “But meeting you, becoming your friend, has made this move to Phoenix feel right.”
I stared at him from under my eyelashes. “It did?”
He nodded, pulling me closer into his chest. While the people around us shrieked as the new year dawned hopeful, Alex tucked his cheek against mine. “Being with you, Sofia, feels like home.”
The beauty of his words sucked the air from my lungs.
This man confessed to never feeling connected anywhere.
Not with his culture and community, and not even with his parents.
Alex had said he accepted the position with the Scorpions for something new, professionally and personally.
But really, he’d been looking for a place to belong.
A place to finally grow roots. And maybe, just maybe, he could do that with me.
But I needed to be his choice. His pretty words now would mean nothing if tomorrow he returned his affections to Caitlin.
Angling my head back, I met Alex’s gaze. The desire to ask him to choose me, to be with me, sat poised on my tongue. But I couldn’t say the words. Not then, with him looking down at me as if I were the map to everything he had ever wanted. So instead, I kissed him.
The clamor of people around us, their cheers and bustling bodies jostled our own, but Alex and I were lost in each other and I didn’t ever want to be found.
Suddenly, someone tugged on Alex’s arm and he yanked his head up.
“Happy New Year,” Camila cried, giving Alex a side hug while she gripped my hand. Sam smiled at us from behind her.
I watched as Camila rose on her toes to speak in Alex’s ear, but I couldn’t hear what she told him over the noise. But whatever it was shaped a fond smile on his lips, and he turned to embrace her fully.
Watching the siblings, and then Alex and Sam, wish each other a happy New Year made me think of Denise. How I should be wishing her a happy New Year now, and yet she was celebrating elsewhere because of my actions. I had to speak with her because I refused to take this argument into the new year.
Stepping into Alex’s side, I waited until he turned to me. “I’ll meet you at the table. I want to find Denise.”
Alex seemed to understand the importance of this comment because he nodded. “I hope it goes well.”
Hope was what I clung to as I crisscrossed through the club-goers, my head on a swivel as I tried to locate my friend.
Ignoring a group of men who called out to me as I walked by, I slinked by a trio of women taking a selfie when I spotted Denise.
She was standing and chatting with her friends, but there was a new man at her side.
He was tall and good-looking, and his eyes were glued to Denise as she appeared to laugh at something he said.
But the amused light on her face extinguished as soon as she saw me.
I didn’t dare move closer and waited silently as Denise whispered something to the man and then walked toward me.
“Happy New Year,” I said when she came to a stop before me.
Denise dipped her head but said nothing.
Resisting the urge to cross my arms over my chest, I reached for my courage. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry I’ve made things weird between us.”
My friend just considered me.
I licked my lips and forced myself to continue. “I know I’m being selfish. I know I’m being a terrible friend. But…” My throat bobbed on a swallow. “But I care about Alex. A lot. And I don’t know what to do with all these emotions.”
“A good place to start would be telling Caitlin,” Denise said, breaking her silence. “If you want what you share with Alex to be real, you have to be honest. With Caitlin and with yourself.”
Squeezing my eyes closed, I jerked a nod.
Gentle pressure on my arm made me blink my eyes open. Denise’s hand was firm around my forearm.
“I want you to be happy. But your happiness can’t come at the expense of someone else’s.”
My mouth trembled as I said, “I know it can’t.”
Denise’s expression was thoughtful as she wrapped me in a hug. For several long seconds I allowed myself to settle into the warmth of her embrace, and when we finally moved apart, we both had tears in our eyes.
“I’m not ready to leave yet,” she said, glancing meaningfully at the dark-haired man who still waited for her nearby, “but I understand if you want to get out of here. I’ll catch a ride with my friends.”
Although she didn’t say it, I was sure Denise knew I would be going home with Alex. I appreciated that she didn’t make me confirm it.
“Text me when you get home, no matter the time,” I said.