Chapter 21
SOFIA
Tarantola – Bresh
“I’m going to kill him.”
“No, you are not,” Alejandra said, dead serious. “Because I’m going to kill him first, after the USL is over and I’ve won the title. I don’t want to be an idiot like your boyfriend.”
“He’s not my boyfriend,” Sofia lowered her voice.
Alejandra rolled her eyes. “Oh, please, are you for real? You’re eating him up with your eyes, and he’d probably bend you over his board and fuck you senseless if he had the chance.”
“Alejandra!” Sofia almost screeched.
“Don’t worry, not many people here understand Spanish.”
“Isn’t it, like, one of the most spoken languages in the world?” Sofia deadpanned.
Alejandra shrugged.
They had ditched the Athlete Zone after saying hi to Carlos.
Her parents hadn’t flown Down Under, and maybe it was for the best. Sitting at the beachfront coffee shop Sofia had spotted earlier, she could now plot how to kill Edward.
Maybe skin him alive. Or feed him to a whale.
No, whales might spit him out. A shark? Possibly.
Though even a shark might choke on someone so rotten.
“Anyways, who’s the girl?” Sofia asked, munching on the chocolate chip cookie she’d bought to go with her coffee.
After 30 hours of travel and jet lag gnawing at her brain, she hoped the Australian coffee would do its magic, or she’d need to double down on espresso.
Her eyes caught Ilias in the water, and before she could stop herself, a warm smile tugged at her lips. He was out in the lineup, and somehow, even from a distance, she recognized him instantly.
“Some groupie.”
“I bet you already stalked her. Give me all the details.”
Alejandra sighed, heavy and dramatic. She didn’t deserve to be cheated on by a moron like Edward. But apparently, men never failed to outdo themselves in showing their true, disappointing colors.
“I’ve seen her around. She’s friends with Brianne, the new Aussie girl.”
“How old?”
“Twenty-something.”
“Jesus, she’s a child,” Sofia muttered.
Alejandra played with her spoon. “Finding out like that, seeing them almost humping on the beach, was fucking brutal. Carlos almost punched him, and honestly, I was ready to let him do it. Gosh, what an idiot I’ve been.” Then she turned to her. “Is this how you felt after Thomas?”
Sofia shrugged. “If you mean: useless, idiotic, with an IQ of zero, poor character judgment, and completely heartbroken, then yes.”
“Should I turn lesbian?”
“I doubt you could turn, Ale.”
She nodded solemnly. Then sighed. “Please, just tell me Ilias is treating you right. That everything’s going fine.”
“As I told you before, we are—” she dropped her voice low, “—fake. So, yeah, it’s going fine.”
“You know he has a crush on you, right?” Alejandra frowned. “He had it before the deal, and now I swear it’s gotten worse.”
“It’s not like that—”
“Tonterías.”
Sofia shook her head.
“Do you like him?”
“I like him as a person. What he did with Thomas… It was sweet. And he’s been understanding, supportive.”
“Told you he wasn’t a monster. But maybe I should rephrase that.” Alejandra’s grin was wicked. “Would you choke on his cock if he offered?”
“Alejandra!” Sofia screeched again. “?Por dios!”
Her best friend burst into laughter; her green eyes gleaming with mischief. “Answer.”
Sofia pressed her lips together and immediately regretted every vivid thought that flashed in her brain, the ones where she’d imagined closing the distance, biting his neck, licking that tanned line of skin right above his waistband, wrapping her legs—
“No. It’s just fake,” she muttered.
“Liar.”
With Alejandra, she could be honest. But her pride was still intact.
Barely. Instead of confessing how often she fantasized about tearing his shirt off or what it would feel like to have him slide between her thighs, she said, “I’m just scared.
My judgment in men is clearly crap, and I don’t think I could handle another heartbreak. ”
Alejandra squeezed her hand. “He’s not Thomas. This guy? He wouldn’t care if you had money or not. He’d kiss the fucking ground you walk on.”
“What if it’s all in my head?”
“It’s definitely not.”
“We’ll see.”