Undone (17 page)

“You
wanna hit?” He offered it to her with a devil-may-care grin, his honey gold eyes watching her carefully to see if she would actually do it.

Sophie hesitated for only a beat before reaching up to take the joint from him. There was always a first time for everything, she thought
dryly, bringing it to her lips. It had a sickeningly sweet smell to it, but Sophie ignored it as she inhaled and dissolved into a fit of coughs. Adam’s laughter brought him to her side, he reclaimed the joint with one hand and rubbed her back with the other.

“You’re okay, just breathe
,” he soothed, no longer laughing, but Sophie could still hear the amusement in his voice. “That’s it, deep breaths…”

“You’re a dick
,” she said hoarsely, once she was able to speak again. She straightened up and tossed him a glare.

He smirked
and reached up to brush a few strands of her hair from her face. “Hey, be nice to me.” He was suddenly way closer than she’d initially realized. “I just saved your life.” It would be so easy to play that game, she thought. Flirt back, lead him on and watch to see what would happen. That little urge, the impulse to do something reckless, just for the hell of it, nagged at her.

“
Yo, Adam, we’re out of beer!” He cursed and Sophie laughed, shoving him away from her.

“The crowd wants more booze.”

“I’ll be right back.”

He didn’t really have time to get back, the guys clamored for his attention and Sophie distracted herself with her phone. She got up a few times to grab something to eat, but otherwise kept mostly to herself. A few hours later the party began to die down, Roan’s friends dispersing. The few that remained waited until the end of the game before they too made their way out of Adam’s loft. Sophie was waiting a bit longer because she wasn’t stupid enough to drive home in her current state, so she got up in search of food and accidentally ran into one of those giggling girls from earlier. The cup of beer the girl had been carrying ended up all over Sophie’s sweater.

“Oh God, so…so sorry…,” she slurred, reaching out drunkenly to wipe away the stain. A guy sidled up to her and gave Sophie an apologetic smile.

“She gets really clumsy when
she’s drunk. Sorry about that.”

“Don’t worry about it.”
She smelled like a bar now. Shaking her head, Sophie went up to Adam who was ushering the last of his guests out before giving her his undivided attention.

“You got a clean shirt?”

He grinned. “I got several. Come on.” Closing the door behind him, he led her up the spiral staircase and into the first bedroom on the right. It was a big and open bedroom with a huge sleigh bed dominating most of the space. It was clean lines, the décor predominantly male with colors in dark blues and greys. A bachelor pad like any other—there were clothes strewn about, an open laptop sat in the far left corner on a desk with a myriad of papers. Adam was an architect of some sort, the sketches of buildings on those papers indicative of his profession.

“Take your pick.” He pulled his cell phone out of his pant pocket and looked at the screen. “I’ll meet you downstairs.” With that he left Sophie to it. She found a white,
V-neck shirt and shrugged into it, taking her beer soaked sweater downstairs with her when she was through.

Sophie found him seated on the loveseat toying distractedly with his phone. “You look like someone kicked your puppy
,” she joked.

“You’re wearing that shirt better than I do.”

She shrugged, raking a hand through her hair as she sidled up to the steel pole that suddenly had her attention. “It looks better off,” was her casual response, wrapping her hand around the pole and trying out a turn. She was facing him now, the pole situated right between her butt cheeks in imitation of something far more intimate.  “Should I show you?”

He looked at her long and hard like he was trying to see whether she was playing him or not. Finally he chuckled softly, shaking his head. “You’re going to get me in trouble.”

Sophie hooked a leg around the pole using a bit of momentum to climb and twirl herself around then she landed back on her feet with a touch of grace. “Trouble with who…Roan?” When he nodded, she rolled her eyes. “Roan isn’t my keeper. He’s my friend…”

The unexpected knock caused them both to turn their heads to the door. Adam rose to his feet and Sophie watched as he went to open the door. Sophie didn’t expect to see Roan and it seemed he hadn’t expected to see her either.
His handsome features went through a gamut of emotions all within a few short seconds and the last was unmitigated rage.

A quick assessment from his onyx eyes took in her current state of undress, her position at the steel pole and the mussed hair that gave the impression of having been bedded. Roan was seething. “What the fuck is going on?” This he asked of his friend, even though his eyes remained locked on the girl who was determined to turn his world upside down. She didn’t cower from him, didn’t even show for a moment that she was affected by his fury as she squarely met his gaze.

“Ro, man, I can explain…”

“You interrupted us,
Ro
,” she snapped. “Adam and I were having a great conversation before you came.”

“Look, Roan…nothing happened, alright man…I didn’t touch her.”

Roan looked at the man he’d known for the last three years. The man he considered his best friend. Adam was good guy; he was loyal and had never done anything to get on Roan’s bad side. He was an easygoing goofball who sometimes thought more with the head between his legs than the one on his neck. But he’d always been a good friend to Roan, trustworthy. If he said nothing happened then Roan believed him. “Let’s keep it that way,” he said a little too coldly, too riled up to give a fuck.

“Get your shit, we’re leaving.”

She scowled. “Screw you…”

“So help me God, Sophie, if you don’t get your ass out of this place in the next five seconds I’m going to physically remove you and you won’t like the way I do it.”

When she failed to move, Roan shifted towards her. “Alright, hold your ass, damn it!” 

She wasn’t in any condition to drive and he knew that too as he led her to his truck. The tension was so tangible that Sophie could practically taste it on her tongue. She’d expected yelling, cursing even, but the thick silence was hell all on its own. He didn’t even seem to acknowledge the fact that she was in the truck with him. When they bypassed the route that was to take her to her parents’ home, Sophie was grateful for small favors. They were headed to his place she realized quickly enough and when they finally arrived, he got out again without a word and Sophie was undoubtedly expected to follow.

Once they were in his apartment he turned to her. “Explain to me what the fuck you were doing at Adam’s place this late,” he demanded in a tone of icy restraint.

“You’re acting like a Neanderthal,” she remarked heedlessly only to gasp in shock when he advanced on her, managing to corner her against the wall with his large frame.

“This isn’t a
fucking
game, Sophie,” he growled darkly, unrecognizable from the man who’d rescued her weeks ago, the man in whose arms she’d wept. He appeared so menacing, seemed so fearsome, virtually capable of just about anything in that moment. Sophie should’ve been scared, but she was simply too intrigued by the glimpse of the predator that lay just beneath the surface. In his dark eyes she was almost sure she saw the eagerness of that predator ready to spring forth and make her prey. He was so close that she could smell his cologne, could feel the lines of his hard body pressing into her yielding flesh. He captured her chin, raising her head to meet his dark, dark eyes that enticed her to lose herself in them. “Fucking Adam isn’t even remotely an option for you.” His mouth was so close to hers, they were breathing the same air, sharing the hunger that vibrated like a living thing between them. And then he kissed her and every fiber of Sophie’s body surrendered to his mastery. It was electrifying, not unlike their first kiss, but imbued with so much more.

She was programmed to respond to him, wired in a way
, that when his hard, sensual mouth settled on hers she wanted nothing more than to be closer to him than his own skin. Her heart was a war drum, blood rushing in every direction to make her dizzy. She clutched at him so that she would not fall. But he made her weak—kissed her breathless, explored her mouth so thoroughly with his tongue that she was overpowered by it all. And then it was over, but Sophie held out hope, kept her eyes closed, inching forward like a moth to his flame to see if he would gift her once again with his soul searing kiss. But nothing.

Her eyes fluttered open to find him looking at her with
shuttered eyes, the hunger she saw there reflecting her own for him. “You always did know how to drive me insane,” he murmured with a self-deprecating grin. “Even when we were younger and I was trying to get you in trouble. You always knew how to get on my nerves. It drove me crazy that I wanted to follow you; I needed to know exactly where you were and what you were up to.” He cupped her face with one hand, his thumb stroking provocatively across her bottom lip. “I’m realizing things haven’t changed that much since then.” He pressed his mouth to her lips, unable to contain the urge. “I know what you were trying to do with me and Adam and I’m just going to chalk it up to you being drunk and leave it at that. But I swear, Sophie, if you pull a stunt like that again, I’m done. You got it?” He was completely serious and suddenly the idea of not having Roan in her life, in any way she could have him, frightened her like nothing else.

“I’m sorry
,” she said profoundly, needing him to know just how remorseful she was.

He kissed her nose with a grin. “Good thing I’ve never been able to stay mad at you for too long.”

~*~*~*~

She liked their little talks
, Sophie thought silently, wrapping her arms around her raised legs and resting her chin on her knees. It was well past midnight, the hour creeping into the early a.m., yet she didn’t feel tired. Sleep was eluding her as it did nowadays and so she’d left Roan’s bed and joined him in the living room on the off chance that he would be awake too. He hadn’t been. But like the good guy that he was, he’d only grumbled the tiniest bit about brats who didn’t know the difference between night and day before drawing the fleece covers back to welcome her onto the futon that was his temporary bed. They were chatting about nothing of real importance, but Sophie enjoyed listening to Roan talk. The rich tenor of his voice made her feel safe. He’d disappeared into the kitchen only a little bit ago and she watched as he made his way back to the futon, two steaming mugs in hand.

“Careful, it's really hot,” he cautioned, taking a seat on the opposite end of the futon.

She watched in silent fascination as Roan brought the mug to his lips and took a generous sip, the
chocolate liquid working its way down his throat. Pulling the mug away, he licked his lips and Sophie averted her eyes, sure that if she continued to stare she’d lose her mind.

“I never did get a chance to thank you,” she said in ways of distracting herself, taking a sip from her own mug. Rich chocolate with the tiniest burst of sugary marshmallow sparked childhood memories of winter nights with her mother. She looked up and found him looking at her.  “The restaurant incident with Andrew.  You handled it like a pro, as embarrassing as it was. I’m glad you didn’t kick us out.”

“No worries, I’ve dealt with guys like your ex before. Mollifying assholes like that is part of the job description. Besides, I wasn’t about to let you go that easily.” His expression was unreadable and Sophie bit her lip, refusing to acknowledge the implication in that last statement. “I wasn’t kidding when I said it was good seeing you again.”

Sophie flushed and raised her mug to conceal her blush. “So you’re a part time manager at Hyacinth and the rest of the time you’re at the garage fixing cars?”

“Pretty much.” He shrugged. “I’m a real boring guy.”

“It’s weird,” she remarked, “I always thought you’d follow in your father’s footsteps—takeover the company, become another power hungry mogul.”

“I don’t know, I guess I wasn’t really suited for that life.” He continued after a brief pause, “I wasn’t cut out for the business world. Too much of a good guy I guess.” One side of his lips lifted just slightly, his grin halfhearted as he stared at her.

“So you just what, left?”

“Pretty much.”

“And your dad let you?”

“He didn’t have much of a choice in the matter. It’s my life, not his. ‘Sides, I haven’t spoken to my old man for some time now. We sort of drifted apart after I started college.”

“I’m sorry.”