He laughs and looks very okay with being the topic of our conversation. “You two have plans?”
“No. She has class.”
He nods his head knowingly. “Ahhh. The roommate.”
Hell yes, it’s the roommate. Has he not noticed? On second thought, he better never notice. “Dude, it’s not like that. Sophie needs a ride and Cara offered my services.”
“She looked like hell this morning when she strolled in here. Cara mentioned something about a concussion. Sucks.”
“That it does. I better get up there. I’ll see you around.” I start to walk away, but my brotherly instinct kicks in full force. I turn around and clear my throat which makes him look up from his paperwork. When I have his full attention, I continue, “By the way, if you hurt my sister I’ll kill you myself.”
He nods his head and smiles. “Noted.”
“Have fun tonight,” I yell over my shoulder before the elevator doors close behind me. Despite my warning, I’m actually glad Cara has a thing for him and not some other douchebag. At least Drew has his priorities straight and seems responsible. He’s making my job easier and he doesn’t even know it.
Knocking on the girls’ door, I wait for one of them to answer. I purposely came a few minutes early so I’d have to come up and get Sophie. Nobody answers, but I can hear music playing. Twisting the door knob, I slowly peek inside in case one of them is standing close to the door. I snicker when I spot Sophie singing into her brush as she fixes her hair. She’s never going to win a Grammy, but it’s incredibly amusing.
“Ahem.” Quickly shutting the door, I look over my shoulder and see Cara standing with her arms crossed. Oh here we go.
“It’s creepy to find my brother peeping into my bedroom! What are you doing Kipton?”
“Oh, calm down. Nobody answered when I knocked. I was entering slowly so I didn’t scare anyone.”
“And it’s not scary to find you with one eyeball pressed into the crack of the door? If anyone saw you, I’ll just die.”
Maybe she has a point. “I’m sorry, Cara.”
“If she’s even naked or half-dressed I’ll get you kicked out of here. I know people, Kipton! She may be the current object of your lust, but she’s my roommate and I really like her. So back off!”
I salute her authority which only pisses her off more. She punches me fairly hard for a chick, but not with enough force to make me flinch. Backing away from her door, I let her go inside ahead of me. Sophie jumps as soon as the door fully opens, realizing we may have heard her rocking out. When she sees me smirking, her cheeks flush. I wink at her, making her blush even more. Something tells me we’re both thinking about her pleasuring herself right now. If Cara wasn’t here, I might even take a chance and kiss her. Shit, I’d love to kiss her right now. But I can’t.
She tosses a few things in a purse large enough to carry a few groceries before resting the straps on her shoulder.
Jingling my keys back and forth between my hands, I give her all the time she needs to finish up. “You ready, Sophie?”
“Yeah, pretty sure I have everything.” There’s still plenty of room inside her giant bag, so she very well may find more shit to stuff in it. Instead, she walks over to the door. Expecting me to leave, I wait until she’s standing next to me before I open it. Nudging her playfully, she smiles back at me. “What?” she asks.
“You look extra short today.”
“Kipton, really? Don’t pick on her,” Cara adds as usual. Her and her damn rules.
“I’m used to it, Cara. I hear it all the time back home. I’m aware I’m vertically challenged.”
Although she was full of life a minute ago, she suddenly looks tired. I also don’t miss the dark circles under her eyes. At least she covered up the hickey. Not that I’d mind if people assumed I put it there, although one on her inner thigh would be so much more fun.
“Hey, it’s okay. I’m not offended,” Sophie says while nudging me as she brushes past me.
I’m left staring at her perky ass. Cara gets in my face, whispering as quietly as she can while still telling me off. “Kipton, I swear if you fuck up my living arrangements, I will kick your ass! Stop it, now. Off limits, remember? And stop checking out her ass!”
I put my hands on her shoulders, forcing her off her tippy toes and out of my face. “Down, girl. I can’t make any promises. Gotta run, sis.”
I hear her growl in frustration as I jog down the hallway to catch up with Sophie. “She’s extra feisty today.” Sophie smiles up at me and I swear it’s the most gorgeous smile I’ve ever been given. If she keeps that shit up I definitely won’t be able to hold back much longer.
“You do look nice; I was just joking about being short.”
She glances up at me, but only gives me a quick one word response. “Thanks.”
We walk side by side, relatively quiet the entire way to my car. She’s nervous as usual, but there’s definitely something else on her mind tonight. Right now she seems indifferent to everything. Then again she has a head injury so her mind’s probably reeling. I open her door for her, watching her slide into the passenger seat. Sophie grabs for her seatbelt right away while I close her door.
I follow suit and when I turn the key in the ignition, my radio is shouting out lyrics on full blast. Quickly grabbing the dial, I lower the volume. “Sorry about that.”
“Not a problem.” She doesn’t even look at me, instead choosing to stare out the window on her side of the car. Checking my rear view mirror, I back out of my parking spot. It’s a short fifteen minute drive to her appointment, so I choose to take her to the famous fifties diner located in the plaza across the street from the imaging center. This way, we can sit and talk for as long as possible before the test. I’m also dying for a patty melt.
The car shuts off, but she doesn’t move. I tap her shoulder to get her attention. “We’re here. You okay?”
She nods her head. “I’m good.”
“Where’d you go? You were spaced out.”
She unbuckles her seatbelt and opens her door. “Nowhere. I’m good,” she says as she climbs out of the car. Of course I stare at her ass again like a dick and then get out of the car myself.
Once inside, I look over the menu deciding quickly on my usual melt and fries. Sophie’s sitting across from me in the booth scanning the menu. “Whatcha getting?”
“I’m not overly hungry. Probably a garden salad and some water.” She closes her menu and lays it on top of mine. What?
“There’s no way you can come here and get lettuce, Sophie. This place is famous for milkshakes and burgers.”
“Coach would kill me if I ate all that. It’s bad enough I can’t practice or exercise, I’ll never get in shape at the rate I’m going. He’s going to cut me, I know it.”
So that’s what’s been on her mind. It all makes more sense now. Remembering back to her drunken confession about being too ugly, I suddenly want to have words with her coach. How the hell can he tell someone the size of Sophie she’s out of shape? She wouldn’t have been given a scholarship if she wasn’t talented. But I know what it’s like to be your own worst critic. I have to word what I say to her perfectly, or she’ll believe what her coach told her. Before I can get a word out, the waitress stops at our table. “What can I get you two?” she asks.
I respond before Sophie has a chance to open her mouth. “We’ll take two patty melts, a large fry, and two chocolate shakes.”
“Coming right up.” Tammy, as her nametag tells me, scoops up the menus and sashays across the checkerboard floor with her order pad and pen.
When I chance a glance at Sophie, she looks stunned. “What?” I question.
“Kipton, I said I need a salad. Why would you do that?”
“You said you need it, but what do you want, Sophie?”
She’s shaking her head back and forth, visibly pissed off with my selection. “It’s not a matter of what I want, Kipton. Nothing ever is. I wanted to live a little last night and look what that got me—a concussion with an entire team and coach who don’t want me in the gym anymore. I’ve never screwed up more in my life than I have this week, so stop trying to tell me what I want. All you’ve done so far is cause trouble with your damn winks and sexy smiles. So stop fucking with me!”