“Hopefully, we’ll learn to trust each other, then?”
We cheer to that notion and remain silent for a long while as we both digest the information we have so willingly and recklessly shared with the other. We’ve both placed lethal weapons in the other’s hands, and now only time will tell if they were earned.
After a long moment and another round of drinks, Sofia speaks again. “You know, I’m breaking all my rules with you.”
“How’s that?” I ask. “Sharing too much?”
“Well, that too, but I meant my more practical rules.”
“What do you mean?”
“I never sleep with the same person twice. Not once. Not ever. You’re a first.”
The heat in my body raises as my blood starts to sizzle. What the fuck did she just say? My nostrils flare, and Sofia rears back when she takes in my face.
“What’s wrong?” she asks.
“You have more of the rock star lifestyle than even I do. That’s what’s wrong,” I say with disdain.
“Oh boy. Here we go again,” she says, followed by a dramatic yawn as if she’s bored.
“What?” I hiss.
“You’re about to slut-shame me and turn into a possessive asshole you have no right being. Am I wrong? You’re so predictable, Bren. It’s boring.”
I take deep breaths and count to ten. This woman is infuriating.
She stands and puts away the tequila bottles and grabs the shot glasses off the bar top. She is clearly ending the conversation.
“Unbelievable,” I mutter under my breath and storm out ofLa Oficina.
NINE
Sofia
The week Bren claimed he wanted to spend with me came and went, and not one peep from him. I’m not sure if I’m expecting him to at some point show up or if I even want him to. I hurt his ego, and apparently, he couldn’t take it.
On the day I know Adrian is being discharged from rehab and they will be flying to LA, I receive an enormous bouquet of flowers. The vast majority are still buds in a velvety black. The few that have started to bloom reveal a deep crimson hue inside. I don’t have to open the card to know an extravagance that screams ‘heavy metal’ like this is from Bren.
Why can’twe stop fighting?
We should explore that together and give us a chance.
Still thinking of you,
Bren
He is long gone,so I fail to see the point of starting anything with him. But then the very thought of not starting anything at all with Bren doesn’t sit well in my stomach. I don’t want to want him. But I do. Now I just have to find a way to stop all the want because Brenner Reindhart will try to own me and my heart if I let him.
“Whoa, those are, um...” Ileana’s eyes bulge as she appraises the flowers. “Something,” she says and chuckles nervously. Ileana is a sunny-side-up, sun-dress-wearing, girl-next-door type who wouldn’t appreciate a dark beauty like this arrangement.
I, on the other hand, love them. And they do precisely what Bren intends them to. They make me think of him every time I glance over at the bouquet.
“Who are they from?” she asks.
“Just this guy.”
“It wouldn’t happen to be this guy named Brenner Reindhart, would it?”