I light the candle on the cake, shielding it with one hand as I walk into the party room as we all sing: “Feliz cumpleaños a ti, feliz cumpleaños a ti, feliz cumpleaños a Addy . . .
* * *
Three paparazzi waitoutside the garage entrance to the same building where Bren bought his penthouse condo. Had he not sold it after all this time? I know the men with cameras are shouting something, but I have no idea what they want with the windows completely shut.
My legs become unsteady as we enter the building and get in the elevator. I keep my eyes glued to the changing numbers in the elevator as we ascend to the top floor.
“Are you okay?” Bren asks. “You seem nervous.”
“I guess I am a little,” I say, not glancing his way.
TWENTY-EIGHT
Bren
Irun the back of my hand over the span of her naked arm, and she shivers under my touch. She takes a step away from me in the elevator, as if that keeps her out of my reach. I smile inwardly. Her body still reacts to me. Whether she is with that fucking guy from the bar or not, her body tells a story: she belongs to me, even after all this time.
Sofia gets out of the elevator first, and I trail her out. Her hips are a bit rounder, but she wears the new curves in an incredibly sexy way. Even if she tries to hide these new curves under an A-line dress instead of the second skin dresses that are seared into my brain from before.
Her hair, too, is longer, making her face look a bit softer. She’s changed outwardly, and I’m now wondering what else has changed in the woman I still love. The woman I couldn’t slice out of my heart without removing the entire thing.
After offering Sofia a seat in the living room, she crosses her legs and stiffens her posture. She’s adorable when she is nervous. She clasps her hands on her leg, then brings them to her sides, then back again to her leg like she doesn’t know what to do with them. “Do you have something to drink?” she asks.
I try and fail to hide the smirk building on my face. “How about tequila?” I ask.
Her mouth parts slightly as my eyes search hers. My dick twitches as I wait for a reaction from her body. Yes, Sofia. I remember. I know I’m invoking that shared memory in her.
“No. I meant, like coffee,” she snaps, clearly annoyed.
“Yeah. I can make us coffee. I have sandwiches and fruit whenever you’re ready to eat,” I say.
“Let’s chat first,” she says, but there is something off about her. It’s in the way she fidgets in her seat and keeps biting that lower lip of hers; she’s clearly more nervous than anything.
Where did my reassured badass Sofia go? I guess a lot can change in over a year and a half. I sure have. As I make the coffee, I wonder why she declined a cocktail, even if it weren’t tequila. It would certainly take the edge off, but if she’s not drinking, neither am I, so I stick to coffee too.
I set a mug with coffee in front of her, and I take a sip of my own. She picks it up in her hands but doesn’t drink it. She just twirls the mug slowly in her hands, focusing her eyes there. She can’t even look at me. God, I hate this.
“I’m sorry,” I say abruptly, and her eyes finally meet mine.
“For?”
“Yesterday. I mean, I do want to know if you’re with thathundesohn, but that was no way to ask.”
“Thank you,” she says—not offering more.
“So, are you?”
“That’s where you want to start?”
I narrow my eyes at her. Why is she so damn evasive? “Where would you like to start,Schatzi?”
“Okay, let’s start by not using your little pet name for me. How about there?” Her eye roll is so deep, I don’t know how I keep my laugh inside.
I chuckle. “Okay. I’ll stop calling youSchatzi.”For now, I add mentally. Because I’m determined to get her back. I tried stopping my love for her until I realized that would never happen—not in this lifetime. She’ll always be mySchatzi, even if she’s not with me.
She sets the mug on the table and crosses her arms. “I’d actually love to hear an explanation about your last album, Bren.” Her eyes are accusing as she pins me with an icy glare.
I rub my hand over my face and look up to the high heavens before bringing my eyes back to my beautiful Sofia.