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“No.” I shake my head. “Declan’s friends came to hold him back before anything could get too ugly.” I pause, tilting my head. “But it was pretty ugly.”
“I’ll say,” Reagan says, letting out a low breath. “God. I can’t imagine. So you went back to his place—”
I try to explain everything as best as I can, leaving out the most personal details from Declan’s story and glossing over the sex, even though Reagan tongue-in-cheek begs me for details.
“It’s weird,” I say. “The big takeaway for me was that I didn’t know Declan as well as I assumed.”
“What do you mean?” She pulls her feet up onto the couch, sitting cross-legged, and cradles her wine glass.
“His whole business is self-made. I just assumed he built it with his dad’s money, but I guess not.” I shrug. “It kind of makes sense. He’s really driven. He doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who had everything handed to him, and now I know why.”
“You seem a little conflicted about that,” Reagan observes.
“It’s a little intimidating,” I admit. “It was already so intimidating, you know? The whole situation, I mean, and of course, him—his looks, the way he carries himself, everything. But this is a new kind of intimidating.”
“What kind?”
“Well—he comes with baggage.” I sigh, taking another drink. “There’s drama. He almost got into a brawl with his father in his grandmother’s living room. That kind.”
Reagan gives me a knowing look. “But you’re still on board.”
She looks comfortable, with her legs crossed on the sofa. I kick off my shoes and pull my feet up onto the couch, turning to face her. “Of course I’m on board. I’m fucking falling in love with him.”
Reagan’s eyes go wide, and she lets out a little squeak. “Sophie!”
“I’m serious,” I say, my cheeks burning. When the words first spilled out, I wasn’t thinking about them at all. Now that my brain has caught up to my mouth, I find that I don’t regret them at all.
“That’s a huge deal!”
“Yeah.” I shrug and take a sip from my wine glass, trying to be nonchalant. “Well. I’m a little scared, obviously—it’s a little scary to be this invested in someone with this much baggage. But there’s this side to him that I can’t help but love. He’s a lot deeper than he seems, and I want to know everything.”
Reagan sighs, her eyes huge, and rests her chin on one hand. Abruptly, I realize that there’s a cloud of sadness in her gaze.
I frown. “What’s wrong? Everything okay?”
She shrugs and waves a hand like she wants to dismiss the question. “Of course. Of course. It’s nothing.”
“It’s not nothing. Come on, what’s up?”
She lets out a long sigh. “It’s Caleb,” she starts, and I already know where she’s going. “We broke up.” Now it’s her turn to try on that mask of feigned nonchalance.
I put my hand on her knee in sympathy as she continues, “It’s been a long time coming. The long-distance took its toll, and when we found out that he would be in Milwaukee for another year we decided to just call it quits.”
“Maybe it’s for the best,” I say. Reagan has never been the type to like when people sugar-coat things. “You’ve seemed unhappy for a while now.”
“When we talked last week he just seemed a million miles away, and I don’t mean physically. Do you think he found someone else?” she asks. Her eyebrows knit together as she conjures this scenario.
“Don’t do that to yourself! Long-distance is hard and you guys gave it an honest try. Sometimes things just don’t work out.”
“You’re right,” she says, “It’s just a shame. While your love is blooming mine is withering on the vine.” She gestures with her wine glass for emphasis, and a little splash of Moscato falls onto the rug.
I can tell she’s upset, and feeling the wine. I want to be able to cheer her up; she’s been there for me throughout all of this drama with Declan. But it’s hard to comfort someone at this stage of a breakup.
“Look on the bright side,” I manage. “Maybe now you’ll get your own suave billionaire.”
She chuckles, but I can tell it’s still a bit too soon. I hide my grimace. Oops.
But Reagan always manages to bring it back around. “Suave billionaire with daddy issues,” she retorts, and we both laugh.
