AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She grins and pulls out her phone. “Deal.”
We settle into the couch for a few hours of a baking competition show. Even mindless TV watching and Chinese food can’t do anything to ease the tension in my chest. I can’t stop thinking about Declan. At least half of my brain is occupied with him at all times.
Eventually, Reagan has to leave. She gets up, hugs me, and says, “Make sure you get some rest tonight, okay?”
“Okay.”
She pats me on the shoulder, then heads back out into the hallway.
Rest seems like a good idea. It’s only nine, but I’ve had an exhausting day, and I’m more than happy to go to bed early.
As I’m brushing my teeth, my phone buzzes and lights up on the sink. I pause with the toothbrush sticking out of my mouth to check my notifications.
DECLAN: Hey, Spitfire. I’m sorry about how everything went this weekend. I wanted to give you a better birthday celebration than that. And I’m sorry I didn’t get to see you today. I miss you like hell.
I take a slow breath of relief, and finally, my tense body relaxes a little bit. I finish brushing my teeth and rinse out my mouth, then snatch up my phone as I head back to my bedroom, typing out a response.
ME: I miss you too.
Chapter 47
Declan
Monday is the most hellish day of my career so far. Not even finals week in college, or any of the several corporate mergers I’ve overseen, could touch it for sheer amount of stress packed into twenty-four hours.
I’m in the office at five in the morning, and a dozen frustrating meetings later, it’s dark outside of my windows. I still have hours of work ahead of me, a mountain of emails, and at least two more meetings, if one of my few loyal shareholders and the guy from legal agree to show up tonight.
Despite being fully tuned into this catastrophe all day, I still spent a good portion of it thinking about Sophie—and kicking myself.
Why does my father have to ruin everything?
Knowing him, he tracked my plane and waited until I was out of the country to strike. Maybe he even looked up when Sophie’s birthday was, just to make sure he would have everything in order in time to fuck me over as bad as he possibly could.
I wouldn’t put anything past him.
I saw her once today, and I could only make fleeting eye contact with her. But as soon as she disappeared from my sight, I felt a tightness in my chest that hasn’t left me all day.
At nine o’clock, I get a brief window. I’m caught up on emails and calls. My next appointment isn’t for at least half an hour—that’s how long it’ll take my general counsel to get here from Jersey. For the first time all day, I finally get the chance to take a breath.
Immediately, I pull out my phone and text Sophie.
She reads it almost immediately. I sit there, staring at the screen, for two full minutes before her response comes through.
SOPHIE: I miss you too.
I breathe out, my chest loosening.
Okay. Not everything is a total disaster.
I tap her contact at the top of the screen and call her. She picks up after two rings.
“Hello?”
Her voice is soft and tired, like she’s about to go to sleep. God, I wish I was there with her, my arms around her.
“Hey, Spitfire.”
“How are things going?”
