Page 81 of The Irresistible One
My teeth instantly ground, a pain shooting through my head as I realized it wasn’t Hayden in this office.
It was Sophie.
She was sitting in his chair with her hands on the desktop, wearing the same outfit she’d gone running in, with the exception of a zipped-up sweatshirt. There was a softness in her eyes, a gentleness in her lips.
What the fuck is she doing here?
“I thought it would be best if I came straight to you.” She took a breath. “Can we talk?”
TWENTY-SIX
SOPHIE
Colson stood in the doorway of my brother’s office, where I’d been sitting for the last twenty minutes, waiting for him to arrive while mentally rehearsing this conversation. I still had no idea what I was going to say, but whatever it was, it needed to be perfect.
“Fuck no, we can’t talk. I have no interest in speaking to you, Sophie.”
“What?” I was so shocked by his response that it was the only word that came out of me.
His expression told me he was distant and detached. But his tone? His reaction?
Where was this coming from?
“You heard me.”
Another reply that was like a slap across my face.
Was this a joke? Was he testing me? Was he …done?
The longer I looked at him, the more changes I saw from when I’d spoken to him on the beachfront promenade. Hisdemeanor had hardened. His lips grim. Even his posture was off.
“Yes, I heard you,” I started. “I just can’t believe you would say that?—”
“Why are you surprised that you’re the last fucking person I want to see or talk to right now?”
My neck reared back, my head hitting the top of Hayden’s chair.
It felt like I was positioned in front of a jet’s engine, the wind slamming me against a wall.
Why?
Because only a few hours ago, he had been an entirely different person. Upset, yes. But not like this. This was an unexpected level of emotion.
He mumbled something to himself, something I couldn’t quite make out, but it sounded like he shouldn’t be here, that he should be on a plane instead.
“Why?” I tried to fill my lungs. “More like why am I the last person you want to see or …” My voice faded out.
Was he mad because I had overreacted last night in combination with what had happened this morning? Two completely unacceptable situations, so his lack of patience was valid. But that was why I had sought him out. To fix things. Except I wasn’t sure if I could, not with the anger radiating off his body.
“Colson, I know I shouldn’t have run away from you. I should have stayed and talked. I was wrong in doing that. But …” I looked up at the ceiling, wishing it would swallow me.Why is this so hard?“I’m not good at this. I don’t know how to open up, even though I want to and?—”
“And you’re incapable of apologizing.” He gripped the molding at the highest peak of the door. “I know. Lucky for you, I no longer want an apology.”
But he didn’t know.
And he was wrong.
I moved to the edge of the chair and held the lip of the desk. “Colson, that’s why I’m here. That’s why I’m in this office. I didn’t want to have this conversation through text or over the phone. I wanted you to see my face when I admitted how badly I’d messed up?—”
