“Thanks, Sophia. This helps me a lot.” I meet his gaze and see the emotions swirling around in them. I force myself to break away before I do something stupid like reach out and touch him.
“It’s no problem. I’m glad I can help.” I watch him take Max's hand in his as they walk out the door. Once they're gone, I sag against it and try to even out my breaths. I walk to my purse and take out my phone, sending over a quick text to the girls.
Sophia
Can you both meet me at my place in an hour? We need a girl talk ASAP.
They both respond immediately like I knew they would.
Emma
I’ll be there. Everything okay?
Bella
I’ll be there too. What’s going on?
Sophia
I’ll explain everything when you get there. Bring wine.
Bella
On it.
Emma
Me too.
The girls will know what to do because I sure as hell can’t think of how to get out of this mess that I’ve gotten myself into.
“Tell me,”Bella says an hour later, walking into my apartment. She sets the wine down, and Emma comes in right behind her with another bottle. “I’ve got something to tell you, too. Maverick just came home and dropped a bomb on me right before I walked out the door.”
“Let me get our glasses,” Emma says, walking over to the cabinet and opening the bottle of wine. “From the energy in this room, I can tell we’re going to need it.”
“I’m sure my news is going to top Maverick’s,” I sigh, accepting the glass from Emma and taking a long sip. We take our drinks to the sofa and get comfortable before I take a deep breath and face them.
“I had to stay late after school because Max’s dad was running behind at work, which was no problem because you know how I love that little guy.” I set my glass down and twirl my ring on my finger nervously. “Travis is Max’s dad.”
“Shut the fuck up,” Bella whispers.
“Oh my God,” Emma says at the same time. They’re both wide-eyed and staring at me. I already told them about our one night together, leaving nothing out. I was confused andsurprised at how much it hurt me that he left the way he did when I barely knew him, so I needed to talk to them. They kept it between us girls because some things just need to be between us.
“It gets worse. He was as shocked as I was, of course, and he apologized for walking out the way he did that night. He said his life was complicated, and it wasn’t just him he had to think about it. And I get it. I saw the pain in his eyes when he looked at how Max adores me. He’s been through something with Max’s mom because she’s obviously not in the picture. I don’t know if he’s a widow or divorced. God! Do you think he could still be married? I didn’t even think of that.” I groan into my hands. “This is such a mess.”
They both reach out and grab my hands.
“It’s going to be okay, Soph. Whatever happens, it’s going to be okay.” Bella brushes back my hair and gives me a small smile.
“She’s right. It’s going to be okay.” Emma scoots closer and puts her arm around me. “No matter what happens, we will get through this together.”
“Like I said, it gets worse. Travis was telling me how he was sorry he was late and how it’s been hard not having his brothers near him to watch Max on the days he has to work late. How he doesn’t trust a stranger, he barely knows to watch him, and my heart just ached for Max and not having a mom around, and before I could stop myself…I kinda volunteered to be his babysitter three days a week until he gets home from work.”
“You didn’t,” Bella says, shocked.
“Did he agree?” Emma asked. “That says a lot that he trusts you to watch his son.”
“Yeah. I start on Friday. He’s going to text me his address.”
