7
ROCCO
Our dessert arrives—a rich chocolate mousse with a red fruit coulis that has a tartness to counteract the sweetness of the chocolate. I watch Sophia’s mouth with fascination as she places the spoon between her lips and gives a moan of satisfaction that goes directly to my cock.
I have to ask the question. It’s been eating me up all evening. I don’t want to make things awkward or tense between us, but I have to know.
“Sophia, after you moved with your parents, how come you never contacted me again?” I can feel the way my expression changes, pinching with the emotional pain of all those years ago. She’d been my best friend and my girlfriend, and she’d just upped and vanished.
She glances down at her almost empty plate, and I immediately wish I hadn’t said anything. “I did try to call you at first, but your dad kept answering. I guess he never gave you any of the messages?”
This is news to me. I had no idea Sophia had called me.
“No.” I shake my head. That son of a bitch. “He didn’t tell me. But you could have kept trying. Even if weeks, or hell, months had gone past, I still would have wanted to hear from you. Nothearing from you, it was like someone had come along and ripped out a piece of my soul and then just expected me to carry on like normal. It wasn’t pretty, Sophia. I got into some bad shit after you’d gone. I was so angry.”
To my shock, tears fill her sky-blue eyes.
Immediately, I shoot my hand across the table, gripping her long, slender fingers in my fist. “Fuck, sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you.”
She shakes her head and brushes away a stray tear from her cheek. “No, I’m sorry. It’s my fault. I stopped calling you because I got ill and I didn’t want you to know. I figured you were young and free, and the last thing you needed was some sick, long-distance girlfriend dragging you down.”
Her words shock me, and I sit back in my seat. “Ill? What do you mean you were ill?”
“It’s fine,” she says. “I had some problems with my kidneys and I was in hospital for a while. That’s why I never got back in touch.”
“Jesus, Sophia. You should have told me. I’d have come up to see you.”
She gives me a strange, tight smile. “That’s exactly why I didn’t tell you. I knew you well enough to know you’d drop everything and probably hitchhike up to see me.”
“That’s exactly what I would have done,” I growl, suddenly angry that she’d taken that decision away from me.
“But I didn’t want you to. I didn’t want you to give up your whole life for me. You had so much going for you, even though you couldn’t see it. You were young and gorgeous and healthy, and incredibly talented, even though you wouldn’t have admitted it. I wanted you to go on and live your life, and youhave, Rocco. You did exactly what I thought you would, and you left that little town and went to university and you’ve created a career and a life for yourself.”
I know my expression has darkened but I can’t help myself. I don’t know if I want to jump over the table and pull her against me and hold her tight and never let go, or if I want to knock the table over and storm out of the room.
“You could have been in it,” I mutter instead. “That should have been my choice. I could have had all those things with you, as well.”
But she shakes her head. “No, you couldn’t have. You’d have felt obligated to be with me through all the tests and the operations, and you’d never have had time for university, or fun, or partying.”
I lift my gaze back to hers. “Is that why you’re not drinking?”
She nods. “Yes. I can have the occasional glass, but much more wouldn’t be good for me.”
I almost don’t want to ask. “But you’re all right now?”
She smiles and glances down at the table, fiddling with her dessert spoon. “Yes, I’m all right. I have to abide by some lifestyle choices to manage things, but I’m okay.”
I reach across the table and take her hand again. I need to touch her.
“Hey, Sophia.” She lifts her eyes to mine. “It’s okay. The past is in the past. We’re both ten years older now. We’re not stupid kids anymore. We can let things go and start again.”
“You want to start again?”
I can’t read the tone in her voice. “The minute I saw you standing in the studio, it was like I’d been transported back ten years. All of the feelings I had for you were always there. They never went anywhere.”
The tears are back in her eyes. She shakes her head. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.” I squeeze her fingers. “We’ve got a second chance. How many people get that?”
