The Rivals

“I definitely want the answer,” she said.

I reached for my water and slugged half of it back. “All right. You know how I love your neck?”

“I do.”

“Well, tonight you also have the most incredible cleavage on display, so my eyes can’t decide where to look. You look absolutely gorgeous, Soph.”

She smiled. “Thank you. But I have to admit, that’s a lot cleaner than I expected.”

I leaned toward her, over the table. “I wasn’t finished yet. While looking at your beautiful tits and the creamy skin on your chest and throat, I’m envisioning what my cum would look like all over it. I’ve been busy debating if one spill would be enough to blanket everything I want to cover, or if I would need to unload twice to properly drench you.”

Sophia’s mouth dropped open, and she laughed nervously. “Oh, my…”

The only thing I liked better than feminine Sophia on a date was turned-on Sophia with her mouth hanging open. I put two fingers under her chin and nudged her jaw back up. “I’m going to get arrested if you don’t keep this beautiful thing shut.”

Lucky for me, the waiter came back to deliver our appetizers. He spent a few minutes telling us about all of their desserts since some of them needed to be ordered an hour in advance. I was grateful that Sophia passed on the soufflé, because I intended to eat my dessert in private.

When he was gone, it was Sophia’s turn to guzzle some of her ice water. When she set it back down on the table, she immediately picked up the cocktail she’d ordered and drained half of that, too.

I chuckled. “I’m a little envious that I can’t have something to take the edge off.”

“I bet. You must walk around really damn tense from all the crap that goes on in your brain.”

We laughed, which seemed to ease the dangerous sexual tension from a few minutes ago.

“You wore red on prom night, too,” I said.

Her brows pulled together. “Did I? I can’t even remember what my dress looked like at the moment.”

I leaned back in my chair and shut my eyes. “Strapless. A little lighter than the color you have on now. It had a silver, sparkly belt that looked like a ribbon.” I motioned in a circle with my pointer finger. “You wore these silver strappy sandals that wrapped around your ankle. You tried to take them off when we got back to your house, but I made you keep them on.”

Sophia’s face lit up. “Oh my God. That’s right! How the heck did you remember that?”

“You don’t forget what the dress of a woman you’ve spent half your life sneaking peeks at looks like when you finally get to slip it off of her.”

“You…you used to sneak peeks at me?”

“Every chance I got. I thought you knew that. Though your face just told me I had that wrong. Guess I was pretty stealthy after all.”

“Guess so. I really thought you hated me.”

I smirked. “Oh, I did. But I also wanted to fuck your brains out.”

She laughed. “So not much has changed, then?”

“Nah. Now I just wish I hated you.” I shook my head. “You’re impossible not to l—” I caught myself. “Like. You’re impossible not to like.”

Sophia didn’t seem to notice my slip. Or if she did, she didn’t call me out on it.

“As long as we’re admitting the truth, I used to check you out all the time back in high school.” She smiled. “Maybe even middle school.”

“I was itching for a reason to clock that jackass you went out with, even before the night of the prom.”

“Well, somebody took care of that for you. I’m not sure if you knew, but apparently he got into a fight after I left the prom, and his nose was broken.”

“I’m aware. Cost my family twenty grand to stop him from pressing charges.”

Sophia’s eyes widened. “It was you? Why didn’t you ever say anything?”

I shrugged. “I didn’t think it was a big deal. He got what was coming to him. Plus, it wasn’t like you and I were friends.”

“I guess not.” Sophia got quiet for a minute. She traced the condensation on her water glass before looking back up at me. “Are we friends now?”

“You tell me, Soph.”

She took a moment before nodding. “When I think of a friend, I think of someone I can rely on, someone I trust and respect and also enjoy spending time with. So yeah, I think we’re friends. You know, it’s funny, I spent almost two years with Liam, yet I never felt like I could rely on him.” She shook her head. “I once had a small fender bender, but my airbag went off, and it left me sort of rattled. I called Liam, hoping he would come, but he told me he was in the middle of a dress rehearsal and suggested I call Scarlett.”