The Longest Wait Read online

  She looked around the room, and was unsure of where to start for unpacking. Was it first come, first serve? Did she pick the top bunk or the bottom bunk? Did it matter which desk she chose? Would her roommate care which closet she had?

  This was the crap that should’ve been in all the books her parents bought her about living in the dorms and excelling in college. She could rattle on and on about time management and sitting in the front of the classroom, but how to be a good roommate wasn’t listed anywhere.

  She was about to pick the top bunk because she never slept in a bunk bed before and figured the top would be fun. She was throwing her pillows on her chosen bed when people stood outside her room. Then all the noise immediately followed.

  “Mom, if you make me go on one more tour, I’m changing my name and never speaking to you again,” a girl sounded exasperated. “We have been here for five hours, and this is the first time I’m getting to my dorm room.”

  “You will be thanking me later when you have class and you know where you’re going. I want you to know where every building is,” the mom responded with sweetness.

  “She does. And now her whole family knows too,” an annoyed male voice added. “I can unload all of her boxes, but then I have to leave. My train back to New York leaves soon.”

  “Mom and Dad, you better not embarrass me,” the girl warned.

  Another male voice spoke, but this one was older, “We would never embarrass you.”

  Just listening to them was entertainment. She was about to peek through the blinds to see who was outside when the door swung open.

  “Lucy Copeland,” a brunette introduced herself as soon as she stepped inside. She came with an exuberant amount of energy. “Seriously ignore my parents, and this is my oldest brother Tony.”

  “Hi, I’m Sofia Winton.”

  “Nice to meet you.” Tony responded and dropped a box. “Alright, kiddo, I’m out of here.”

  He gave Lucy a big bear hug and whispered something in her ear that made her laugh. For a brief moment, it made her wish she had an older brother to send her off to college. He turned to Sofia. “Make sure she doesn’t get into any trouble.”

  Sofia nodded and reached out to shake his hand. He laughed and pulled her in for a hug.

  Lucy’s parents went to get the rest of the boxes and she sat down, facing Sofia. “Okay, my family can be crazy. My mom loves to have us over and promised to send us food. She swears the cafeteria won’t be enough. On the plus side, she makes the best lasagna and her desserts are so on point. My dad, even though we’re a few hours away, plans to come up for every parent activity, on top of all sports functions. If you don’t go with us, he will be offended. Tony lives in New York, so he will probably only harass us through email.”

  “Us?” Sofia was a bit overwhelmed.

  Her mom stepped back into their dorm room. “Lucy and you, of course. You’re part of the family now. Speaking of family, Lucy, where is your other brother?”

  There was another one? Geez, this family grew like weeds.

  Lucy rolled her eyes. “Last I saw him was when we were ending our fourth tour, and the tour guide asked him to grab a drink with her.”

  Her dad laughed like it was normal for her brother to take off with a woman he barely knew. “No surprise with Alex.”

  “I told him today was about Lucy!” the mom exclaimed.

  Another person lazily walked into the room.

  “Relax, Mom, I’m here. No way was I missing moving Lucy in and meeting her new roommate.”

  The voice mesmerized Sofia, but she couldn’t get a good view of his face because his family surrounded him. Who the heck made her heart race by only hearing his voice?

  She did hear Lucy quickly warn him. “Do not mess with Sofia.”

  He only laughed, and then moved past them to introduce himself.

  Sofia stood still once their eyes met.

  If love at first sight was real, she was experiencing it. Alex was tall and she had to look up at him when he got close. His eyes were the perfect brown, roguish, and filled with laugher. He had full lips and a smile that made her heart flutter. His dark hair was shuffled around his face.

  Alex Copeland, this beautiful person, was the man of her dreams.

  Chapter 4

  “ SORRY I HAVE been MIA lately.” Lucy sounded overwhelmed over the phone. “It’s been insane with work. I’m happy with the expansion of my clients, but I have no free time. Not that being busy is an excuse to disappear for a few weeks. How are you?”

  Sofia saved the coding she was working on. “Things are good. Honest, I have been busy too. Is everything okay on your end? You sound off.”

  “I sound off because I have been running around like a crazy person. I’m throwing Alex a welcome home party in two weeks, since he will have been away for a month. This is the longest he has been on assignment. Since he moved to Philly, anyway. I thought it would be nice to show him how much he was missed.”

  Sofia missed him as much as she missed the plague, but her friend was stressed, so she didn’t mention it.

  “The party is in two weeks, why are you running around now?”

  “Because Tess is planning it. I made the mistake of telling her how busy I have been with work, and she offered to help. She’s a tyrant with planning.”

  Sofia let out a laugh. “I don’t know why you sound surprised.”

  “In fact, I think I’m doing more with her help.” Lucy huffed.

  “Why would you ask Tess to help out?” Sofia was puzzled Lucy even got herself into this situation. “How did you forget the nightmare of selling your apartment when you moved in with Jack? She made a schedule for the construction team so they didn’t bother possible buyers. She also had you on a schedule that was so tight, you had to camp out at my place a few times. Or what about planning your own wedding? Tess had weekly meetings which was insane. Ugh, I cringe at the memories of being stuck with her on projects in college, and that was a lifetime ago.”

  “She caught me at a weak moment.”

  “I love Tess, but if you give her any opportunity to plan something, she will take extreme measures for the party to be perfect. Can I help with anything?”

  Lucy giggled. “You think I would leave you responsible for anything that has to do with Alex? Absolutely not. Just make sure you show up to his party.”

  That was a fair assessment. Sofia wasn’t sure she trusted herself to do something nice for him, regardless if Lucy asked.

  THE INSIDE OF Lucy and Jack’s home was in full party mode. The decorations were a sleek color combination of varying grays, from the “Welcome Home Alex” banner to the balloons, napkins, and plates. This seemed like a lot of extra work for a person Sofia didn’t think warranted the attention. Besides, it wasn’t like he was even gone for that long. If she was in charge of this party it would’ve been Eeyore themed, since Alex was like a walking rain cloud.

  “Everyone is here.” Tess gleamed as she stood next to Sofia in the living room, admiring her work.

  Around thirty people were in attendance, which was shocking to Sofia. She was surprised this many people even liked Alex, let alone made a point to attend a party in his name. Perhaps because he was well connected in his industry, they felt required to come. Or maybe they felt bad for Lucy for having such a wanker of an older brother, it was like people had to attend so her feelings weren’t hurt.

  Yes, that had to be it.

  “Surprising to see that Alex has so many friends.” Sofia couldn’t pass the opportunity for the dig, even if he didn’t hear it.

  Tess kept a close eye on everyone around her in effort to make sure the party abided to her timeline. “I need to change the music to something slow tempo, maybe jazz. Yes, jazz would work. I regret putting on Frank Sinatra since Alex doesn’t live in New York anymore. Oh, I need to make sure all of the champagne holsters have full bottles in them. I don’t want someone looking to refill their glass and think there is nothing left to drink. That re
minds me, I need to check on the bartender I hired. I need to make sure he doesn’t require anything else for the bar area. I should bring out more cookies for the table near the fireplace too. They seem to be a big hit.”

  Tess was focused on the party, much to Sofia’s dismay, and she didn’t hear her witty remark about Alex and his lack of friends. She could tell Tess was stressed though, so she had to do something to help, even if it was for Alex’s party.

  “Let me go into the kitchen at grab the cookies,” Sofia assured her.

  Tess gave her a thankful hug and pulled her phone out to switch the music. Once Miles Davis came through the speakers, off she went to the bartender. Sofia was impressed with how well Tess ran a party. Obviously, as a wedding planner, it came natural to her, but still, she was doing great. Maybe her crazy need to schedule everything was part of her method.

  Sofia walked into the kitchen and stumbled upon Jack and Lucy basically grinding against each in the corner.

  “I would say get a room,” she said loudly to interrupt them, “but you live here. All the rooms are yours.”

  Lucy reluctantly stepped away from Jack, but he snatched her wrist and pulled her close to him again. It was like he couldn’t stand to not have his wife near him. While Sofia searched for the cookies, she saw Jack whisper something in Lucy’s ear that made her friend giggle.

  “Ugh, you two make me sick.”

  Lucy turned around. “Fair. But I promise one day you’re going to find someone who makes you want sneak away, even it’s only for five minutes to kiss.”

  This was comical. Sofia flipped her hair over her shoulder and spotted the cookies next to the fridge. “That’s doubtful. Either way, can’t you two keep your hands off each other for a few more hours? You’re hosting a party. For your brother.”

  Jack wasn’t enthused. “Don’t remind me. All I wanted was a night in. I don’t even think Alex likes this shit.”

  “Likes the party or likes you two making out?” Sofia goaded.

  He laughed. “Both.”

  Lucy gently pushed him. “I told you I would make it up to you. And, I would like to mention, Alex is having a great time.”

  Jack smiled at her before giving Lucy a sweet kiss.

  The two of them were enough lovey-dovey to make someone scream, namely Sofia. She slipped away from them so she could control her gag reflex. Yes, she was happy for Lucy and Jack. They had the real deal: the love most people only day dream about but didn’t get. But come on, they could simmer down on their constant need to touch each other.

  A small, little, not even worth mentioning part of her was envious. She stomped that feeling down as soon as it tried to rear its ugly head.

  Safely away from seeing something she couldn’t unsee in the kitchen, Sofia placed the extra cookies on the table. She saw Tess talking to her assistant, Grace, who looked like she was about to poop her pants. Grace probably forgot to refill ice or something, and Tess was losing it. The poor girl looked as if she was going to cry any second.

  Sofia was doing anything to avoid the person they were celebrating, so she figured she should save the Grace from whatever Tess was reprimanding her about. She pushed off the table when someone grabbed her hand and yanked her into the bathroom. Before she oriented herself, the bathroom door locked and the lights flicked on.

  She glared up and all her good deeds of getting cookies and wanting to save Grace went down the drain. Alex gave her a displeased look, one she was all too used to.

  “What the fuck are you doing?” Sofia snapped at him. Didn’t he know she had an assistant to save?

  Alex refused to let go of her wrist. “It’s my party—”

  “So, you can cry if you want too,” Sofia interrupted.

  His dark brown eyes were unwavering and filled with disdain. “I was saying it’s my party, and you have outdone yourself by making a point to not be in the same room as me.”

  “Took notice of that, huh?” Sofia said in tone like she had more important things to do. Which she probably did. Grace probably put in her two-week notice by now.

  “After your last charade at Lucy’s wedding, you owe me an apology. I thought I would get one when I saw you last month, but naturally you either argued or ignored me.”

  Sofia held her head high. “I don’t regret a thing I said to you, so I have no need to say sorry.”

  “Pretty sure at one point, you said I meant nothing to you and this was followed by a drink thrown in my face.”

  “Like I said, I don’t regret a thing. Do you want me to repeat myself—”

  Now it was his turn to interrupt her.

  Alex crushed his mouth on hers; it was like he had to stop her from saying she didn’t care about him. The kiss was demanding and hard, as he pushed her against the door, his hands possessively dragging over her body. Sofia let herself forget he was public enemy number one. His kiss, it was hypnotizing, making her feel tingly and desirable. Her hands also traveled over his body, giving in to her need to touch him. His tongue pushed into her mouth, battling with hers. She shivered at the electricity between them. She ached for more.

  “Bullshit I mean nothing to you.” His cocky voice brought her back to reality. She pushed him away, but he refused let go.

  Sofia was an idiot getting caught up in the aura of Alex all because the man knew how to kiss. “Let go of me.”

  It was as if he didn’t hear her because he didn’t move.

  “If you don’t let me go, I will ruin your chances of ever having kids”—she paused to be dramatic—“meaning, I will kick you in the balls.”

  “You want me,” he said smugly.

  She took a deep breath, needing to gain control of this conversation so Alex didn’t have something else to hang over her head. “Get over yourself. I’m not the one who dragged you into a bathroom. Take a look in the mirror and blame yourself, not me.”

  Alex dropped her hand to move his to the wall above her, but she was quick. She ducked underneath him and exited the bathroom as quick as possible. His latest antic was only another reminder to keep herself far away from him.

  He was bad for her.

  THE PARTY ENDED and the only people left were the people closest to him. Lucy, Jack, Connor, Dominic, Tess, and Sofia. Actually, Sofia was debatable to consider her a close friend, but semantics.

  Dominic took a swig of his beer. “Sofia, I was expecting you to leave with Gordon.”

  Alex grimaced.

  After their impromptu kiss in the bathroom, she made it her mission to flirt with this Gordon jackass the rest of the night. Alex knew her tricks, she was making a point. A point he didn’t like. He was expendable to her. And worse, she didn’t care how it affected Alex, regardless it was a party for him.

  Sofia gave Dominic a demure smile. “I debated it, but changed my mind last minute.”

  “Why was that?” Lucy asked while she rested her head on Jack’s shoulder.

  “We were talking about music, and he said it wasn’t his thing. There is no way I can hook up with someone who doesn’t like music. I’m still not sure what that even means ‘not my thing’.” Sofia’s hair shook as she shuddered. “Like does he turn off music whenever he hears it? Does music upset his stomach? Are there music allergies?”

  This made most of them laugh.

  “At least you have standards. If a girl told me she didn’t like music, fuck it. It isn’t like I want to take her to a concert,” Dominic added, which caused Tess to cringe.

  Jack kissed the top of Lucy’s head. “This is exactly why I don’t miss being single.”

  “Here I thought we got married because of love, not because of the game of ‘Who will I bring home tonight’?” Lucy said with playfulness.

  “And I didn’t feel like playing the game.” Sofia added quickly, “Tonight.”

  Hearing her snarky response pissed Alex off. He saw through the bullshit game they have been playing for years. Sofia was never going to leave with the man who might have had music anhedonia. Her
plan was only to prove a point to Alex, which she managed based off how annoyed he was.

  Point for her.

  Dominic laughed while he stood up. “I’d love to talk about my philosophy of playing the field, but I need to get home. I feel like haven’t been there a lot this week.”

  Tess stood up too. “I’ll go with you so we can take an Uber together. Connor, you coming with us since we’re all close by?”

  Connor nodded. “I ordered an Uber while Dominic was clarifying how he would just not put on his record player if he wanted to have sex with someone who hated music.”

  “Damn right,” he said with a smile.

  The group chatted for a few more minutes about plans for the remainder of the weekend. Soccer was in off-season , so Jack wasn’t as busy as he normally was, and he planned to take advantage of his free time as much as he could. He told Alex earlier in the night he wanted to whisk Lucy away to places she hasn’t visited yet so they could add to their wall of maps. Alex was proud of Lucy that she chose Jack because their love was obvious. The way they supported each other was evident.

  Connor spoke up, “Uber is here.”

  Dominic waved as he walked out the door, while Tess promised Lucy the cleaning crew would arrive the next day to make sure the house was spotless. Once they left, it was momentarily quiet.

  Jack ran his hand through his hair. “Dominic is all over the place. I need to remind him of company policy. We have a wave of interns coming in, and the last thing we need is for him to sleep with someone, only to find out they work with us.”

  “This seems oddly familiar,” Sofia teased, making fun of how Lucy and Jack met. It started as a one-night stand where they ended up working together, and now they couldn’t get enough of each other.

  “I don’t want to hear anything about sex and my sister.” Alex squashed the conversation before it started. If there was something he didn’t want detail on, it was how Lucy met Jack.