Heartstopper(28)

Sophie falls into sullen silence the rest of the ride. We reach his  penthouse and go inside. I'm floored by how opulent it is. It's like  everything in my apartment has had the volume turned up to eleven with a  sprinkle of fairy dust thrown on top.

"This is beautiful," I begin to say, but I'm interrupted by a sharp cry.  I spin around to see Jake grabbing Sophie's purse that she just put  down.

"What are you doing?" she cries as he opens it and takes out her phone.

"Taking away your phone for now. There has to be some kind of consequence. I can't believe-"

"Give that back!" she yells, trying to snatch it away from him, but he  yanks it back, stepping away and putting the phone in his jacket pocket.

"No. You're going to have to earn it back, and I don't want you talking to Jax. He's a bad influence on you."

"You can't do that!" she says, struggling against him. She lunges, but  he holds her back with an arm. I place my hand on my throat, unnerved by  how Sophie is acting. I want to do something. Anything. But I don't  feel it's my place. This isn't my home, and as much as I feel for Jake,  I'm not part of this family.

Jake holds his voice steely. "I can, and I will. You're my responsibility."

"Fuck you!" Sophie screams. "You're not my daddy!" she says, running to  her room, crying her eyes out. Her door slams, and a sudden silence  falls over the room.

Jake's shoulders slump when she's gone and he looks despondently at the  floor. Tears burn my eyes, and I go over and place my hand on his  shoulder. "Jake?"

"She's never told me something like that before," he says quietly, and I  can hear the pain in his voice. "I've never tried to be a replacement  for Dad, but . . ."

"Jake, I'm so sorry," I say. "I know you care."

"It's not your fault," he says. "I haven't been paying attention to what she's been doing. I've just been so busy with . . ."

His uncompleted sentence hangs in the air, and I fill in the gaps. He's  been busy with his new job, the club, and me. "Let me go talk to her."

"It's pointless right now. Might as well let her cool down."

I shake my head softly. "I can at least try. I'm a woman, and I'm a stranger. Maybe that's exactly who she'll listen to."

He looks in my eyes for a moment before he nods. "Her room is down the hall, second door on the left."

I walk down the hall and stop in front of her bedroom door. Even if Jake  hadn't told me, I would have known it was Sophie's. She's got a pink My  Little Pony on the door.

My palms are sweating and I'm nervous. I'm sticking my foot in deep, and  this could be a minefield. I take a deep breath and knock on the door.

"Leave me alone! I don't wanna talk to you!" a harsh voice calls from inside.

"It's not Jake. It's his girlfriend, Roxy," I say quietly before I  pause. It feels weird to say that, but wonderful too. His girlfriend. I  like the sound of it. "Will you please let me in?"

Silence greets me, and my nervousness increases. I stand there for what  feels like forever, shifting from side to side as my feet start to ache  like they always do after a concert. I'm just about to give up when I  hear a small, "Come in."

I open the door and go inside. Sophie is perched on the bed, her eyes  red. Moonlight streams through the window, and there's only a soft  bedside lamp on as I sit down and the bed creaks. Sophie stares at me  for a moment, and I reach out, stroking her hair. "You're so pretty," I  tell her softly. "Don't take this the wrong way, but you and your  brother are both beautiful people. You share a lot in common."         

     



 

She looks over at me and sniffs. "Thank you."

Her voice is so small, like she's disappearing. She reminds me of me when I was younger. "Your brother really loves you."

She's quiet, but she nods her head slowly.

"He's not trying to be an asshole by taking your phone. He just wants to protect and look out for you."

"But Jax isn't a bad guy. I mean, he really likes me."

I shelve that comment. I think Jake's right. If he's got her using a  fake ID, what's next? "That might be true, but he's a few years older  than you," I say instead.

"So? Age ain't nothing but a number," Sophie says defensively. "I've heard it plenty of times."

Did I sound this idiotic when I was sixteen? I was probably worse.  "That's true, but sometimes, numbers do count. I know a little over two  years doesn't seem like a lot, but you're at that age where you do a lot  of growing up fast. Besides, you guys were in a place you shouldn't be.  If Jax were really concerned about you, he wouldn't have brought you  there."

"We just wanted to have fun," Sophie says, and I can see her struggle with tears again. "Is that so bad?"

"Nope," I agree, forcing a smile. "Honestly, I did a lot of stupid shit  back when I was a teenager. I'm surprised my big sister didn't kill me a  few times. I'll tell you something that I was reminded of tonight. The  Bobby Gardner Rule."

"The what rule?" Sophie asks, and I laugh quietly.

"Bobby Gardner. He was this big stud jock when I was a freshman in high  school. He was a senior when I was a freshman, and my sister kept  telling me not to get with him. She said he was bad news. Our age gap is  just right so she knew him when she was in school too. Of course, I  didn't listen to her. So when Bobby asked me out, I accepted."

"What happened?" Sophie asks, and I chuckle.

"He picked me up in a stinky as hell beat-up Camaro, we go to the winter  formal, and during the second slow dance, he tries to cop a feel. I  busted him in the nose with an elbow, and he cried in front of the whole  school."

"I don't get it. What's the Bobby Gardner Rule?" Sophie asks.

"Elbow in the nose trumps hand on ass," I say, and Sophie laughs. It's a good sign. "There you go. Feeling a bit better?"

Sophie nods. "A little. Um . . . girlfriend?"

I nod. "It's my first time saying that, but yes. Listen, Jake feels like  shit, too. He thinks he's been ignoring you because he's been spending  so much time with the club and with me."

"I guess Jake deserves it," Sophie admits, but I don't know if she's just saying that.

"Don't worry, you guys will work it out. Men are stubborn pains in the  ass most of the time," I say, trying to loosen her up. If I were Jake,  I'd be worked up too.

Sophie smiles. "Can't argue with that. I don't have anyone but Jake, though."

"I'll come around more if you'd like," I say. "I'd like to get to know  you. Jake talks about you a lot, actually. He's proud of you."

"Okay . . . if you can teach me how to shake your ass like that?" she says, referring to what I was doing on stage.

I laugh. "I'm pretty sure your brother would kill me if I did that.  Listen, you get some sleep, and try to talk to Jake about this, okay?"

"I'll try." Sophie nods. "I'm kind of tired anyway."

I give her a hug and go back out to the living room, where Jake's  sitting on the couch, wringing his hands. The worried look on his face  tells me everything I need to know, and I feel my heart swell as I sit  down.

"How'd it go?" Jake asks.

"She'll live," I say. "At least she's not wanting to take your head off. Anymore."

"Good," he says, relief flooding his body and making him collapse back  into the couch, leaning his head back as he closes his eyes. "Thank  you."

"You're more than welcome," I reply, putting a hand on his knee.

"Was I too hard on her?" Jake asks, opening his eyes and looking at me. "You must think I'm terrible."

I shake my head. "Not at all. I understand that you're trying to protect  her. Just give her time, and no, I don't think you're terrible. She'll  come around. She's got a good head on her shoulders."

He sighs, putting his hand over mine. "I've never had to deal with  anything like this. We've always been close and she told me everything.  She's been perfect."         

     



 

I can understand his concern, and it touches me how much he cares for  his sister. In a way, it turns me on to see a man who is so caring and  kind. It sets my ovaries ablaze, talking to the deepest primal  instincts. Here's a man who would fight for me, protect me and his  children . . .

Is he the one? I ask myself. Is he the man I've been waiting for? They  talk about them in romance novels and I've sung about them hundreds of  times, but I never really thought one existed. They've always been like  unicorns, nonexistent.

Watching him, I see in him a father figure, a man who will be everything  I could ever hope for. God knows, if I ever have kids, they're going to  need a strong father because they're sure as hell going to inherit some  of the Price hell-raising DNA.

"Jake?" I murmur, reaching over and taking his hand. He turns his head, looking at me with loving eyes.