Sophia tuned out the rest of Marcia’s explanation, the knots in her stomach tight enough to make her wince. When the room fell silent, she tried to keep her voice steady.
“You should have told me.”
“I did. I mentioned that we were talking. And I hinted that we were friends. That’s all there was until a few weeks ago. I swear.”
Sophia turned, facing her best friend and hating her at the same moment. “This is just… wrong on so many levels.”
“I thought you were over him…,” Marcia mumbled.
Sophia’s expression was livid. “I am over him! I don’t want anything to do with him. This is about us! You and me! You’re sleeping with my ex-boyfriend!” She ran a hand through her hair. “Marcia, friends don’t do this to each other. How can you even begin to justify this?”
“I’m still your friend,” Marcia offered, her tone soft. “It’s not like I’m going to be bringing him up to the room when you’re here…”
Sophia could barely register what she was hearing. “He’s going to cheat on you, you know. Just like he cheated on me.”
Marcia shook her head vehemently. “He’s changed. I know you won’t believe that, but he has.”
At this, Sophia knew she had to leave. She strode toward the door, grabbing her purse from the desk on the way out. At the door, she turned around.
“Brian hasn’t changed,” she said with utter certainty. “I can promise you that.”
Habit and desperation led her back to the ranch. As always, Luke stepped onto the porch just as she was getting out of the car. Even from a distance, he seemed to know something was wrong, and despite the fact that she hadn’t heard from him in days, he walked toward her with arms opened wide.
Sophia went into them, and for a long time, he simply held her as she cried.
“I still don’t know what to do,” she said, leaning back into Luke’s chest. “It’s not like I can stop her from going out with him.”
Luke was holding her close on the couch, both of them staring into the fire. He had let her ramble on for hours, agreeing with her from time to time but mostly soothing her with his silent, comforting presence.
“No,” he agreed. “You probably can’t.”
“But what am I supposed to do when we’re together? Pretend that it’s not happening?”
“That would probably be best. Since she’s your roommate.”
“She’s going to get hurt,” Sophia said for the hundredth time.
“Probably.”
“Everyone in the house is going to be talking about it. Every time they see me, they’re going to either whisper or snicker or act way too concerned, and I’m going to spend the rest of the semester dealing with it.”
“Probably.”
She was quiet for a moment. “Are you going to agree with everything I say?”
“Probably,” he answered, eliciting a laugh.
“I’m just glad you aren’t still mad at me.”
“I’m sorry about that,” he said. “And you were right to call me on it. You caught me on a bad day and I took it out on you. I was wrong to do that.”
“Everyone’s entitled to a bad day.”
He squeezed her tighter without saying anything. Only later did it occur to her that he never did tell her what had really been bothering him that day.
After spending the night at the ranch, Sophia returned to the sorority house and took a deep breath before stepping into her room. She still wasn’t ready to talk to Marcia, but a quick survey told her that she need not have worried about it.
Marcia wasn’t in the room, nor had her bed been slept in.
She’d spent the night with Brian.
23
Luke
W
hen Luke left for Pensacola a few days later, he did so with the uncomfortable knowledge that he hadn’t practiced enough. The relentless, throbbing headache made thinking difficult and practice impossible. He told himself that if he could just survive these preliminaries in decent standing, he’d have a chance to fully recuperate in time for the next event.
He knew nothing at all about Stir Crazy, the first bull he drew in Pensacola. He hadn’t slept well after the long drive, and his hands had begun to shake again. Though his headache was slightly diminished, he could still feel the thrumming between his ears, a vibration that felt like a living thing. He recognized only a handful of the riders, and half of the rest struck him as barely old enough to drive. All of them fiddled, trying to keep their nerves in check, all clinging to the same dream. Win or place, earn money and points – and whatever you do, don’t get hurt so bad that you can’t ride the following week.