Page 16 of Breaking the Sinner

“How’s work going?”

Gen flung her arm to the side, staring up at the mottled ceiling. “Fine, I think. I haven’t been fired. Apparently I’m fooling them with my basic knowledge of Windows 8. I still feel like a foal among horses. And Cobra…”

“Hmm.” Sophie crossed her legs. She didn’t like Cobra since he’d shown up unexpectedly in their apartment.

Gen sat up a little, sending Sophie an arched brow. “You said Unitarians don’t judge, right? So does that mean you’re going to follow suit?”

The hard ridge of Sophie’s brow softened, so Gen laid back down before continuing.

“Cobra has said barely a word to me since he brought me back here, but I feel like I catch him staring all the time.”

“Probably likes you,” Sophie said.

“I think he’s horrified. Like a train wreck he can’t look away from.”

Sophie snorted. “Guys are different, okay? You’ll see.”

“If he liked me, he would have said something by now. I know at least that much about men,” Gen said.

“Well, it’s pretty clearyoulikehimand haven’t said a damn thing about it.” The corners of Sophie’s lips twitched upward.

“Oh, no. That’s not how it works. I’m the foal, remember?The foal.I don’t talk to horses. All I know how to do is make an embarrassment of myself. I’m not ready to join the horse race or…whatever.”

Sophie shrugged. “Fine then. Be a foal.”

Gen huffed. “Which are you?”

“Not a foal, but not a horse either.” Sophie stood, a strange smile on her face. “I’m awoman.”

Gen stared at the ceiling as Sophie strutted back into the kitchen; her thoughts swirled as plates clanked in the background.

Woman. That strange breed that Gen had been groomed to become her entire life, while taught to avoid all the most striking qualities. No sensuality. No provocation. No outspokenness. No assertiveness.

Gen desperately wanted to be a woman, not the meek girl she’d felt—and been—her entire life.

Moving to LA was a big step in the right direction. Meeting Cobra—and flailing at his feet—was another.

But now, she had to move forward from here.

She wanted to run with the horses.

“I want to be a woman,” Gen said, though she hadn’t meant to. It had only been circulating inside her head.

Sophie laughed. “Youarea woman.”

“Right. Yeah. I just meant…” she trailed off, feeling a resolution prickle inside her. “I want to feel like a woman. Like a total woman.”

“In time. I promise, this will all happen in time.”

“What helped you the most when you first struck out on your own?” Gen asked.

Sophie pursed her lips as she thought. “When I first got here…I made it my resolution to say ‘yes’ to everything. Even to things I didn’t want to do. Especially to the things that made me uncomfortable.”

Gen had done that with the calendar shoot—and part of her never wanted to do anything like that again. But that was the whole point of this year off.

“I think I’ll do the same,” Gen blurted, wanting to say it out loud so it became true. “Especially to the things that are uncomfortable.”

“There you go,” Sophie said with a wink. “You’re on your way to becoming a total woman.”

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