Page 149 of Trying Sophie

“And she still won’t talk to you? Let you explain?”

“Uhmmmmm,” I ran my hands through my wet hair. I was in desperate need of a haircut. “I might have told her I never wanted to see her again. That I wish we’d never met.”

“Why would you do something like that?” he asked, tossing me my pomade.

“You know I have a temper,” I said in my defense even though I knew it wasn’t much of one. “When she wouldn’t take my calls or see me I got pissed. I hadn’t done anything wrong but I was being punished. So I basically told her to fuck off.”

“And you’ve been miserable ever since.”

I nodded and parroted him. “And I’ve been miserable ever since.”

“Shit man,” he said, reaching for the door knob. “You either gotta make this right or you need to move on.”

I leveled my gaze at him. “I know.”

He dropped his hand on my shoulder. “The next time you feel like drinking yourself to death, don’t. Give me a call. We’ll go for a run or something. I love you like a brother and I don’t like seeing you do this to yourself. I also don’t like losing, so if you can’t get over her, you need to find a way to lock that shit up when you step on the field.”

I shook my head somberly. “Yeah, I know.”

When Aidan opened the door, Aoife was standing there with a mug of steaming black coffee in her hand. Tilting her head, she eyed me curiously. “You good?” she asked.

“I’m not good, but I’m trying to be,” I answered honestly. Aidan was right. I needed to put things right with Sophie or move on.

“Okay then,” she replied, standing on her tiptoes and planting a light kiss on my cheek. “Here, this is for you.”

“Thanks,” I said, taking a drink and wincing as the hot liquid scalded my tongue.

“Put on some clothes and meet me downstairs,” she ordered without preamble. “You need to hear some things.”

By the time they left an hour later, I didn’t know what to think but one thing kept running through my head: if Aoife thought I could get Sophie back, I had to try.

But first I had some shit I had to work through.

---