Page 152 of The Winslow Brothers

“You want me to hang around?” Thatch asks. “There’re plenty of places I can hide on that rooftop and make sure everything goes smoothly.”

“Tell him to leave!” Winnie shouts into the receiver. “You’re not his own personal rom-com movie!”

“Nah, man, I’m good, but I appreciate the help.”Also,please tell me “extra special” doesn’t mean you added a last-minute fireworks show or explosion or, you know, anything else that might put Sophie in too much physical danger to allow her to focus on me telling her I’m in love with her.

“Anytime, son,” he responds, completely oblivious to my current concern. “Anyway, I better head out of here before Cassie calls me again. I told her I’d be home in twenty minutes, but that was thirty minutes ago. So, yeah, if I don’t get home soon, she’ll kick me in the dick.”

I grimace.

“Love is grand, isn’t it?” he chuckles and pulls me into a tight hug. “I’m just kidding, my man. This, what you’re doing, it takes giant gonads. But I can tell you, it’s worth it. When you find the woman who makes you want to show all your fluffing cards and put your balls on the line, you do everything in your power to make her yours.”

I step back and meet his eyes. But the usual sarcasm and humor aren’t what I find. Just steady, serious, and full-on honesty.

“Anyway, son,” he continues and claps a hand onto my back. “Good luck. Although, I don’t think you’ll need it. I’ve got a good feeling about this.”

Once Thatch leaves and I end the call with Winnie, the weight that sits on my shoulders feels like a thousand pounds as I use the entry key my sister somehow managed to commandeer by what I hope weren’t illegal means, and I head inside.

Once I’m on Sophie’s floor, standing beside her door, my phone chimes with a text.

Winnie: I’m proud of you. I love you. Everything is going to be okay. And most importantly, YOU GOT THIS.

God, I hope she’s right. Because I feel like I’m standing on an actual ledge right now, and I’m not even on the rooftop yet.

In less than twenty minutes, you’re going to find out…

Twenty minutes turns into forty minutes, and I start to wonder if Julie doesn’t know what the fuck she was talking about, but then, the elevator doors open and there she is.

Sophie.

She looks more beautiful than my mind even allowed me to recall over the past week and half. Most likely, out of self-preservation. No doubt, I’m in enough pain as it is, but my mind hasn’t lost clarity on anything about this woman.

I know her. To the depths of my heart, I know her.

I know her laugh. And her smile. I know her adorable quirks. I know who she is on the outside as much as I know who she is on the inside.

And I know all those things because I love her. Plain and simple.

With her arms full of bags, she juggles carrying them while also typing something on her phone, and her eyes don’t look up from the screen until she’s steps away from where I stand beside her apartment door.

Her eyes flash with instant, intimate familiarity, and my presence is such a shock that the bags in her arms start to fall.

Quickly, I step forward and snag them before they topple over and to the ground.

But she doesn’t say anything. She is a statue, her feet rooted to their spot on the floor.

“I know you’re surprised to see me,” I hedge carefully.

“H-how? W-why?” she fumbles over her words. “W-what are you doing here?”

“I know you haven’t answered any of my calls or texts, and that you most likely don’t want to talk to me, but this,you, are too important for me not to try as hard as I can to get you to hear what I need to say.”

She shakes her head, like she still can’t understand what is happening.

“I just need five minutes of your time, Sophie,” I say, and I know that my voice borders on pleading, but I don’t care. I’ll do whatever it takes to get her to hear me out.

“Jude, I’m pretty sure that everything that needed to be said was already said.”

Fuck.

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