Page 17 of Deal Breaker
I leaped out of bed, throwing myself at the door, and blocked her exit. I shivered as my feet hit the floor. She was right about it being cold. “You can’t go out there.”
Sophie tried to get around me, but I stood firm. “Don’t be silly. I need to get showered, have breakfast, then make myself look beautiful for the ceremony. Plus you literally just pushed me out of the bed and told me I can’t be in here.” She reached for the door handle.
You always look beautiful to me.
Unspoken words imprinted into my brain, as true today as they had been ten years ago.
There was a knock on the door. “Max? Are you awake?”
My eyes telegraphed a message to Sophie to stay quiet, and I reached forward to place a finger on her lips. In a swift move, I pushed her to one side making sure she was hidden behind me, then cracked open the door an inch.
“Yep, just woke up.”
“And how are you feeling this morning?” A wry smile slid across her face. She clocked the soda and tablets. “Oh, good, you’ve already had some Advil. That ought to get you through the day.”
I rubbed my temple, not sure whether the banging headache could be attributed to the hangover or the fact I was hiding Sophie from my sister. “Yeah, got up in the night to get them.”
“I knew leaving them on the side was a good idea.” Autumn beamed. “Didn’t know who would need them more, you or Sophie.” She winked.
I’d forgotten she and Jodie had witnessed every single embarrassing second of Sophie’s dare. Followed by every single embarrassing second of my dash to the bathroom. I had no doubt my ears would be burning when they dissected it later. I forced a weak smile. “After the amount of whisky we put away, definitely me. I bet Joshua’s feeling like hell this morning.”
“Good thing you don’t have too many responsibilities today, isn’t it?”
Fuck off, Autumn. I really don’t need to be making polite conversation with you when I’m hiding your best friend behind the door.Silently, I wished my sister would go away and leave me in peace.
“Did you say something about making eggs for breakfast?” I steered the subject away from anything which might relate to Sophie. “Really should have a full stomach to take on the day.” In fact, the churning in my stomach couldn’t think of anything worse right now. But I’d gladly force down any number of eggs to get out of this pickle.
“Yeah, we brought enough supplies for you. I’ll get a start on it, then wake up Sophie and Jodie. I don’t know why they aren’t awake yet.”
Oh, Sophie was awake. I could feel her eyes burning a hole in the back of my head.
“Good plan. I’ll be out in a minute. I, um, just need to sort myself out.” I pointed towards my crotch. I had no plans to do anything, but I needed to get rid of Autumn somehow.
“Oh, Max, that’s gross!” She wrinkled her nose and pulled the door shut. “Don’t be long.”
I hefted a sigh and leaned back against the door. Sophie appeared in front of me, clutching her arms around herself to keep warm. Although judging by the expression on her face, the boiling anger would be able to do that for her.
“Let me out,” she hissed.
I hated myself already for what I was about to do. “Sorry, I can’t. Autumn can’t know you were in here.”
“Then how do I get out?”
My gaze fell on the window. It was a ground floor room.
Sophie’s gaze followed mine. She shook her head silently. “No. Way. No. Effing. Way.” Her tone was dangerously low, full of anger.
“There’s no other option.” I reached around into my bag for a sweatshirt and threw it in her direction. “Here, take this.” Next, I kicked a pair of sneakers towards her. “And these.”
“Oh, such a gentleman.” She pulled the sweatshirt over her head and down her body, covering her ass.
It reminded me of the time she’d had a New York Giants shirt, so big it swamped her body. The Giants were my team, and I often wondered whether she’d worn it because I’d liked them. Now wasn’t exactly the time to ask her though.
I wrestled with the lock on the window and pushed it open enough for her to shimmy out of. She shoved past me, swinging both legs over the sill, her feet swimming around in the too large shoes.
“Let me help,” I said.
“You’ve done enough.” Her blue eyes fixed me with a hard stare. “More than enough.” Then she dropped to the ground.
