Page 76 of Surrender
Okay. Showtime.
This might get ugly.
She took a deep breath and called out, “Hey, Keefe? You busy?”
Silence.
She’d expected that. He wasn’t going to make this easy. She tried again, softening her tone. “Keefe? Got a minute?”
Still no answer.
Great. Why did he always have to sulk like a bloody child?
She stormed into the kitchen and barked, “Keefe!”
“What the fuck do you want?” he shot back, not looking up from the stove.
It was the most he’d said to her in days. She considered it progress.
“Come out front for a minute, would you?”
“Fuck off, would you?”
Her hand flew to her hip, then dropped. She deserved that. Every last word of it. Still, this was bigger than pride.
“Please,” she said, her voice quieter now, stripped of its usual fight. “Just... come into the dining room?”
Still no eye contact. Just the steady clatter of a spatula and a wall he wasn’t ready to drop.
Still, he didn’t look at her. “Let me guess. There’s some pretty stranger you think I should flirt with. Maybe take her some food, take her home, screw her brains out so I can forget Gwen? Hard pass.”
Oof. That landed like a punch. But again, she’d earned it. Sophie sighed, marched over, grabbed his ear like they were ten years old again, and hauled him toward the dining room.
“Shut up and get your ass out here!”
“OW! Jesus, Soph—” Keefe protested, hurling insults the whole way—impressively without repeating a single one. But then he saw her.
Gwen.
She stood quietly near the candlelit table, wearing a soft jumper and jeans, her hands clasped tightly in front of her like they were the only thing keeping her from falling apart. Her eyes shimmered with unshed tears. She didn’t say a word.
Keefe froze like the wind had been knocked out of him. Sophie let go of his ear and stepped back.
“What’s going on?” he whispered, as though afraid saying it too loudly might scare Gwen off.
Sophie nodded toward Gwen. “She’s here because I asked her to be. So don’t waste it.”
Keefe looked from his sister to the woman standing in front of him, stunned speechless.
Sophie turned to leave, blinking fast.
“Sophie,” Keefe called after her, his voice breaking.
She looked back.
“Thanks, sis.”
She gave him a watery smile. “I’m really sorry, Keefe. I mean it. Now knock it off before you make me cry.” She sniffed and added, “I love you, you big jerk.”
