Page 86 of For Butter or Worse
“He hasn’t changed. Like, at all.” He looked exactly the same and he’d disrespected her exactly the same. It had taken a relationship with Leo to understand how she deserved to be treated, and how much of Charlie’s bullshit she’d let herself tolerate.
“So still a massive asshole, then?” Sophie leaned across the bar and nodded to the bartender for a refill. “I never liked that guy. He was too weak to handle someone as strong as you.”
“You did warn me.” Even though Sophie was overly romantic about most everything, she had never indulged her whimsy with Charlie. She’d said repeatedly that he was toxic, manipulative and just plain bad, but Nina hadn’t fully listened. She wanted things to work with him, because at the time she thought that if someone like him wantedher, then it was a sign she was actually worthwhile.
“Maybe I should be a contestant on the show. Then I can ‘accidentally’ stab him with a knife.” Her sister gave a full grin that revealed the little overlap of her bottom teeth, making her seem extra mischievous.
“Awww, always so thoughtful,” Nina joked back.
“Seemed like Leo turned out to be an okay guy, weirdly.” Sophie raised the beer to her lips and waggled her eyebrows as she took a sip.
“Better than Charlie? Not exactly a high bar.” She wasn’t being fair, though, because Leo was objectively a better man than Charlie. And they’d had a much easier time opening up to each other than she ever imagined they would.
“It’s your life—do what you want—but you seemed really happy this last month. More yourself than you’ve been in a while.”
A plate of wings with dipping sauce was placed in front of them. Nina wanted to bury her face in the food and not acknowledge what Sophie had just pointed out, mostly because she was right. She didn’t want to think about how he’d brought out the best in her because, in the end, he’d also fucked her over.
“He definitely surprised me,” Nina eventually said. She took a wing and dipped it in barbecue sauce. “But he also lied to me.”
Lies of omission counted, and he’d kept his severe anxiety a secret from her. What she couldn’t understand waswhy. After everything they’d been through together, did he really not trust her the way she trusted him?
“Leo’s anxiety has nothing to do with you.” Sophie swallowed a bite of chicken. “It’s his and his alone to deal with. Sounds like he has a hard time opening up, and him sharing this—even if it wasn’t a full truth—was probably a massive deal for him. And for you to assume he owes an explanation is, well...it’s a little selfish.”
Nina curled her bottom lip into her mouth and nibbled. Maybe Sophie had a point, but still, wasn’t his omission a sign of him not trusting her?
“I can see that your wheels are spinning, so let me put it this way—his mental health is personal and important. The same way that you don’t owe him a full gynecological report just because you’ve let him in your vagina. Or how I don’t go around telling every single guy I date that I have a literal hole in my heart. That’s my health problem, and I’m sensitive about how people will react to it.”
“If someone ever judges you, I will rip a hole intheirheart.”
“See? If you understand why I wouldn’t share that info, then why are you mad at Leo for doing the same thing? He was probably trying to decide how much he could trust you,” Sophie said. “Sorry, I’m not saying hedidn’ttrust you.”
“No, it’s okay. Maybe he didn’t.” Nina raised her glass to salute the truth.
“I know you’re not big on second chances.” Sophie tilted her beer bottle toward Nina. “But maybe you need to get some closure.”
“Let’s change the subject.” Nina took a sip of whiskey. It wasn’t that Nina wasn’t big on second chances, it was that she’d made the mistake of giving Charlie multiple chances. A mistake she didn’t want to repeat with Leo. Once someone showed their true colors, that was all the proof needed to know who they really were. “Did I mention that massage was probably the best one I’ve ever had in my life? Your clients are very lucky.”
“I know you don’t give compliments easily, so I appreciate that one.” Sophie licked her lips and twirled the beer bottle on the counter. “I like what I’m doing, and the flexibility of the hours. It’s giving me more time to write.”
“What about the novel, then? Can I read it yet?”
Sophie’s mouth quirked up in a little grin. “It’s coming along. And I’ve seen the feedback you give contestants on the show... No offense, but there’s no way you’re going to be reading one of my rough drafts.”
“I only have strong opinions on food,” Nina said. “I’ll love anything you write.”
Sophie had always been a writer. When they were younger, she’d write stories and read them aloud to Nina at bedtime. The problem was that she’d gotten a few rejections on the first novel she’d ever written and hadn’t been able to bounce back. She’d taken the rejections as a sign that writing wasn’t meant to be her job, so she’d tried about a dozen careers after high school to see what else would stick. Waitress, math tutor, dog walker—name a profession and she either attempted or had researched it extensively. So she was happy to hear that Sophie had found a job she finally seemed to enjoy.
“I know what we need to do.” Sophie craned her head toward the stage, where a man in his seventies tipped his cowboy hat as he sang a very off-key rendition of a Johnny Cash song. “We have to sing it out.”
“Why do you love karaoke so much? Neither of us can sing.”
“That’s not true. If you drink more you’ll hear that my voice is a dead ringer for Adele’s.”
Nina laughed, maybe for the first time all day. She needed more of that and less of the terrible she’d experienced in the last week, so she’d follow Sophie’s lead.
Her sister made a gesture for Nina to pour her drink down the hatch, and she did. She hadn’t gotten good and properly drunk in some time, but she could tell by the feel of her mouth, and the way her sister swayed just slightly despite them sitting still, that tomorrow would be rough.
“Can we request a song?” Nina asked the bartender.
