Page 64 of Worth the Risk

“I don’t want to intrude.”

“You are not intruding because I asked you to join me.”

How do I say no to that?

“Sure. If you insist.”

“I do,” Leo replies curtly.

Leo’s dad is still staring at us curiously but says nothing.

Not sure what to say next, I escape. “I’ll head inside and change. I’ll be just a minute.”

Leo’s dad’s reaction was odd. He was friendly with everyone else, but to me, he seemed standoffish.

Once in Leo’s room, I quickly change out of my swimsuit and into a pair of shorts and a summer top. Instead of going outside again, I go to Sophie’s room and knock on her door.

“Come in,” she calls. When I enter, she’s packing a suitcase, and it appears that she’s taking everything with no intention of returning.

Yes, something is most definitely off.

I won’t ask. I’ll just get straight to the point.

“Tell me what happened, Sophie.”

She gives me a quick glance but acts like I never spoke.

“I saw Nash leaving your room this morning.”

“You didn’t tell Leo, did you?”

“No. But I intend to if neither of you do. I love your brother and will not lie to him. I don’t feel right keeping things from him.”

“You love my brother?”

Of course she caught that.

“Yes, I do.” I told Leo I was falling in love with him, but I should have told him I loved him before telling Sophie.

She gives me her first smile of the day before hugging me. “I’m so happy for you both.”

He hasn’t said the same to me, but I don’t want him to unless he really feels the same about me, and I truly hope he does. It’s hard for him to say or hear it after what happened with his mom. How did she go from being a loving and doting wife and mother to leaving like they never existed? He’s unable to reconcile how someone can go from loving him one day to leaving and never looking back the next. I can’t understand it either.

“I told him I was falling in love with him. He hasn’t said it to me yet,” I explain as I pull away from her hug.

“He does. I know he does. He may not say it in words, but the way he is with you, anyone can see it.”

I hope she’s right, but enough about us. I want to talk about her.

“So… Nash?” I question.

Her expression changes to a frown, and she blows out a breath and plops down on the bed next to me. “I tried to kiss him again last night, and he turned me down. I feel so foolish.”

“But he was coming out of your room early this morning.”

She sighs despondently. “He came into my room after I fell asleep. Told me he couldn’t stay away any longer. Next minute, we were… you know?”

“No, I don’t know.”

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