Tinsel (Lark Cove #4)(74)

“Hey.”

She was quiet.

“Sofia.”

“I’m here.”

Yes, she was. She was in New York and out of my grasp. She was probably in the arms of whoever the fuck that guy was. He probably wasn’t set on proving something to his family. He probably didn’t give a shit that Sofia was richer than sin.

He probably didn’t know how lucky he was.

“You okay?”

“I got mugged,” she whispered.

My heart cracked. “Are you okay?”

“He took my purse and my phone and stuff.”

“But are you okay?”

“He kissed me.” Her voice shook. “On the temple. Where you kissed me. He—”

“Sofia,” I cut her off. “Are. You. Okay?”

I needed to hear the words. Just seeing her hadn’t been enough after all.

“Yes, I’m okay.”

My body sagged backward until my knees hit the couch, and I collapsed into the seat. I dropped my head into my free hand and pinched the bridge of my nose.

Where the fuck was her guy when she’d been mugged? How could he let this happen to her? How could I let this happen to her?

“I’m sorry.”

“Why? Did you take my purse?” she teased.

The corner of my mouth turned up. “What color was it? Your purse.”

“Black.”

“Next time take your pink one.”

She giggled, the sound so magical it filled the empty hole in my chest. “How are you?”

“Good.” Bullshit. “It’s been busy at the bar this summer so I’ve spent most of my time there.”

“I’ve been working a lot too.”

“How’s the studio?”

“Great. We might expand.”

I grinned. “See? You’re killing it. I knew you would.”

“Thank you.” Her smile came through her voice. “How are your properties doing? How’s Arthur?”

“They’re good. He’s good. Happy since I finally kicked out my other tenant. He’s been kicking my ass at chess lately. I’ve been distracted, so my game is shot.”

“Distracted? Why?”

Because of you. “Just a lot on my mind.”

“Oh.”

An uncomfortable silence stretched between us. I hated small talk. I wasn’t good at it with anyone, let alone her. We ran too deep. And all I really wanted from her was the truth. I wanted her to admit she’d met someone. To put me out of my misery.

“Anything else new?” I was fishing.

“Not really.”

“Hmm.” Liar. The bright feeling her voice had given me dulled. The fog I’d been in for three months hadn’t lifted long.

I waited a few more seconds, hoping she’d just spit it out. When she didn’t, I got angry.

She couldn’t know I’d seen them together. How would she? But she could at least have the decency to tell me. We meant that much to each other, didn’t we? Enough for honesty?

Maybe not.

Maybe I’d gotten so drunk on her I’d seen everything wrong.

“Are you still there?” she asked.

“Yeah, but I gotta run. Take care, Sofia.”

“Oh, oka—”

I hung up and tossed the phone aside. Then I dropped my face into my hands.

What was wrong with me?

Before I could dive into that wormhole of a question, my phone rang. I picked it up. Sofia?

“Hey,” I answered.

“What the hell?”

My spine straightened. “Huh?”

“What the hell, Dakota?” she snapped. “Why did you just hang up on me?”

“Sorry.”

“Are you? We haven’t talked in months. You call to ask if I’m okay. Then hang up on me? After everything, we could at least be friends.”

“Friends?” We were so past friends it wasn’t even a speck on the horizon.

“Friendly. Or whatever. We could at least be honest with each other.”

“Honest. You want to talk to me about honesty?” I huffed. “That’s hypocritical.”

“Hypocritical? What are you talking about? I’ve always been honest with you.”

“Really?” I stood and paced in front of the couch. “Then how about you be honest and say you’ve moved on?”

“Moved on to what?”

“Jesus fucking Christ. You’re really lecturing me about being honest, and you can’t even admit you’re seeing someone?”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about you and a guy getting out of your car this morning, holding hands. I’m talking about you being honest with me or at least not lecturing me to be honest with you.”

My voice carried across the room, echoing on the far wall. Then it got quiet. Too quiet.

“You saw me,” she whispered.

“Yeah.”

“You saw me.”

“Yes.”

“It was you walking away this morning. I didn’t dream it up.”

I stopped pacing. “You saw me?”

“No, you saw me!” she yelled. “You were here! And you didn’t come to me. You were here, and you left me.”