Page 82 of Mutual Discord

Unable to articulate a reply, I stupidly shook my head.

Reaching out, Denise grasped my hand. “It’s okay to want things for yourself, but not when they already belong to someone else.”

“Th-that’s not what this is.” I licked my lips while my mind raced. “I’m not jealous of Caitlin. I love her.”

“You love her so much you’re sleeping with her boyfriend?”

I flinched like I’d been struck.

“I don’t understand.” Denise squeezed my fingers tightly. “You’ve built a whole platform highlighting the discoveries and innovations stolen from women throughout history, and yet you’re willing to steal from another woman. I thought you were a girl’s girl.”

Anger surged up my throat. “You’re not being fair.”

“How am I not?” Denise splayed her arms. “Holy shit, Sofia, what are you going to do when she gets here—”

“Hey, I got us some water.” Alex appeared behind Denise, and his smile slipped as his gaze darted between me and her. “Is everything okay?”

“No, it’s not,” Denise said succinctly. Stepping back, she immediately pivoted on her heel. “I need a shot.”

Alex watched Denise stalk away, frowning. “Did something happen?”

I shook my head. “No, it’s fine. We’re just…” I sighed. “Having a moment.”

The thought of telling Alex what Denise had claimed about me and my character made me want to dissolve into the ether. It’s like my mind conjured Denise to berate me with all the recriminations I had done my best to ignore.

And I was desperate to ignore all those horrible truths now.

Glancing at Alex, I dug deep to drum up a smile. “Thanks for the water. I needed it.”

The water rushed down my throat, the coldness of it shocking my system and helping me settle my rioting emotions.

Alex wrapped one of my curls around his finger, releasing the corkscrew to bounce up. The wrinkle hadn’t been completely smoothed from his brow, but he didn’t look as concerned as he had moments before. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I am.” The song changed to an iconic Celia Cruz number, and I jerked my thumb to the stairs. “I’d really like to dance again.”

“Is that right?” Alex slid his hand around my back to pat my ass. “Then that’s what we’ll do.”

The rest of the night was an exercise in compartmentalizing. Somehow I managed to laugh and dance with Alex, chat with Camila over the music as we sipped drinks in the booth, all the while trying not to notice how Denise watched me. She’d been joined by a few friends, and the group alternated between dancing and drinking and chatting at the booth, and anytime I was around, I sensed her gaze on me. It was so foreign not to feel comfortable around Denise. To feel judged by her…but even in my rum-clouded state, I understood why my friend was upset. If the roles were reversed, I would be upset with her, too. Denise had every right to her anger—I just wasn’t ready to confront it yet.

So I poured my attention onto Alex, which was easy to do because he was so happy to be there. With his sister. With me. I grasped every minute we were together with both hands, because things would be different as soon as Caitlin arrived.

Alex stood next to me as midnight approached, our gazes trained on the clock displayed on a video screen above the dance floor. While the crowd shouted the numbers as they counted down, Alex’s arm slid around my waist as he lowered his head to mine.

“Thank you for making this last year so great,” he murmured in my ear.

“I thought the Scorpions made it great.”

“I mean, it’s my dream job and working with the team has been the highlight of my career.” His hand ran up and down my back. “But meeting you, becoming your friend, has made this move to Phoenix feel right.”

I stared at him from under my eyelashes. “It did?”

He nodded, pulling me closer into his chest. While the people around us shrieked as the new year dawned hopeful, Alex tucked his cheek against mine. “Being with you, Sofia, feels like home.”

The beauty of his words sucked the air from my lungs. This man confessed to never feeling connected anywhere. Not with his culture and community, and not even with his parents. Alex had said he accepted the position with the Scorpions for something new, professionally and personally. But really, he’d been looking for a place to belong. A place to finally grow roots. And maybe, just maybe, he could do that with me.

But I needed to be his choice. His pretty words now would mean nothing if tomorrow he returned his affections to Caitlin.

Angling my head back, I met Alex’s gaze. The desire to ask him to choose me, to be with me, sat poised on my tongue. But I couldn’t say the words. Not then, with him looking down at me as if I were the map to everything he had ever wanted. So instead, I kissed him.