her head into the room. “Have a—a good day,” Sophia managed to stutter.
Eve paused. “Everything’s going okay for you here?”
“Oh, yes. Great.” Pasting yet another smile on her face, she prayed Eve wouldn’t realize that she hadn’t started the coffee. She hadn’t done a damn thing except try to regain her equilibrium.
“I’m glad to hear it.” With a wave, she was gone. But it wasn’t long before Ted came down, showered and wearing a T-shirt with a darker pair of jeans than he’d had on yesterday. He hadn’t shaved, but that made him look better instead of worse. Fortunately, by the time he appeared she had coffee brewing and was scrambling some eggs.
“Morning,” he said.
She didn’t look up. “Morning.”
“You okay?”
At first, she assumed he’d read what she was feeling. But then she saw that her thumb was bleeding and grabbed a paper towel to wipe the blood. “Fine.”
He came closer. “Did you cut yourself or...”
She hid her hands behind her back. “No.”
Two lines formed between his eyes. “I thought I saw blood.”
“It’s nothing. I’ll get a Band-Aid.”
When he sat down at the kitchen table, she cursed silently. He was going to stay until she’d cooked breakfast. She hadn’t done so well when he’d been watching her type, so she tried to pay particular attention to what she was doing now.
“Eve told me what happened to Lexi yesterday,” he said. “I’m sorry about that.”
She kept her eyes on her skillet because she couldn’t bear to look at him quite yet. “Thanks. Um...you can get to work if you want. I’ll bring this up when it’s ready.”
“I’ll go in a second.” His chair squeaked against the floor, but he didn’t get up, even though she’d just given him the perfect opportunity to flee the kitchen. “Will you be able to get the details?”
“Excuse me?” She forced herself to glance at him.
“I’m talking about the fight—what happened to Alexa.”
She returned her attention to the food. “There’s nothing I can do about that, even if I learn the details.”
“You can go to the school, talk to the principal.”
“Lex begged me not to. She said that would only make the kids treat her worse.”
“So is she at home today or...”
“She couldn’t miss math. Her—her grades are...not what they should be. We’re both afraid she’ll end up having to repeat seventh grade if we’re not careful, and we don’t want that.”
“Of course not.”
Thankfully, the eggs were done and she could scoop them onto a plate. “Would you like some toast?”
“Please.”
She put two slices in the toaster and poured him a cup of coffee, which she carried to the table before bringing over his eggs. She didn’t bother with cream or sugar. She knew he liked his coffee black. “I could cut up some fruit, too, if you like.”
He caught her hand as she let go of his plate and frowned when he saw the damage to her fingers. “What are you doing to yourself? Doesn’t that
“Not really,” she lied, pulling away so she could hide her hands again.
“They look sore.”
“They’re fine. I’ll take care of it tonight.”
“Why don’t you take care of it now? There’re some Band-Aids in my bathroom.”
She gestured as if she’d do anything to get him to stop pressing her. “Okay. I—I’ll bring you a new box tomorrow.”
“I’m not worried about the price of a box of Band-Aids.”
His toast popped up and she hurried over to butter it. She planned to put the rest of his breakfast on his plate and get out of there until he finished eating, but he spoke before she could clear the door.
“Did he abuse you, Sophia?”
She knew about the rumors that’d gone through town, knew he was talking about Skip. The tone of his voice, itself a request for her to level with him, tempted her to admit the truth at last. She’d had to lie for so long. But she didn’t want word of what she’d suffered to get back to Lex.
Besides, she was pitiable enough in her current situation. “No.”
“How do you explain the bruises?”
She couldn’t meet his eyes. Every time she did, she pictured him with Eve. “I guess I’m just clumsy.”
Ted was back at his desk, but he wasn’t doing any more writing than yesterday. He kept thinking about last night and the fact that he’d slept with Eve. He’d known what he was doing. He’d made a conscious decision to take Eve to bed. So why did he feel so crappy today?
He listened to the sound of the vacuum as Sophia cleaned the house. She was working hard and fast, reminding him of the white tornado he’d once seen on a commercial. He couldn’t even convince her to stop and have lunch.
And her hands. Shit, she was
He thought about how she’d responded when he’d asked if Skip had abused her. Her mouth said no, but her eyes—
His phone rang. For a change, he was hoping it’d be his mother. He wanted to tell her that he was dating Eve, wanted to hear her excitement now that he finally had a serious love interest—one she and everyone else could be happy about. He thought that might erase the doubts nagging at him, help him believe he’d made the right choice.
But it wasn’t Rayma. It was his new girlfriend.
“Hey.” When he answered, he infused his voice with more excitement than he felt. “How are you today?”
“Fine. You?”
“Great. Why wouldn’t I be great?” He rolled his eyes. He was acting odd, and even he could tell.
“You’re not freaked out?” She sounded hesitant, eager to be reassured.
He kneaded his forehead. “Of course not.”
“That’s a relief. Because last night was—” she laughed “—last night blew my mind. And it’s going to blow everyone else’s when they find out we’re together now. But I’ll just say this—if I’d known you were
She wasn’t bad herself. And it was nice of her to stroke his ego. So why did he feel like crawling under his desk? “It was...amazing,” he said weakly.
“We could have another amazing night.”
He felt himself cringe. “When?”
“You could come over for dinner.”
Tonight? No. He didn’t want to see her again so soon. He needed time to regroup. But he wasn’t about to admit it. He’d made himself a promise that he’d see this through no matter what. “I have to work late but...after?”
“Fine. We’ll have dessert.”
“Okay.”
“Eight-thirty work for you?”
“Yeah. But you have my car.”
“I’ll pick you up.”
“Perfect.”
“Um...”
He clenched his jaw when she didn’t say goodbye.
“When are we going to tell the others?”
