Family Ties

Thirteen - Justin

We were having drinks at Swigging Shots for Dare's birthday. I, myself, was celebrating. I'd approached Dare and Hunter about opening a second bar and they'd both been interested. I had contacted a realtor about the perfect property two towns over and we were going to look at it in a couple days. I was stoked. Beyond that, everything else was going pretty great too. Sophie's divorce should be final soon and the kids were going to move back with us the day after that. They'd been enjoying their grandparents, but Sophie missed them.

I'd talked Sophie into living with me until she could figure something out. Secretly I hoped she never left, but I also understood if she needed to take time to re-find herself. Bill had done a lot of damage and it wasn't all on the surface. He'd been missing since the day of the video. The police had finally found the truck he'd been driving that day. It had crashed down a ravine, but there had been no sign of Bill. I was hoping his body would turn up somewhere. Sophie deserved happiness and I knew the worry of wondering when Bill would pop up next was grating on her.

I watched her laughing with Dare's sister Andie. I smiled remembering how Hunter and Andie had hidden their relationship from Dare for a while. I wondered what my friends would say if they knew I'd been fixated on my stepsister for years. As if hearing my thoughts, both of my friends joined me. They stood with me, watching the girls. Sitting with Sophie and Andie was Andie's best friend Roxy. I side-eyed Dare and wondered when he'd stop fighting it. Dare and Roxy acted like they hated each other, but I'd always wondered if that was just pent-up sexual tension between the two.

"So..." Hunter said and took a sip of his beer.

"So?" I prompted and my heart sunk. Were they going to back out on the expansion?

Dare smirked, "When are you and Sophie going to bone?"

I choked on my beer and Hunter had to pound on my back to help me catch my breath. Finally, I feigned confusion, "What are you talking about?"

"Oh please. You've been undressing her with your eyes since the moment you met her. She's almost divorced, so are you going to stop fighting it now?" Hunter asked.

I straightened, "As a matter of fact—"

"Justin!" Sophie squealed excitedly and suddenly threw herself into my arms.

"What happened?" I asked.

She put her mouth to my ear and said, "My attorney just called, and my divorce papers came through tonight. I'm officially divorced."

I shivered at what she wasn't saying. She was now a single woman, which meant there was nothing keeping us from exploring these crazy feelings we had for each other. Yes, I knew our parents would be surprised, but they'd get over it. They'd have to, because if Sophie would have me, then I was all in. I'd been all in since the moment I laid eyes on her.

"What's going on? Sophie got a call and got all excited." Roxy asked, as she and Andie joined us.

"Maybe it's none of your business. Did you ever consider that?" Dare told Roxy, which led to them sparring...toe-to-toe...again.

Sophie muttered to herself, as if needing a minute to process it, "I'm officially divorced."

"Uh, congratulations?" Andie said, awkwardly. It did feel a little odd to celebrate the end of a marriage, but in this case, it was a long time coming. Sophie put up with Bill's abuse for far longer than she should have. She's lucky he hadn't started in on the kids yet. But that was neither here nor there. My girl was free, that was the most important thing.

"Hey, um, Justin...could you come help me with something, um, maybe in your office?" Sophie suddenly said, looking flustered and adorable. She was not subtle at all, but that was ok. I grabbed her hand and ignored my friends, who sent catcalls our way, as I pulled Sophie through the bar, down the hall, and into my office.

As soon as the door was shut, she was in my arms, but she wasn't trying to devour my face like I'd expected. She was hugging me, and her body began to shake. At first, I couldn't tell if she was laughing or crying, but then I heard her sniffles. I hugged her tight and requested, "Talk to me."

"I'm fine. I'm just so relieved. I mean, I know we still don't know where Bill is and he could still be a threat to us, but just knowing I'm no longer connected to him on paper anymore is such a relief. I know I should have gotten out sooner and I'm lucky that he never harmed the kids. I was just so scared to even try. He's so powerful in this town, I figured I didn't stand a chance against him. Yet here we are and after that video proof of how crazy he is, he'll never be able to get custody of the kids. My attorney is sure of that now, with Bill's disappearing act. I couldn't have done this without you. I wouldn't have been strong enough. So, thank you."

"I didn't do much, but you're welcome." I tell her and kiss the top of her head.

"Crap, you came in here expecting something far different I'm sure and here I am a blubbery mess." She said, pulling away and instantly wiping her face with tissues from my desk.

I let her have a moment, but as soon as she tossed the Kleenex away, I picked her up and set her on my desk. She yelped in surprise, but she wore a smile as I cupped her face, "You're not a blubbery mess. You're always beautiful to me."

"You're sweet." She said, but that's all she managed to get out before my lips were finally on hers. After all the years of pinning for her from afar, I was finally getting to taste her, and she was worth the wait.

Only when we needed air did we break apart. I rested my forehead against hers and asked, "Do you want to get out of here? If you'd rather stay, we can stay. Or if you'd rather not get physical with me...or anyone right away, I understand. I will never force you into doing anything you'd rather not do. So always be honest with me. Promise you'll—"

Sophie put a finger to my lips and whispered, "Let's get out of here."

I grinned and wished we could sneak out the back, but I figured we better say our goodbyes. So, we did just that and wished Dare a happy birthday, before we walked outside. I held her hand as we made our way to my truck. I was thankful I'd only had one drink early, so I could get us home quickly. I looked down at Sophie with a grin, but then we were suddenly lit up by headlights. I glanced up in time to see a car barreling toward us. I had one second to decide how to react and instinctively shoved Sophie out of harm's way, just before the car slammed into me and everything went black.