SLEAZE: A Hollywood Comeback Story (Book #1)

Chapter 19

The sound of her voice made me jump.

“What are you doing up so late?” Sophie asked, rubbing the bleariness from her eyes as she padded into the kitchen.

She sniffled as she walked, studying me until she stopped next to where I sat at the long table in the center of the room. Even in the dim light I could see that she was wearing the sweater that I’d given her, thin arms swimming in the extra fabric as she hugged herself.

"Geez, Sophie,” I said, my heart pounding as wildly as if I’d been caught in the middle of a bank heist. I lowered the lid of my laptop as she bent to peer at my screen. “Nothing, just reading some sports stuff.”

“Really?” she asked, her voice skeptical.

“Yeah, the internet in my room sucks. What are you doing?”

“I can’t sleep,” she mumbled and pointed to her nose. She sniffed again. “I can’t breathe.”

Sympathy rushed over me as I remembered what my mom had said earlier in the day about Sophie being sick.

"Sorry,” I said, gesturing to one of the chairs opposite of me and she shrugged as she slid into it, drawing her long legs up to her chest.

Neither of us spoke for a moment as I avoided her gaze, picking at the skin around my nails while I tried to shake off the sheet of awkwardness that was blanketing the room.

“So how long do you plan on being weird around me?” she finally asked, leaning forward in her chair to study my reaction.

“I’m not,” I said and from the corner of my eye I could see her frown.

"You looked like you were about to cry when I sat next to you at dinner.”

“Yeah, tears of joy that you’d finally shown up so Mom would let me start eating.”  

“Whatever, Parker,” she said, resting her chin on top of her bare knee. Silence settled over us again and after awhile, I glanced at her, unnerved to find that she was smiling gently at me, the tiny dimple in her cheek more pronounced than usual. Without moving from her position, she asked, “You aren’t mad at your mom, are you?”

“No,” I replied with a sigh. “She love showing off those stupid scrapbooks.”

“I noticed.” Sophie giggled, her smile widening. “She’d already shown me three by the time you got home.”

“I’m impressed, most people gouge their eyes out after two.”

“Yeah, well, I must admit that the last one was by far the most interesting,” she teased and I grimaced.

“I’m sure it was.”

Sophie licked her bottom lip leaving behind a trail of saliva that glistened on the chapped surface. “You’re lucky, though.”

“Why?”

“Because she loves you so much—both of your parents do.”

“I know.”

The humming of my laptop’s fans filled the air as I scratched the back of my neck, trying to think of what to say next. Once again, Sophie beat me to it.

“So what were you really doing?” she asked, tracing the logo on my laptop’s lid with her finger.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that I could hear you typing away like a maniac from my room. What’s up? Internet girlfriend?” Sophie looked at me, an eyebrow raised in suspicion.