“You have to break up with him. You know what’s going to happen. You’ve been here before…you’ll see him again and he’ll tell you how sorry he is and want to kiss and make up but then it will happen again, and it will be more than just your eye next time.” Sophie laid it out for her. She didn’t dance around the subject. She had tried that the first time Mel was going through a bad relationship. It was shortly after they had met. Mel ended up in the hospital with broken ribs.
“I know, but—” Mel began but Sophie cut her off.
“What would you do if Mr. Cleary took a swing at you?” Sophie cut in.
“What?” Mel looked confused as she looked back at Sophie.
“What would you do?”
“I would kick him in the fucking balls before beating the living shit out of him.” Mel’s mouth turned up into a satisfied grin.
“Exactly. You are the toughest girl I know. You don’t let anyone else push you around, so don’t let the men you date do it. You deserve better than what Corbin can offer you.” Sophie smoothed Mel’s hair back to get a better look at her eye.
“I’m a fucking stripper, Sophie. What if this is all that I’m ever gonna have?” Mel said sadly.
“You are not just a stripper, Mel. You are a strong woman, a daughter, a sister, and my best friend. You deserve as much love as anyone else in this whole entire world. If you don’t want to be a stripper, don’t. If you do, then don’t let it define you. Just do me a favor and don’t date customers anymore. Find someone that doesn’t see you naked on the first encounter and stay away from the ones that seem to have an addiction problem. Someone good is going to fall in love with you, treat you right, and sweep you off your feet. You just have to stop putting obstacles in your way. Corbin, Billy, and what’s his name are no good for you. Start listening to that tiny voice in your head, Mel.” Sophie smiled with a warm heart. “I know that warning bells go off when one of those idiots walks up to you.”
“You don’t sound like someone who doesn’t believe in love, Sophie.” Mel’s small smile brought Sophie relief.
“I don’t believe in the whole fall in love and live happily after ever for me…but you believe in it and I want you to be happy.”
“What is wrong with us? I can’t find a man with any good qualities, a drawback to my line of work, and you…when are you going to tell me why you are so against believing in happily ever after?” Mel looked up at her with the question in her eyes.
Sophie shrugged. “I have never witnessed happily ever after. My father left my mother before I was born. We struggled through life, trying to survive. I have seen lots of heartache and had my share. I just don’t want to risk the pain. It’s more trouble than it’s worth.”
“Wow…we are pathetic and damaged, Sophie.”
“True that, Mel.” Sophie laughed.
“Tell me though, ’cause I’m curious why don’t you take advantage of the fact that you look like a freaking supermodel and hook up with some hotties?” Mel asked in disbelief. “Seriously, the walls in our building are thin and I would have known if you brought someone home with you. I know it’s not for lack of intent on the male side, either. They practically drool when you walk by.”
“What? No way!”
“You are so naïve, Sophie.” Mel rolled her eyes as they pulled up in front of Sophie’s school.
“I’m not naïve and I really have to go, I’m late. Thanks for the ride, we’re going to talk about this Corbin situation later and stop smoking, already.” Sophie ran up to the front door of the building.
When Sophie walked into the classroom she intentionally kept her eyes from traveling toward the center of the room where Ashton and the other model were posed. “Sorry, sir,” Sophie called to her professor, Mr. Walters, as she took her seat.
“You don’t need to apologize to me. You are only cheating yourself of time spent on your painting,” he responded as he watched her settle in her seat.
“Yes, sir,” Sophie replied politely as she readied her supplies to begin. She gave herself a moment to greedily take in Ashton’s gorgeous hard body that looked as if he was carved of stone. Every part of his body looked powerful and delicious. What am I thinking? Sophie squeezed her eyes shut and tried to focus on her painting.
A strange heat settled in her core, making her mouth water and her attention waver to sensual thoughts. The canvas in front of her blurred as her mind was solely fixated on Ashton’s body. She remembered how his hands felt upon her when they were on the dance floor. The heat of him pressed against her.
Sophie raked her hands over her face. She needed to pull herself together—she was losing her self-control. Sophie forced her attention to the painting in front of her, reminding herself how important this was for her final mark. Taking a deep breath, she began working with the paint until she finished the girl’s likeness to her satisfaction. Instead of painting Ashton, she decided to make a bold move. The painting became an image of the woman embracing an identical image of herself. One of the reasons she loved art was the creativity to step outside of rules and structure. She was pleased with the final product and could only hope that Mr. Walters would appreciate the angle she chose.
“I hope that everyone has had enough time to view the models. They will not be joining us again, but should you need more time, next class is open to finish the paintings,” Mr. Walters announced at the end of the sitting. Sophie hadn’t realized how much time had passed. She was startled when Ashton leaned around her canvas to view her painting.
“I’m disappointed…you stared at me long enough and you didn’t even paint me. Though, I must say I do like where your mind is.” He smiled wickedly at her.
“Actually I had to improvise because every time I tried to paint you I would feel nauseous,” Sophie replied, dismissing him by busying herself with packing up her supplies.
“You’re meaner than I remember,” he stated with a humorous tone.
“Well, you are just as mean as I remember,” Sophie spat out.
“And you still want me so bad you can taste it,” Ashton declared arrogantly with a raised eyebrow.
“Don’t fool yourself. Not every girl that sees you wants you, Ashton.” Sophie couldn’t hide the color in her face.
He shrugged his shoulders in the same careless way she had seen him do so many times before. “But you do.”
Sophie huffed. “Why are you even doing this?” She waved to her painting. “Don’t you have something better to be doing with your time?
“And miss this wonderful exchange between us?”
“Was it the model girl?” Sophie’s question was met with a bored look. “It was, wasn’t it? You were trying to get laid.” Sophie rolled her eyes when he didn’t try to deny it. “Well, the rest of us live in a world where we have to work toward our future, not waste it away doing pointless things for a thrill. Please don’t let me get in the way of your fabulous time you have planned between the two of you.” Sophie waved him away toward the other model, who was still lingering around the room.
“Are you jealous?” The humor in his voice was too much.
“Bite me,” Sophie snapped.
Ashton raised his eyebrow. “I can do that.” His words pulled at an invisible cord that tied to her inner heat. The way his lip curved up made her want to taste them. “It explains the kiss the other night.”
Heat raked across her face. “In your dreams, Ashton.” Sophie grabbed her things and headed out of the classroom, not looking back. I am a confident, grounded woman and I will not let that pompous ass get to me!
As soon as she was a safe distance away, she found a place to sit and pull herself together before heading to her next class. Pulling out her phone, she sent a message to Jack. It was the first time in her life she’d opened up to a guy and right now she needed him.
Sophie: Ashton is such an ass.