Page 31 of Deal Breaker
“How much did she tell you?”
Autumn shrugged. “Not much. She checked in on you, stayed to make sure you were okay, you pushed her out of the window.”
“Perfectly paraphrased, thank you.” I bit my lip, silently thanking my lucky stars Sophie hadn’t given away any details of our kiss. “I didn’t intentionally push her out of the window. It was after you came to the door. I didn’t want you to see her in my room and make assumptions.”
“Me?” Autumn pointed a finger to her own chest. “Why would I jump to totally the wrong conclusion about you and Sophie?”
“Because you didn’t want us to get together in the first place?”
Autumn let out a hard breath. “I’m not going to be the one to stand in the way of true love. If that’s what it is.”
My heart raced at her words. “Really? You’re giving us your blessing?”
She cocked her head to one side. “I’m givingyoumy blessing. Sophie, on the other hand, will take some more convincing. After all, you’ve given her the mother of all bruises.”
“What?”
“You think it’s easy falling gracefully out of a window?” Autumn shook her head. “Poor girl, she’s definitely going to have something to remember from Brianna’s wedding.”
If I had my way, Sophie would have more than that to take away from today.
Impulsively, I wrapped my arms around my sister and squeezed her tight. “Thank you, sis. I really do appreciate you changing your mind.”
She shoved me away from her, rolling her eyes. “I’m not sure I had much of a choice in the matter. I hope she gives you a hard time, Max.”
I didn’t doubt for one moment she would do anything else.
“Oh, one last thing,” Autumn said. “Do I need to go and console Jodie now?”
In my haste to speak to Autumn and clear the air about everything Sophie-related, I had completely forgotten about Jodie. In my head, I’d let her down gently, but from what Autumn alluded to, I wasn’t that great at being gentle.
“Maybe. I kind of left her on the dance floor.”
She swatted my arm. “Honestly, Max, upsetting two women in less than 24 hours. That’s got to be some sort of record.”
Assuming everything went to plan with Sophie, at least one of those women wouldn’t be upset any longer.
Before she left, Autumn straightened my cravat. “Good luck. I think you’re going to need it.”
Alone, I glanced over at the refrigerator. On the glass top were spirit bottles, including a very fine whisky. Despite my promise I wouldn’t go hard on the liquor today, a little Dutch courage wouldn’t go amiss before I spoke to Sophie. I poured a generous measure and swigged it down in one, feeling the burn down my throat. Emboldened by the first shot, I took another.
The adrenaline fizzed around my body.
Like I’d said to Autumn, it was now or never.
Chapter Thirteen
Sophie
Max had disappeared, not a sign of him anywhere in the main reception room.
Thankfully, he didn’t seem to be with Jodie, who was at the bar mainlining shots and flirting with the barman or any other male guest who happened to be in her vicinity.
I was still mad at her.
Even though I didn’t have any right to be jealous or stake any claim on Max, her earlier confession about liking him knocked me sideways again. I shouldn’t have made such a throwaway comment at Brianna’s bachelorette party.
We’d played a game of Love, Lust, or Run.
