Page 16 of Diesel
Chapter Five
Sophie didn’t expectto see Brandon ever again.Her ex was leaning against the brick wall of her flower shop like he had every right to be there, like he hadn’t treated her life like something disposable.
She froze the second she spotted him, keys clutched tightly in her hand, her fingers stiff with tension.The morning sun hadn’t fully broken the horizon yet, casting long shadows across the sleepy street.Birds chirped from the wires overhead.
Somewhere, a delivery truck rumbled past.Normal sounds in a town that had become her home.Her heart gave a hard, unwelcome thud in her chest.
It wasn’t from fear, because Brandon wasn’t dangerous, but from dread.Familiar and heavy dread, the same cloying sensation she used to feel whenever he started one of his little speeches about how she wasn’t living up to her “potential.”Which, according to him, usually meant she was being too emotional, too passionate, too independent.
He straightened when he saw her, brushing his hand through his expensively tousled hair like he was still the charming asshole she used to know.And he smiled.That grin.The one that had once made her feel seen, wanted, and safe.Now it only made her stomach knot with fury and disbelief.
“Hey, Soph,” he said, casual as anything, pushing off the wall like he belonged there.
Her voice came out tight and flat.“What are you doing here?”
Brandon gave her a slow once-over, like he was still entitled to look at her that way.Like he hadn’t disappeared on her when she finally told him she was tired of his shit.
“You look good,” he said.
She didn’t respond.Didn’t blink or move.
“Brandon,” she said after a moment, forcing patience into her voice.“Why are you here?”
He held up his hands with that smarmy, practiced little shrug.“All right, all right.I heard about what happened to your shop.Thought maybe you’d take the hint.”
Her brows drew together.“What hint?”
“That maybe it’s time to leave, Sophie.This town’s not exactly welcoming these days,” he said with a sympathetic shrug, not even remotely convincing.“Someone breaks a window, sends a message.That’s not random.”
It hit her then, like a slap: he knew.Maybe he overheard it from another local.Maybe he even thought she was exaggerating the whole thing.Typical Brandon.Always so quick to believe she was overreacting.Always so quick to dismiss what didn’t serve his version of the world.
Sophie stepped closer, her voice low and cold.“Are you serious right now?You show up out of nowhere and tell me to pack up like I’m not worth the space I’ve built for myself here?”
He blinked.“Sophie...”he began.
“No.”Her voice rose.“You don’t get to show up with your fake concern and that smug little grin and pretend you’re here to help.You left.Remember?You walked away because I wanted something real.Because I wouldn’t be your quiet little accessory while you played corporate golden boy in Ridgeway.”
Brandon’s expression faltered, then twisted.“I didn’t leave because of you.I left because you wouldn’t stop clinging to this fantasy.A flower shop?Come on.You’re better than this.You always were.”
Her rage surged, white-hot.
“You never understood me,” she snapped.“Not once.You liked the idea of me, the quiet version, the one who smiled and agreed and fit into your picture-perfect future.But the second I wanted something for myself, something messy and real, you shut down.You acted like I was the problem.”
He stepped closer, his voice softening in that familiar manipulative way.“I’m trying to help you now.Come back to Ridgeway.We can start over.You’ve got nothing holding you here.”
She laughed, sharp and humorless.“You think I have nothing here?Brandon, I have everything here.A business I built with my own two hands.People who care about me.A town that’s—” She paused, suddenly remembering Diesel’s scowl, the way he’d looked at her like she mattered.“A town that’s starting to feel like home.”
Brandon’s mouth twisted.“You’ve always been too stubborn for your own good.”
“And you’ve always been too arrogant to listen when someone tells you no,” she shot back.
Then he stepped even closer.Close enough that she caught the faint scent of expensive cologne.The smell used to comfort her.Now it made her sick.
“Sophie, I’m serious.You’re caught in the middle of something weird.You don’t know what kind of trouble you’ve stepped in here.This shop, this town, it’s not worth it.You deserve more.”
