Arrick’s POV
~ Sophie calls Arrick ~
“I’m fucking doing it!” I snap, throwing down my phone and pull the papers over to me to sign with a tad more aggression than is warranted. Almost stabbing my pen in the damn contract as I dot the I in my name and toss the pen down when I’m done, aware of the eyes on me around the dark wood table of the conference room, but I don’t give a shit. I feel shitty and pissed off and this is the last thing I want to be doing right now.
Some crappy minor brief on one of our low tier businesses who want funds for a re-brand; spending all day stuck at Carrero tower at my father’s request when I want to be smashing a boxing bag into next week to expel this feeling. I don’t actually care if they fold right now, they make less than a hundred grand a quarter anyway and it’s barely worth the time I have spent here today.
“You are not too old to get a span
He seems to be liking the fact that I have been this way all week; amused that the cool in control brother, for once, is the one acting like a bear with a sore head and having erratic juvenile flare ups of temper. You know, being Jake.Smug asshole. “Arry is in the good old ‘overthink, over analyze, and stress himself into an early ulcer’ mode. You know nothing we say will get his head together... he’s a stubborn ass hole when it comes to figuring shit out.” My brother smirks at me again, on his feet now too and shoulder shoves me as he walks past. Straightening his tie before losing patience and pulling it off in agitation, now the meeting is adjourned. I didn’t even bother with one today, after wrestling in the mirror with one this morning for twenty minutes, I threw it across the couch and left it at home. Agitation is becoming my new best friend and ties are something I rarely do.“None of any of this is an
Arrick’s POV~ Sophie, Natasha, and porn ~There’s a choice of things Sophie normally orders from the menu, all her must have’s, from her favorite Chinese. Food has always been the way to her heart, and I am pulling out the stops after my flowers nose-dived, literally, out her bedroom window.She knows how to make me suffer and I hate fighting with her.She’s sitting herself at the table, eyeing up the familiar containers and I hold my breath for a moment. Watching her, a smile spreading across my face as I see her expression soften a little. That pretty little dainty face, dimples appearing as she stifles a smile and ends up smirking subtly. I think it’s working. My sassy little hellcatlooks less ferocious and maybe I can relax a little if she simmers a bit.Dark hair and dark looks, glancing up from across the table and I try not to watch her too intensely as she starts eating her food. I miss her
I have no fucking clue why this particular porn channel is on my TV, it’s not one I even watch, and I can guess Tom and his new woman, when they used my apartment last month, have something to do with it. Never again will I let a guy use my pad as a weekend bang hang out when I am out of town. Never again will I allow Sophs control of the remote if this is the kind of shit she can fumble across by accident. I throw my palm over her eyes in a bid to protect her from further viewing, cursing under my breath that she’s endured this much.“For the love of god.” I internally sink. Sophie looks traumatized and I groan as I slide the remote out of her little hand, flicking the channel to a movie I was watching last week instead. I want to just rewind all this crap from Sophs head and delete it. The thought of her watching, doing, anything like that shit, has me all messed up inside; a mix of genuine paternal love and a lot of possible jealousy, all at the sam
Arrick’s POV~ Sophie in THAT dress ~I’m sitting on the couch, waiting for Sophs to hurry up and get dressed so we can leave already. I have no idea what possessed me to down two straight vodka’s while waiting on her, but I’m lightheaded and slightly off keel with the effects and regret it now. I figured a shot or two would relax me for tonight, but all it seems to have done is send me out of whack and my head is all over the place.My body is overly warm and tingly, crazily so, considering I’m a seasoned drinker and it shouldn’t affect me this way. Although, I guess over the last couple of years, I haven’t really drunk like I did, and tend to stop after a couple of beers. I can thank Natasha for my tolerance going to shit, her incessant nagging whenever I got drunk made it that I tended to stop after a couple, and now I am suffering the consequences.We’re going out to celebrate Colin&r
Instead focus on my little feisty girl, that I couldn’t love more if I tried. I love winding her up in every way, just to pull out a reaction. She is one of the least feminist rights girls I know, but she does like to maintain her right to do as she pleases, regardless of sex.“Mm, hmmm.” I press my lips together, holding in the urge to smile when she looks completely enraged and aims another slap my way. “Hey! I was agreeing with you.” I catch her hand mid-air, warmed by the jokiness between us and bend in impulsively, so intent on silencing that stroppy little mouth with wickedness. I pull her in against me as I tilt my head to get really close, still torn between aching to kiss her, and trying to be a gentleman where she is always concerned.Drink is killing me with the amorous urges, but I am still too sober to bypass the side of me who cares too much, so I end up close, but not going through with it. I do however get a buzz from being
Arrick’s POV~ Watching Sophie dance with Natasha ~“Here, you look like you need these” Nate pushes the tray of shots between us on the high table by the window, overlooking the dancefloor and I smile his way weakly. I feel like hell, already drunk and intend to get more so.“And the rest.” I raise my brows in defeat and down the five Jaeger Bombs in a row he has bought for me, before washing away the taste with a beer and pray to god the alcohol hits fast and kills this agony I’m feeling tonight. Restless, head a mess and sometimes I curse this brain of mine for how it operates. Jake got my dad’s decisive mind and arrogant attitude in most things; I got my mom’s caring brain and worry wart nature.For the most part I don’t mind it, but in this, it sucks like hell and if I were Jake, I probably would already be shacked up in bed with whatever girl did it for me the most. I know which one
I’ll hurt her; I’ll inflict pain on my girl in the worst possible way. But then, it’s not the same kind of pain. We have never really begun, and her love for me isn’t exactly clear cut, or black and white in the slightest. We have never explored it at all, and it could be nothing more than a dependency because of her past, because of what I have been to her when she needed that strength in someone else, and we might not even work. There is no guarantee that moving us from this to lovers would be successful, in fact, the last weeks have shown me that adding love and lust to this mix makes Sophie and I fight a hell of a lot more than we ever did. That we’re being hauled apart by it.We have a bond that runs deep, and I should leave it alone, keep what we have and not chance losing us for some sexual gratitude and what ifs. I need to work on getting us past this, without altering or ruining what we have. She needs me to be the friend I have always b
Arrick’s POV~ Saving Sophie in the club ~I wander around the crowd looking for Sophie; agitated, uptight and messed up royally. I told Natasha we should start again, slowly, see how it goes. Back to dating and taking baby steps to see if we can salvage what we used to have so, for right now, I’m still single technically but just that we now have to start seeing one another romantically.She agreed that we’ve become distant and stale and if we start with the small steps towards finding our passion again, then maybe we can fix what we once had. It all sounded good at the time, to begin with, but that clawing doubt and indecision was soon pushing me to down shots in a bid to get my shit together. Head consumed with Sophie’s absence, and pain biting at me to go find her and kick shit out of any guy that is occupying her down there.On paper it would all look mature, hopeful, and right, yet here I am, fucked up, feeling