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The next couple of days were a blur to me. All I knew is that it was Thursday, it‘d been a long day of filling out DUI reports and Nick had been cleared to come home. My shift was almost over when the chief called me into his office. That always made me nervous, he was this big white guy that reminded me of my father.

“Hey there officer Thompson. How is everything going with your brother?”

“He‘s fine thank you. Coming home today!” I wasn‘t sure if being honest was the best thing to do with the chief, but I didn‘t want to do small talk. Not when I was about twenty minutes from going home to see my brother. “I doubt that‘s what you called me in here for, sir.”

He chuckled and motioned me to take a seat. “Alright then, I’ll get to the point. Sophia…you are a great officer and I’m proud to have you here at my station.” He let out a heavy sigh and I knew he was going to say something negative next. “But, I’ve gotten a few reports that you are a bit spaced out. I think this whole thing with your brother is affecting your work. You froze in the middle of a call the other day. That man could have shot you or officer Richardson and you weren’t prepared.”

I gritted my teeth and knew right away who the report had come from. Oh he was so gonna get it. “That was only once chief…”

“What about the incident with the other guy at the liquor store?”

I rolled my eyes, that guy had totally deserved what I’d done. “He deserved more than a kick in the balls. He pissed on my cruiser.”

“I’m sorry about everything that is going on. I already spoke to your father and he feels the same way I do. I’m going to give you some time off. Two weeks so that you can get some sleep and get yourself together. Alright?”

I shook my head in disbelief. “But chief this is where I come to forget everything going on. This is my job.”

“I’m going to work it out to where you can get paid for the time off. I can’t allow you to carry a gun and a badge, if you are a threat to others.” He stuck out his hand waiting for me to turn in my badge and gun.

With a deep sigh I unhooked my badge and slipped the gun out of the holster. I handed them over to the chief and walked out of the room without saying another word. My blood was boiling and I was hoping not to see anyone, so I wouldn’t have to unleash my wrath on them.

That didn’t last long. Kevin was leaning against my car still in uniform. “Hey!” He greeted me with a smile. I walked past him towards the driver side without responding. “What’s wrong?”

“Are you seriously asking me what’s wrong?” I unlocked my door and swung it open. He raised his brows and shrugged. “You and Alex both put in a report about me not doing my job. I’m fine.”

Kevin smirked, now he knew why I was so pissed. “We did it for your own good, Soph.”

“Neither one of you know what’s good for me. Just because you’re my partner and we occasionally have some sexual tension…doesn’t mean you have the right to butt into my life.”

“I was just worried about you. Alex mentioned it to me and I had already been thinking about it, so we made a decision.”

“Oh, so now you two are chummy. Nice. I thought you were my friend…Kevin! I hope you enjoy your new cheery partner.”

I jumped into the car and slammed the door.

It didn’t take me long to get to my parents house. There was a bouquet of balloons and a welcome sign on the porch. It made me smile. Happily I opened the door and was startled to see the amount of people inside.

Alex, Howie and Brian were all there, along with the wives and kids and on top of that there were three really good looking strangers sitting around Nick. I was in heaven.

“Hey sis. Come in…I know it’s a full house.” Nick smiled widely and motioned me to come over with his hands. I stopped by greeting everyone else. DJ and Baylee were hanging with Nick and his friends like they were grown ups. They gave me big hugs when I finally reached them. “These are my friends from Cali. We used to work together.”

I smiled nervously at the three extremely attractive men. They all greeted me with a smile and handshake. “We’ve heard a lot about you and your family.” The one with dark hair said.

“I’m actually working on a surprise Nick has for you. It will be done by next week.” The blonde blue eyed one said.

“What’s up” The cutest one said.

Shyly I gave them all a wave. “A surprise for me? What is it?”

“We are going to Cali on your day off next week. Surfing. The guys said we can stay with them and they will teach you too.”

I was excited, we’d talked about it in the past, but it had never happened. “Oh my God that’s awesome!” I looked over at Alex and glared at him. “Since apparently; I have a couple of weeks off.”

Nick looked up and his smile was wiped off. “What happened?”

I shrugged with a sigh and told him not to worry about it. The last thing I wanted was him feeling bad about it. “It’s nothing. I need the time off anyways.”

My mom still looked like a mess as she kissed my cheek. “How is my baby?”

“I’m good mom!”

Dad came up from behind her and gave me a big bear hug. It was his guilty hug. I knew that most of the men in my life had been in some type of a meeting and had decided to request I get a break. As if I needed it.

We all ate, mingled and had a few laughs for the rest of the evening and then I grabbed Hannah and headed to my apartment. She showered. I brushed her hair and tucked her in. I was getting used to having the kid around and I knew that it was going to hurt like hell when her mother came knocking on my door, ready to take her back to that horrible life.

“Aunt Soph?”

“Yes Hannah!”

“You think I can stay with you forever?”

I sat next to her as she hugged a teddy bear. “I wish. But your mother misses you and she’s getting better. When she comes out from the hospital she’s going to be a totally new mommy for you. I promise.”

With that said she closed her eyes and fell asleep. I took a quick shower and wrapped myself in a towel. I headed to the kitchen for a glass of water and was startled when there was a knock at the door.

Nowadays I had to admit that anything scared me. With all that was happening I had let my guard down and forgotten about the famous Frank guy that had gotten away. I looked through the peephole and for a second wished it was Frank instead.

I tightened the towel around my body and unlocked the door. I opened it a peep and glared at the man standing there sexily. “What do you want?”

“On most days…what’s under that towel. Right now; I just want to explain myself.”

The comment had sent a hot rush through my body. I rolled my eyes and opened the door to welcome him in. Not that I wanted to hear his lame ass excuse for throwing me under the bus. Although, it was gonna be some pep talk about how much he cared and maybe loved me and he worried. All bullshit to me.

“Alright then…explain. Why the hell you and Kevin are even discussing anything about me? Why you would tell dad? And why the hell you care?”

I was so angry that I’d forgotten I was just in a towel. It was hard for me to keep myself together. My heart was drumming inside my chest. The need for him was gnawing at my body. There was nothing more I would have liked than to get a hug from him. Instead, I got a roll of his eyes.

“Oh come on. We did it cause we care about you.” He pointed a finger at me, “Look at you…you’re a mess. Plus, just because we aren’t together anymore, doesn’t mean I don’t care or love you.”

“You love me? Right.”

He left out a sigh. “I didn’t come to talk about what we had or didn’t have. I just…you need to get your shit together.”

My lips pursed into an angry pout. I’d really wanted to hug him a couple of minutes ago, now I wanted to deck him. “Just like you do. Running into some bimbos bed right away? Maybe, I should do that too…I know Kevin is willing!”

Alex’s jaw clenched. “Blow me!”

“You have your blonde to do that. Now if you are done with your lame explanation. I would like it if you leave!” I didn’t really want him to leave, but he seemed set on his decision about our relationship being over and it pained me to have him near.

He just shrugged in defeat and started for the door. Slowly he took the hand and stood for a couple of seconds and then closed the door behind him. My heart was aching and I wanted to cry, but I’d told myself that this was for the good and I wouldn’t let it get me down.

I went back to my room and pulled on pajamas. Went for a glass of warm milk, went to lay down on my bed and passed out.

What time was it? I had no idea. How I got to the kitchen? I didn’t know either. But I couldn’t breath and the ground was moving from under me. The phone was still at my ear and I was staring blankly at the wall. With all the days I’d spent with him and all the crazy things we’d talked about. I’d thought maybe he was getting better.

“Aunt Soph is everything alright?”

Hannah’s groggy voice brought me back to the moment and I swiped at the tears. “Um…we have to go see uncle Nick. He’s in the hospital, again.” Quickly we changed and headed to the hospital.

I’m pretty sure that everyone hates hospitals. Because I truly do. Unconsciously I was pulling poor Hannah down the corridor towards the nurses station, but the kid didn’t even protest. We zipped in past the family and I felt my heart sink.