The Commitment (10 page)

“He’s never had it?”

“Nope,” I smirk.

“Oh my God,” Jack starts, facing Chase. “I’ve been dreaming of this shit for like two years, dude. Are you making rice with it?”

“Of course,” I say, beaming when he makes his way around the bar to hug me.

“You just made my whole day, Soph.”

“I’m glad,” I laugh, adding in the last of the ingredients and bringing them to a simmer as Jack joins the rest of the group in the living room.

“I didn’t know you were Cajun,” Chase says.

“Only on the good side, mon amour.”

“Oh my God,” he says in a groan. “You speak French?”

“Oui,” I say quietly, watching his eyes grow heavy with arousal. “Un peu, mon amant.”

“Fuck,” he manages under his breath, his azure eyes holding mine as he lowers his voice. “You’re gonna do that later for me, right?”

“Quoi que ce soit pour vous, Pantalon Sexy,” I giggle, shooting him a wink.

“Jesus Christ.”

After supper, we enjoy our time together on the back porch while we watch JT play, reminiscing on our days in Camden. When he’s ready for bed, I get him settled into his room and sing him to sleep before rejoining the others.

“You kids used to get into so much,” Aunt Debbie says, laughing at Jack’s animated retelling of our prom night in jail.

“Yeah,” Matty laughs as he looks over at Jack and I. “We had a lot of fun raising all that hell, though.”

“Sure did,” Jack agrees as he nudges me, causing me to smile.

“Goodness,” Aunt Deb starts, pulling me away from the memories flooding my mind. “How long has it been since you were all together? Sophie, I bet it’s been a while since you had a night out, Honey.”

“Well,” I start. “Our anniversary was a couple weeks ago and Chase and I went out then. Before that, I don’t really remember. It was definitely before JT came to stay with us and the six of us haven’t ever all been out together.”

“Are you kidding me?” she asks. “Well, why don’t you? Once that baby comes, your nights out are numbered, Kiddo. I’m gonna probably turn in here in another hour or so, but I’m here if JT needs anything.”

“Really?” I ask. “Aunt Deb, I didn’t ask you over to babysit.”

“I know that, but I’m offering,” she starts, patting my hand. “You’re never all together anymore and I won’t have you sitting in the house all night on my account. We have the whole weekend to visit. You kids go, have fun. We’ll be just fine here for a few hours.”

“Y’all want to?” I ask, immediately met with eager nods. “Well, it looks unanimous,” I say with a laugh. “I’m just gonna be watching ya’ll drink, so y’all come up with something while I go get dressed.”

When I come back out, they’ve all decided on stopping in at Lila’s. Although only a few months have passed, so much has happened that it feels like a lifetime when we walk through the doors.

“Is it weird that I’m pregnant and in a bar?” I ask Chase who grins down at me.

“It’s not like you’re hittin’ the keg, Babe,” he winks. “You want to go somewhere else?”

“No, I don’t care where we go,” I admit. “I’m just excited to hang out with everyone. I just don’t really feel like anyone starting any drama for me being in here while I’m pregnant.”

“There isn’t one person with you tonight that would ever stand for anyone saying a harsh word to you,” he says as he kisses my hair. “You’re good, Babygirl.”

Once we’re seated, I shoot a text to Heather to let her know we’re across the street from her apartment. In less than an hour, my friend is standing at the edge of the table.

“Sophie!” she says, her hair an amazing shade of pink as she beams over at me.

“Hey!” I smile, nudging Chase out so I can bring her in for a hug. “Oh my gosh, I missed you!”

“Me, too!” she says, grinning wider when she catches sight of my belly. “Aww, look at the belly!”

“Come sit,” I tell her with a chuckle as I pull her down to my side. “Jack, Matty? This is my friend, Heather.”

“Hey,” she says with a smile before saying hi to Ana and Drake across the table, and then finally shooting a playful wink in Chase’s direction. “Heya, Sweet Cheeks.”

“Hey girl,” he smiles, shooting her a playful wink and making her blush, causing Ana and I to chuckle.

After all the introductions are complete, we all slip into a comfortable conversation. While I’ve talked to her almost daily, it’s been so long since I saw Heather that we spend a while catching up. She tells me that she and Jamie are fighting again, which I hate to hear. Regardless of how Chase feels about Jamie, I know he’s a good guy. It’s impossible to miss how much Heather feels for him. I understand, though.

Jack and I, as happy as we were and still would be given different paths, had more than our share of arguments. I’ve never been one to consider disagreements bad mojo on a relationship, but I can’t help but feel sorry for people when they have to endure it.

“He goes to this bull riding thing every year in Laredo and he told me about it when we started dating. Did you know there are groupies for that shit?”

“Really?” I say, unable to wipe the smile from my face.

“Yeah,” she laughs. “I knew he was planning on going, but I thought he’d ask me to come with him. He didn’t, so I brought it up this morning and he said it was more of a guy thing. He didn’t think I’d have fun and all that crap.”

“Ugh! Men are so stupid sometimes!”

“I know, right?” she says. “Like I don’t know he just wants to get drunk with his friends and have women hitting on him all night.”

“You don’t think he’d…”

“No,” she says immediately. “He wouldn’t cheat on me, I know that. He might drive me up the fucking wall, but he loves me. We’re going to work everything out. We always do,” she sighs, rolling her eyes. “We just needed a time out for a couple days.”

“Oh my God, Heather!” I exclaim. “You broke up with him
again
? That’s like the eighth time!”

“It’s for the best, Soph. If he wants to go hang out with his friends and ditch me, screw him! He can go do whatever the hell it is he wants to do, same as me. That way, we can both have fun and not worry about it. We’ll get back together when he comes back from Laredo. I think we just both need to get some strange and we’ll be fine.”

When I return from the bathroom, I can’t help but notice the way Heather is cozying up to Jack. At first, I try to brush it off, but as the night progresses and their advances become a little more intense, I can’t help but cringe.

“You okay?” Chase whispers into my hair when he notices I’ve been quiet for a long while.

“Yeah,” I say, not sure if it’s a lie or not.

I watch the way they are together. Silently hating the way he watches her lips when she speaks and the way she touches his chest when he makes her laugh. In no time at all, I realize that I’m not okay at all.

“Oh my God,” Heather starts, leaning over to me as Jack makes his way to the bathroom. “I had no idea Jack looked like
that
.”

“Yeah,” I manage weakly. “He’s a good looking guy.”

“Good looking, my ass!” she starts, her words slurring as she leans in closer. “He’s hot as fuck! And he’s so nice.”

“Yeah,” I say. “He’s pretty awesome.”

“You’re cool with this, right?” she asks. “I mean, if I invite him to my place, you’re not going to be pissed, are you? Because if you are, I won’t even ask him.”

Oh my God
.

“Uh…” I say, looking over at her.

I’m struggling here. On one hand, I know it’s completely unreasonable for me to be jealous. I made my choice and aside from the fact that I’ve hurt Jack, it’s not one I regret. I love Chase and I know my place is with him. I want Jack to have what I have with someone else. I really do. The question is, how will I manage if that someone else happens to be one of my best friends?

On the other hand, I love Heather. She’s one of the sweetest, most genuine and honest people I’ve ever met. Those are all things I want for Jack. They really are. The problem is I know how she feels about Jamie. The possibility that she might start something up with Jack and then go back to him is not something I’m sure won’t happen. There are a lot of things I’m willing to endure for Jack, but watching him get hurt just isn’t one of them. Not to mention, I would never want to sacrifice my friendship with Heather.

Jack deserves to be happy though. I want him to be happy.

The two sides of this argument reeling in my mind have me staring at her blankly for a long moment. Too long, in fact. By the time he returns, I’ve still not answered her and I’m staring blankly off into space.

“Well?” she whispers.

“It’s okay,” I say, immediately regretting it when I see her move back to his side.

The next twenty minutes pass and although I’m doing my best to engage in conversation, I just can’t. When she whispers into his ear, my stomach begins to churn and I know this is my last chance to stop the inevitable.

Jack Walker is
not
a piece of strange
.

“Sophie?” Jack says across the table, pulling my eyes to his. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” I lie, placing my hand over my mouth as I try in vain to focus on something else. It’s impossible though. Even as I feel a surge of arousal pulsing through me as Chase places his hand high on my thigh, I can’t help the feeling of anguish coursing through me when I hear Jack begin to laugh at her joke.

Nothing is that funny. Why is she telling him jokes and why is he laughing at her?

It’s in this moment that I realize that ridiculous as it may be, nothing that happens between Jack and Heather will ever be okay with me. In this moment, I’d be able to come up a million reasons why my next words were totally justified, but they’d all be bullshit.

It’s not until later that I’ll be able to admit to myself that what happens next is out of sheer and total jealousy.

“I love that band!” Heather says to him in a low voice, leaning closer and touching his arm affectionately.

“Aren’t they awesome?” he responds, angling to face her. “I love their older stuff. Have you heard…?”

“Oh my God, I can’t!” I shout, interrupting the myriad conversations happening around the table as I face them, pulling half a dozen sets of eyes on me in an instant. “I can’t! Heather, when you asked me before I lied and I’m so sorry. I love you both, but I lied. I’m not okay with this. I’m so not and I can’t handle it. I’m gonna totally freak out if y’all hook up,” I spew out, my voice full of panic before meeting her eyes. “I’m sorry, Heather, but you can’t have him. You can’t have Jack.”

Sophie

The second the words leave me, I clamp my hand over my mouth and feel like a total jackass. Did I mean them? Yes, absolutely, but I know I have no right to the feelings I’m having right now.

“Well, this is awkward,” Matt says quietly from his end of the table.

“Oh my God,” I groan in humiliation. “I just said that out loud, didn’t I?”

“Yeah, you did,” Chase says with a sigh from my side.

His arm is still resting across my shoulders, but I don’t have to look at him to know he’s pinching the bridge of his nose. I can still feel everyone’s eyes on me, but I cowardly refuse to meet any of them.

“I think I’m gonna go,” Heather eventually says, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

My eyes reluctantly travel to hers and I can see that I’ve hurt her feelings. That fact alone is enough to have me feeling worse.

“Heather, you don’t have to… I didn’t mean it like that. I’m so sorry, I just…”

“I know,” she says, offering me a small smile and leaning over to hug me, proving why she’s such a good friend. “You don’t even have to explain, I understand. We’re good, girl. I’ll see you at the game tomorrow, okay?”

“Okay,” I nod weakly, watching her walk away from the table.

“Hey Matt,” Drake starts when the table falls silent again. “You want to help me get some drinks?”

“Sure,” he replies.

“Thanks,” Drake says as he slides from the booth. “Analise? Baby, why don’t you come with us?”

“Okay,” she says quietly, rubbing my shoulder as she walks past us, leaving me alone with Chase and Jack.

Once we’re alone for a moment, I finally find enough courage to speak to them.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper to them. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry.”

After a long moment of silence, Chase clears his throat before speaking.

“Sophie, look at me,” he says, his voice low. Reluctantly, I turn to find his blue eyes on mine. Immediately, I look away like a coward, shaking my head and sheepishly covering my face with my hands. “Let’s hear it, Sweetheart.”

“I don’t even know what to say,” I admit.

I can feel both of their eyes on me, waiting as patiently as they can for me to explain myself. Finally, I raise my head up and face the blue green eyes I’ve loved since I was sixteen and let out a sigh.

“Look, I love Heather to death, but she’s with someone. She told me when she got here that they had a fight and they broke up, but they
always
get back together. She said she knew they were going to work things out, but tonight she was just looking for a random hookup.”

“So?” Chase shrugs. “Jack is single and you’re with me, Sophie. Why does it matter what he does with Heather? What he does with anyone for that matter?”

“I don’t… It just… He can’t…”

“Spit it out, Baby.”

“Ugh! Fine! Because that’s not good enough, Chase!” I blurt, feeling the blush heat my cheeks as their eyes stay locked on me. “Just because we’re not together anymore doesn’t mean I stopped giving a shit about what happens to him. He’s not just some random guy.”

“Sophie…” Jack says quietly, pulling my attention to him. “Honey, you broke up with
me
.”

“I know.”

“You’re marrying
him
. You’re pregnant with
his
baby,” he continues, his voice soft but firm. “You told me… you told us both that this is what you wanted.”

“It is,” I say truthfully, letting out a sigh as I meet his eyes. “Listen, Jack. I know the second I walked away from you I gave up my right to have any say in what you do. I’m being completely selfish and unfair and I know that, too. I wish I could say I’m sorry for that, but I’m not. You’re too good to be some random hookup in a bar and she’s too good a friend for me to walk away from. If she hurt you, that’s exactly what would have to happen, Jack.”

“Soph,” he shakes his head, but I cut him off again.

“I’ve put you through enough shit. I will not knowingly contribute to you being hurt ever again,” I say, swiping my cheek clean. “I don’t know that you would, but I know I’m not gonna be a part of it. So if you want to get mad? That’s fine. I deserve it from both of you and not just for tonight.”

“Baby…” Chase tries.

“It may not my place, but the two of you are non-negotiable for me. I will always defend you both and I don’t care who it pisses off. You’re just both going to have to learn to deal with it,” I say with resolve, ignoring their smirks. “As for Heather, she’s one of my best friends and it’s just… It’s too weird.”

“You just said you loved Heather,” Jack says quietly as Chase begins rubbing my shoulder.

“I do love her! She’s an awesome girl and anyone would be lucky to have her,” I say honestly, shaking my head as I stare ahead.

“Just not me?” he counters, throwing me a soft smirk.

“Jack, that girl is a freak and she tells me
everything
,” I blurt, causing them both to stifle laughs. “I just… I’m sorry, I just can’t do it. I can’t. Not with you, Jack. It creeps me out. I mean… How would you feel if I started dating Matty?”

“Eww,” he says, his playful smirk falling away in an instant.

“Yeah!” I say, crossing my arms in victory. “And you know about the shit Matty does.”

“Stop,” he chuckles, putting his hand up. “Okay, I get it. I won’t go out with your friend.”

“Thank you,” I say with a sigh of relief. 

“How do you know about the shit Matt does?” Chase asks me.

“Everyone knows about the shit Matt does,” Jack and I say simultaneously with matching groans, causing Chase to smirk.

Once the air is cleared, I still feel awkward, but overall, I feel relieved. I meant everything I said about Heather. I love her like my own sister, which is exactly why she and Jack would be too much for me. I would never sacrifice either of them and the possibility of that happening is more than I’m willing to even consider.

After a few minutes, I excuse myself to call her and make sure we’re good. I’m a few feet away when I hear Jack calling after me.

“Soph?” he says as he gently grabs my elbow, causing me to turn to face him. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” I say, my cheeks reddening slightly. “I’m sorry. I know that was…”

“Nope,” he says, shaking his head and pulling me to his chest. “I’m glad you said something. I’d rather have an awkward conversation than risk losing you again.”

“Jack, you never…” I manage, squeezing him tighter. “Things are different now, but you could never lose me.”

“Yeah,” he whispers, kissing the top of my head. “Just so you know, you’ll always have a say, Soph.”

“Jack…”

“I mean, don’t go nuts or anything,” he pulls away, teasing me. “You’re not going to do this every time I talk to another woman, are you?”

“No,” I say, chuckling at his look of disbelief. “What? Yes, it will be weird, but I want you to be happy. You’ve met my only other friend! I swear I won’t do it again!”

“Okay,” he smiles warmly, pushing the hair away from my face. “Even if you did, I’d still love you. I maybe wouldn’t hang out with you that much, but I’d still love you.”

“Just screen them good, Jack, because you know I’ll punch a bitch,” I tell him, pulling a laugh from him as I hug him closely.

“Oh, I know.”

“And I love you, too.”

Chase

Much to my surprise and I think everyone else’s, I didn’t say much to Sophie about her outburst at the bar. I thought about it, but at the end of the day, I understood. Jack’s the only other man she’s ever been with and Heather’s her only friend outside of Ana. Not only that, I’ve never felt more confident about our relationship. Did it make me crazy that she got jealous? Sure, but at the end of the day she did it for the right reasons and she’s mine.

That fact has never been more obvious to anyone, especially me.

As I watch her hang up her phone, I slip into the driver’s seat of my truck.

“Hey,” she whispers, looking down at her hands awkwardly.

“Hey,” I start, pulling her closer to me. “Come here, Baby.”

“I’m sorry, Chase,” she says, finally meeting my eyes. “I don’t know what got into me.”

“I do. It’s pretty obvious, Sophie,” I admit, holding her eyes as they fill with question. “Anyone who sees the two of you together would be blind to not know that you still love each other.”

“Chase…”

“It’s okay, Baby,” I say in a soft voice, running the pad of my thumb over her jaw, loving how she leans into my palm. “This was really hard for me at first, but I think I’m starting to get it now.”

“Really?”

“Jack’s got your whole past, Sweetheart. Everything that happened before you got to me, it’s all been tied to him in one way or another. There’s no way you can walk away from that and not feel anything, Sophie,” I start, nudging her chin up to face me. “And I get that now and I’m okay with it. You know why?”

“Why?”

“Because I’m the one who gets your future. We would have never found each other if it wasn’t for your past with Jack,” I whisper as I place my hand over her bump, I watch her eyes well with tears and gently wipe them away. “If it wasn’t for all the shit you went through with him, you wouldn’t be the same girl sitting here with me now, Sophie. Sometimes the past needs to stay with us as a reminder of what helped us find our way. I don’t know what the future holds, but I know I have your heart and your path is with me. That’s enough. I don’t need anything else.”

After staring at me in disbelief for a moment, Sophie pulls my mouth to hers and kisses me deeply. Her hands rest on either side of my face as she slips her tongue into my mouth, swallowing my moan as she lets out a slight whimper. Leaving one hand on her stomach, I raise the other to cradle the back of her head into my hand and return the force of her kiss. My hand is splayed across her middle, gently massaging her skin when I feel it.

Immediately, my eyes pop open and I cease all movement, causing her to look up at me.

“What’s wrong?” she asks, waiting for me to explain my unusual behavior. When she sees the look on my face and my gaze move from hers down to my hand, she breaks out into a heart stopping smile. “Did you feel it?”

“Yeah,” I manage, my voice thick with emotion as I hold my hand in place, willing another kick.

Sophie’s been feeling movement from the baby for a few weeks now. However, no matter how many nights I’d laid awake waiting with my hand in place over her bump, I’d had no luck.

Until tonight.

As I press my lips to hers again, I feel another light kick. This time, I can’t stop the tears from falling from my eyes.

“Oh my God, that’s incredible,” I manage, leaning my head against the back of the seat, gazing down at where my hand is resting.

“He must like it when you kiss me,” she chuckles lightly.

“Maybe,” I whisper, leaning to kiss her again when her words register. “Wait, did you say ‘he’?”

“Calm down! I don’t know any more than you do,” she says, laughing at my excitement. “Just a hunch.”

“Why do you think a boy?”

“I don’t know,” she shrugs. “I just figured if I already love him so much, he’s got to be just like his daddy.”

“Hmm,” I start with a small smirk. “That’s the same reason I think we’re having a girl.”

Moving my hand to her hair, I pull her mouth to mine, kissing her deeply. After a few moments, she pulls away slightly and moves my hand back to her belly as she looks at me in surprise.

“If he kicks, you aren’t going to feel it with both of your hands up there,” she smirks against my lips.

“That’s okay,” I whisper, holding her eyes. “That one was just for Mommy.” Seeing the grimace on her face, I can’t hold back the chuckle. “Too much?”

“Yeah, a little,” she grins.

“Are you sure?” I tease her, running my lips down her neck. “I’ll let you call me Daddy.”

“Eww Baby,” she says with a groan, pulling a laugh from my chest. “I am
not
calling you that.”

“What about Big Poppa?”

“Now you’re just being ridiculous,” she giggles, kissing me chastely and pushing me away playfully. “Come on, let’s go back in.”

“Okay,” I say softly, gripping her elbow and causing her to turn to face me. “Hey, wait. Come here.”

“What Baby?” she says, meeting my eyes.

Pulling her face back into my hands, I kiss her gently, stroking her tongue with my own. As I feel her body begin to relax even further into my arms, I deepen the kiss, swallowing her light whimper as I willingly fall under her spell. Sucking her lip into my mouth gently, I savor the sigh that leaves her as I slowly open my eyes to take her in. After a moment, her thick eyelashes begin to flutter slightly and as always, her emerald globes knock the breath out of me, nearly rendering me speechless. Her hot breath on my lips brings me back to life and as I search her eyes, my heart aches with emotion for her.