I know we don’t look like we match—she’s the soft to my hard, the light to my dark, the blatant innocence to my roughness—but I couldn’t give a f**k if people look at us and wonder why we’re together. I don’t like the softness in his eyes when he looks at her. Leo is a good ol’ boy. He grew up on his family’s farm, comes from old money, played high school and college football, and could have gone pro if he wanted to, but he always dreamed of being a cop. He’s about six foot two and two hundred and eighty pounds of pure muscle. He’s the kind of guy a sweet girl like Sophie could take home to her parents, or vice versa. Too bad for him she’s mine and will be until God sees fit to take her from Earth.
“Do I seriously need to tell you not to check out my girl right now?” I glare at him.
“Sorry. It’s not that. She’s just so not your type.”
“Really?” I raise a brow at him, ready to put my fist in his face. “I’m pretty sure my kid growing inside of her tells you just how much of my type she is,” I say through my teeth. “Besides, you have your own woman,” I tell him, missing the way his jaw ticked.
“Leo, shut the f**k up. Don’t dig yourself any deeper. My cousin’s a little sensitive where Sophie is concerned,” Kenton says, walking up on our conversation. “You good man?” I lift my chin before looking in on Sophie again. “What do we know?” Kenton asks, looking at Leo.
I half-listen as he retells what happened and what Sophie told me. “How’d they get into the house?” I ask, focusing back on the conversation.
“There was no forced entry, so at this time, we’re unsure. Sophie said she locked the door when she entered her residence, but she never checked the back door to make sure it was secure as well.”
“Did anyone see anything or anyone?” Kenton asks.
“No one saw anything. The person who stopped the assault when he entered the residence didn’t see anyone but Sophie,” Leo says.
“So basically, we got nothing?”
“Afraid so. Unless you have someone you suspect, then we got nothing to go on,” Leo says.
I’m frustrated as f**k. This is not what we need right now. “Jesus, this is so f**ked,” I growl. “This isn’t the first time someone has tried to break into her house, so this isn’t some random act,” I tell Leo.
“Yeah, I saw the previous report. She got any enemies?” Leo asks.
“No. No one.”
“Maybe an ex?”
“No, man. Nothing. There is no one in her past. She hasn’t even been in Tennessee long.”
“You sure she doesn’t have an ex? That’s normally the first person we suspect.”
“No one,” I repeat, starting to see red. This isn’t the first time I’ve thought about this shit, but no one stuck out to me. The only person who kept popping into my head was Sophie’s dad. “I need to make a call,” I say, looking between Kenton and Leo.
“Sure, man,” Kenton, says.
“Keep an eye on Sophie for me.”
He lifts his chin as I make my way to the side of the ambulance. I pull out my phone, find the number, and hit dial.
“Yello,” Justin answers, and I shake my head; this kid is a f**king mess.
“Justin.”
“You got me, daddio. Congrats on that, by the way,” he says cheerfully.
“Jesus, you guys really do love to f**king gossip.”
“We’re friends. Friends share happy news.”
“Can you stop yappin’ like a forty-year-old housewife for a second?” I run a hand over my head, my eyes dropping to my boots.
“What’s up, man? Talk to me.”
“Someone broke into Sophie’s old place while she was inside. I need you to do a background on her dad. I want everything.”
“Shit, man. Is she okay?”
“Yeah, she’s fine. A little shook up, has a scratch and a couple bumps, but for the most part, she’s okay.”
“Jesus, dude. Give me the name you want me to run,” he says seriously, a tone I rarely hear out of him.
“His name is William Grates, and his last known place of residence was Seattle, Washington. He’s Sophie’s dad, so maybe you can trace him that way.”
“I got this. I’ll call you later with what I find out. Just go be with your girl.”
“Thanks, man.”
“Later,” he says, hanging up.
I walk back to where Kenton and Leo are still talking and look inside the ambulance. When Sophie’s eyes meet mine, she gives me a small smile before turning back to talk to the EMT. Something about that smile lets me know that everything will be okay. I look back at Kenton and he nods. My cousin is crazy as f**k, and as long as he’s in my corner, I know Sophie will be safe.
“Get back here.” I pull Sophie back under me after she tries to roll away. “Where are you going?” I kiss the skin of her neck. My hand runs along her thigh, up under my shirt she has on, along the smooth skin of her stomach, and then up to cup her breast.
When we got home last night, I helped her shower—even though she insisted she was fine—and carried her to bed so I could hold her close. I haven’t let her out of my grip since.
“Oh,” she breaths, and I watch as her head tilts back, giving me better access to her neck.
“Sensitive?” I question, running my thumb across her nipple. Last night, she said that her ni**les were extra sensitive when I was washing her in the shower. She nods as I tilt her face towards mine so I can take her mouth in a deep kiss. “What about this one? Sensitive?” I ask, traveling my hand to her other breast, tugging on that nipple.