Chapter Eighteen

Elijah My eyes landed on the table of four, where my dad and two other women sat. The woman that sat beside him, holding his hand on top of the table looked to be in her early forties. She was pretty, with dark hair and dark eyes, and she looked familiar for some reason.

“Elijah!” Dad said, looking up at me with a grin and a wave. “And we weren’t waiting for you; we haven’t been here that long ourselves. Get over here; there’s a couple someone’s I want you to meet.”

I walked over, my eyes falling to the third person at the table. I’d figured out Dad’s relationship with the other woman. By the way, they were holding hands, they were obviously together. Was the girl the woman’s daughter?

“So, who’s the one that I’m supposed to meet today?” I asked, meeting my dad’s grin with one of my own.

“Your new step-mom,” he said. “And her daughter.”

I arched an eyebrow, then looked down where they still had their hands clasped on the table, and I saw the ring on her finger.

“Oh,” I murmured.

I was surprised. Just saying that was an understatement. Dad had been devoted to my mom. She died when I was young, and we celebrated birthday and anniversary together every year until I went to college. I couldn’t just drop my studies and go home, so we did it separately in our ways.

There was hockey, too. Unlike in high school, back home, where we could explain things, and they would understand, college hockey was on a different level. Considering I wanted to go pro, it would be stupid to jeopardize that.

I went to sit down, looking over at the girl beside me, only to freeze when I saw who it was. I couldn’t tell it was her from behind because this was the last place I expected her to be at, but there she was.

Sophia. What the fuck…?

“What… are you doing here?” I asked, my voice going quietly.

Slowly, she turned her head toward me, her wide eyes meeting mine, and for a long moment, we just gaped at each other.

“Elijah…you already know her?” Dad asked, sounding surprised, but pleased.

“Um, yes? We go to the same college we even have some of the same classes…”

I wasn’t sure why I never said the most important part, the fact that we’re dating.

Then again, something told me that wouldn’t be a good idea. There could only be so many reasons why Sophia was at a table with my dad and an older woman who looked to be his partner.

This better not be what I think it is, I thought to myself.

I was still half sitting, and I let myself fall gently into the chair, my eyes never leaving Sophia’s. She seemed a bit dazed, so she obviously had no idea about this until I showed up.

“What exactly is going on?” I asked, not liking being the only one out of the loop.

“Elijah, meet Emma. She’s my wife now and your new step-mom. She and I met while I was on business in the Bahamas, but I knew her back when I was in high school.”

I nodded slowly to the information. Dad was like that, always giving a summary when I wanted to know something. What he said was enough to get me to understand, but now, I was panicking instantly.

“And… Sophia is…”

“She’s my daughter,” Emma piped up, giving me a curious smile. “It’s nice to see you, Elijah. The two of you already know each other, right? Then isn’t this just perfect? We’re all going to be one big happy family.”

Shit. What happy family?

A waiter stopped by our table, so I didn’t have to say anything, and I breathed a sigh of relief. I looked at Sophia out the corner of my eye. She had her head ducked down, hands clasped tightly in her lap. Her hair had fallen over her shoulder so I couldn’t even see a part of the expression she had on her face.

She had to know what this meant, though. If our parents were married, then that made us step brother and sister.

“The coffee in this hotel is great,” Dad was saying. “Elijah, I think you’ll love it.”

“I’m sure I will,” I muttered.

Our parents ended up ordering for us because Sophia wasn’t saying anything, and I felt like she would snap if I even tried, so I was behaving myself.

It wasn’t like I begrudged my dad his happiness. If he was in love with someone, enough to marry her so quickly without even talking to me first, then it was serious. And he said they’d known each other before, so an old fling, too?

Just…of all the women in the world, why did it have to be Sophia’s mom!

I felt so stupid all of a sudden because I’d been trying so hard to make sure our relationship lasted, and with this, I could no longer be sure of that. I doubted Sophia would take the fact that our parents were married well, and my heart was already beating fast in my chest as I wondered how to get her to stay with me in spite of this.

Dating your step-sibling was weird…but it wasn’t like we’d known beforehand, right? I liked to think this wouldn’t change much in our relationship, but I didn’t think I could be that lucky.

I looked over at Dad and saw him and Emma had their heads together and they were talking. Dad looked like he was having the time of his life, his hand gently squeezing Emma’s on the table, practically showing off the fact that they were totally in love with each other. I frowned at the pair of hands, wondering if that was how Sophia and I came off as at all.

Before long, our order was brought to the table. We each got a drink and a slice of cake, all in different flavors. I picked up my coffee to take a sip. Dad was right, the coffee was great.

“So, how did you guys meet on campus?” Emma asked.

I whipped my head up to look at her and noticed Sophia flinch a little out the side of my eye. I glanced over at her, but she didn’t look like she had any intention of raising her head.

“Um,” I floundered. “We…met, I guess? At school.” I frowned. I’d seen her around campus long before we officially met, but could I even remember how we met now? All I could remember were a bunch of arguing. “We weren’t close at first, but we have some classes together, so yeah, we know each other.”

“Then you’re probably one of the friends Sophia wanted to introduce me to,” Emma said, delicately cutting a piece off her cake slice.

I glanced at Sophia. “Um, she did mention something about it, but I think that was supposed to be next week?”

“The business I had concluded early,” Dad explained. “So, instead of waiting, we thought it would make more sense to just come earlier. Sorry I didn’t give you much warning before I appeared, though…”

“It’s totally fine,” I said quickly.

“Come to think of it; you had something to talk to me about, right? Lay it on me.”

“Uh, Dad, that’s kinda…”

I was panicking on the inside. I just barely stopped myself from glancing over at Sophia again. Dad was perceptive, and if he saw that, he would guess. I wanted to have a chance to talk to Sophia before we decided what to tell our parents about our relationship, or if we were going to do it at all. And I couldn’t exactly talk about her to my dad with her right fucking there.

“Oh,” he said with a knowing nod, then grinned. “It’s something private, huh. Must be important.”

I pursed my lips. “Well, it’s very important, but it can wait. Besides, we’re here for the two of you, right? I want to hear more about how the two of you met.”

“Wow, that would be such a long story,” Emma said with a sigh. “Ted?”

“We can start from when we met in high school?”

They delved into the story, one of them saying something with the other cutting in to continue the story. Their relationship seemed so natural, like they’d been together the past twenty plus years, and not have led different lives. I didn’t want to hear any of it, not at that moment, with Sophia too silent and too still beside me.

It didn’t last long, though. While they were in the middle of their explanation, Sophia suddenly moved. She put her hands on the table with a small amount of force, just enough to get everyone’s attention, but not enough to cause a scene in the café. Then, she pushed her chair back, got up, and ran out.

I followed her with my eyes as she ran out, but hesitated to go after her. She might not want me to, and even if I did, I didn’t know what I could say to her that would make anything better. If anything, me being around her might irritate her more, and that was the last thing I wanted to do.

“What’s wrong?” Dad asked.

“I… I don’t know. Did I say something wrong? Elijah, do you know if Sophia’s having some trouble?”

I looked back at our parents, both their faces were filled with concern. The look was so damn sincere that I sighed and decided to just come out with it. I would have to explain to Sophia later, but this would affect all four of us now, so they needed to know.

“It’s…not so much trouble, as she’s probably still in shock.”

“Still in shock?” Emma repeated.

“Yeah, shock.” I looked at our parents and said to them words we hadn't even said to each other yet. “Sophia and I…are dating, Dad, Emma. I’m in love with her, and…she’s in love with me. In other words, we’re in love, just like the two of you.”