Perfect Enough

Chapter Five – Josh

Chapter Five

JOSH

I set the bowl of popcorn on the coffee table and turned on my TV. After pulling up a movie, I dropped down onto the sofa.

“Finally,” I sighed as I closed my eyes and relaxed. It had been one hell of a day today, and I was glad to put it behind me. Nathan had been bugging me to tell him who I was texting, and when I finally told him it was a girl I’d been talking to, he announced to the whole damn family that I was dating someone. It took me nearly an hour to convince my mother it was just a friend and nothing more.

Speaking of Sophia, I reached for my phone and pulled up our texts. The last I’d heard from her, she was panicking about telling her mother about me. Well, the nonexistent-boyfriend me, anyway.

Me: You never told me what color your hair is.

I set my phone beside me on the sofa and hit the play button. A few moments later, the text alert came through, and I picked up my phone to see if it was Soph. I grinned and tried to ignore the way my heartbeat kicked up a few beats.

Sophia: I have brown hair and brown eyes. Boring.

I smiled.

Me: I bet they’re not boring at all. By the way, how did things go?

Sophia: I have a feeling my mother doesn’t believe me, and my best friend asked how the sex was.

A bark of laughter slipped free, causing the popcorn to fly out of my mouth.

Me: I hope you told her I was the best you’ve ever had.

Sophia: LOL! Sorry to tell you, but I told her that hasn’t happened.

Me: Well, if you have to give us some make-believe sex, I HOPE I’m the best you’ve ever had.

Sophia: I’m hoping it won’t go that far. But just in case, what’s your favorite position and would you be down for anal?

Choking on my food, I sat up, grabbed my water, and took a quick drink.

Sophia: Josh…I’m kidding. Where did you go?

Me: Recovering after nearly dying from the popcorn I choked on.

Sophia. SORRY! I was trying to make a joke. I promise I would never share anything…not that there IS anything to share.

Wiping the tears in the corners of my eyes, I drew a deep breath. There was something about Sophia that was so refreshing. Maybe it was because she didn’t expect anything from me, and I didn’t expect anything from her.

Sophia: I have a confession to make.

Me: I’m listening.

Sophia: I googled you today. *Runs and covers my head with my pillow, embarrassed*

Me: Why in the world did you google me? And what in the world came up?

Sophia: You can’t hear my deep sigh, but I gave one. My mother and Chloe asked what you looked like, and I had no idea. So, I told them I had to answer an emergency email and out of desperation… I googled you.

Me: That’s nothing to be embarrassed about, Soph.

Sophia: You’re very handsome, Josh. And it looks like you do a lot of charity work. I think that’s wonderful.

I stared at her last text. I felt like there was something on the tip of my tongue, dying to come out, but I wasn’t sure what it was. The fact that she’d googled my name really didn’t bother me. But I suddenly had a thought.

Me: If I google you, what will happen?

The bubble appeared, disappeared, and then showed up again.

Sophia: I just googled myself. There’s a rather old picture of me from when I won a dance competition, and the image of me from our dance studio website pulls up.

Me: *Runs to google Sophia Montgomery*

Sophia: LOL!

I grabbed my laptop from the coffee table and typed in her name—and froze. The first item that came up wasn’t about her dance competition or the dance studio. It was an article about her father’s death. I closed my eyes and let out a long breath.

“Fuck,” I whispered as I clicked on the article. It was heartbreaking, and I suddenly wanted to hold Sophia in my arms.

Sophia: ?? I thought I liked the picture of me on our website, but now you’ve got me second-guessing it.

Quickly looking at the images, I felt the air leave my lungs. There was my Sophia, with a big, beautiful smile that would melt any heart, and large, soulful brown eyes that seemed to sparkle, yet also held a hint of sadness. They seemed to look right into me. Her hair was a shiny darker brown, and she had it pulled up into a sleek bun.

“She’s beautiful.”

Sophia: Umm…Josh?

Me: Soph…you’re gorgeous. And from what I can tell in that picture, you have hauntingly beautiful eyes.

Sophia: Your silence worried me.

Me: I’m sorry, I was totally caught off guard by your photo and had to stare at it for a bit.

She sent me a GIF that said, “Oh, shut up!”

Sophia: Who won at Putt-Putt today?

Me: My cousin Nathan. I’m sure it’ll be a while before he lets me live it down.

Sophia: Goodness, you take your Putt-Putt very seriously.

Me: You have no idea how seriously this family takes games.

Sophia: I better let you go. I need to catch up on the invoices we send to the parents each month. Thank you again for letting me use you as a fake boyfriend.

Me: You’re welcome. Enjoy the rest of your evening.

Sophia: You, too, Josh. ’Night.

I looked back at my laptop, where Sophia’s picture was still pulled up. Then I shook my head, trying to clear my suddenly cloudy thoughts.

Me: Good night, Soph. Sleep well.

“You mean to tell me you’ve been talking with the same girl for a month now, she lives up in Stevensville, and you haven’t met her yet?” Nathan asked, wiping the sweat from his forehead. “What are you afraid of?”

I stopped working on the fence we were both out repairing and stared at my cousin. It had indeed been a month since Sophia and I had started texting each other, and I’d made the mistake of telling Nathan the truth about how it got started last night, when we went out.

“I wish I’d never told you about her.”

He laughed. “I already knew you were texting someone. I just didn’t know the details or who it was. So? When are you going to meet?”

I shrugged. “We haven’t talked about it. We’re just friends.”

“And friends can’t meet each other?”

“It’s different.”

Laughing again, he leaned against the fence post. “How is it different? Is she hot?”

Looking up, I shot him a dirty look. “What do her looks have to do with anything?”

His brow rose. “Did you just ask me that question? If she isn’t pretty, it makes sense why you don’t want to meet her.”

“Are you that big of an asshole, Nathan?”

“No! I’m just saying there has to be a reason why you don’t want to meet her in person. Or even on FaceTime.”

It was my turn to lean back on the fence. “Why do you avoid Haven ?”

He looked surprised by my question—and didn’t respond.

“Cat got your tongue, cousin?”

“I don’t avoid her. Well, maybe I do. But that’s just because she’s annoying as hell.”

I tilted my head slightly and gave him a look that said I wasn’t buying his bull. “When we were in middle school, yeah, she was annoying. But now she’s an adult woman. A beautiful adult woman.”

His eye twitched, and I knew he didn’t like the fact that I’d noticed how cute Haven was. No, she was more than cute. She was pretty. Even prettier when she smiled and both dimples appeared on her cheeks.

“We’re not talking about Haven. Besides, did you know she still owns a dog-walking business, and she picks the damn things up in a bus? A bus!”

“From what I’ve heard,” I said, returning to the fence. “It’s pretty popular with dog owners.”

“What kind of stupid business is that?”

I shrugged. “A profitable one. My mother told me Haven’s going to try and buy her own house.”

“How does she know?”

I glanced over at him and nearly laughed. He was curious, yet tried to act as if he wasn’t. “My mother and Haven’s mother are friends. Same with your mom.”

He nodded. “Yeah, I know. But let’s stop talking about Haven and get back to…” His voice trailed off.

“Sophia.”

“Sophia,” he said, trying to make his voice sound a little more sexual than I liked.

I finished tying off the hook on the fence and then started to pick up all our tools. For his part, Nathan continued leaning against the fence post and stared at the sky.

“Want to help, Nathan?” I asked.

He pushed off and quickly got to work, helping me gather everything into the ranch truck. We slid into the front seats and he turned to me. “Do you have a picture of her?”

I started the truck. “No.”

“You’re lying.”

“Nathan, can you just drop it?”

“I’m not going to drop it, so you might as well show me what she looks like.”

I laughed. “I honestly don’t have a picture of her. She’s never sent me one.”

When he didn’t say anything, I glanced over there at him. He looked dumbfounded.

“You can google her if you want.”

I’d never seen Nathan go for his phone so fast in my life. “What’s her full name?”

“Sophia Montgomery, from Stevensville.”

He typed it in, and I waited for him to say something about her father. But he clearly went straight to the images.

A low whistle came from his lips, then he turned the phone and asked, “Is this her?”

When I looked at the picture, I nearly slammed on the brakes. It was Sophia in a silver formal gown. “Where did that picture come from?” Pulling over, I threw the truck into Park and grabbed his phone. “It wasn’t there when I looked last week.”

I clicked on it, and Nathan craned his neck to see what I was reading.

“It was a gala for some arts program that was held last week.”

“She’s fucking hot as hell. I mean, look at her body in that dress. Those curves are hot .”

My eyes took in the vision on his phone. There were two pictures. One of Sophia alone and another with her standing among three other women. Sophia was wearing a shimmering silver gown that showcased her insanely beautiful body in all the right ways. She had curves—not at all like the other women in the picture with her, who were so thin they looked like sticks. The neckline of the dress wasn’t exactly modest, but it wasn’t over the top. Her hair was done in a braid that came around the side of her and draped over her shoulder. Loose tendrils fell on both sides of her face, giving her a messy yet elegant look.

“Did you know she was this hot?” Nathan asked.

Handing him back the phone, I put the truck in Drive and started back down the road. “I knew she was pretty, yes.”

“Dude, the article only has pictures of her alone or with other women. No date. You still have a chance!”

I shot him a questioning look. “A chance? And how do you know she didn’t have a date? Just because there isn’t a picture doesn’t mean anything.”

“Wait, does she have a boyfriend?” he asked.

“No, she doesn’t.”

“There you go,” he said, motioning out toward the windshield. At what, I had no idea. “You have a chance with her. Why don’t you ask her out?”

I sighed. “Nathan, you don’t know the whole story.”

“Fill me in then!”

I gripped the steering wheel. “Her father died not that long ago, suicide. And her boyfriend at the time cheated on her. Literally picked up a woman at the funeral. She’s very…untrusting of men right now.”

“Damn, that really sucks.”

“Yeah, it does. The only thing she’s looking for is a friend. And I’m totally okay with that. I’ve got way too much going on in my life to pursue someone, anyway.”

I could feel his eyes on me. When I dared to look his way, he simply nodded, and said quietly, “Yeah. I get it.”

We drove the rest of the way to the main barn in silence.