Falling for Trouble (2 page)

Sighing
loudly, Sophia didn’t know how to respond. Everyone knew how close she and Abe
were. Hell, she had lived in this shitty little town her whole life. With a
mother who had cared more about her next fix than her daughter and a father who
had left before she was born, Sophia learned the hard way how to get through
life. Abe had been there through it all. Sophia didn’t want to think where she
would be right now if Abe hadn’t been in her life.

“Listen
to me, honey.” Steph leaned in close and the smell of stale cigarettes wafted
over Sophia. Being so close to Steph showed her just how worn out the woman
really was.

 
Her gray eyes were hard and spoke of a
thousand different lives. She knew her way around the world and pushed away
anyone that was in her way. She didn’t give a shit if people got hurt. Sophia
sometimes wished she could be like that, so hard and unworried about what
others thought. She wasn’t made that way, though.

She
cared what others thought of her and hated that she had to see girls fawning
over Abe on a nightly basis, that he didn’t push them off, and that he always
took them home. Sophia was a fool to think there was more to him than what was
projected on the outside. He was rough and gritty, didn’t give two shits about
what others thought, and lived his life to the fullest.

There
had been so many times throughout their lives that Abe had been her shoulder to
cry on, her personal bodyguard, and the only person that had showed her any
kind of affection. All those nights staring up at the stars, holding her hand
like he thought she would float away and never come back. Or those times she’d
rested her head on his chest and they’d talked for hours about their fears and
what they wanted out of life. It was all those things and more that she thought
of when the bad stuff reared up.

The
truth was, Sophia loved Abe with all her heart, was madly in love with him, yet
she couldn’t bring herself to say anything. For years she had suffered with her
feelings, knowing that there was no way he felt the same for her. Abe only saw
her as a little sister, the awkward and gangly teenager, despite the fact they
were both twenty-two.

She
didn’t bother denying her feelings to Steph. Hell, she had admitted as much in
the backroom after closing when shots of Patrón were being passed around. But
Steph was good people and would never sell her out to anyone.

 
“It wouldn’t make a difference anyway. Even if
he did have feelings for me, Abe isn’t the type of guy to settle down and I am
not the type of girl to share.” Sophia shook her head and put the last glass
away. “Besides, it’s pretty damn clear there are no feelings for me where Abe
is concerned. I’ve known him pretty much my whole life, and he’s never hinted
at feeling anything for me besides brotherly love.”

Steph
didn’t say anything, just stared at her with eyes that knew far too much. She
opened her mouth to say something, but a whole slew of customers swarmed the
bar and started throwing out drink orders. This was the distraction Sophia
needed. It certainly helped her not think about what Abe was doing right now
with Maxi, or Macie, or whatever the hell her name was.

Chapter
Two

It
was going on nine in the morning, and despite that it was still early in Abe
time, Sophia walked up his front steps and knocked on the door. Although Abe
had told her to just walk in, that knocking on his door was for people that
weren’t her, she did it for two reasons. One, she wanted to be polite because
she would expect the same kind of treatment, from Abe or anyone else. Two, she
wanted to give whatever female he had dragged home the previous night time to
throw on clothes. She had learned long ago that she shouldn’t walk in on Abe
Rochester. It didn’t matter that his bedroom was at the far corner of the house
because she had seen him and his nightly conquests on the couch, the floor, and
even the kitchen table, both passed out cold and buck naked.

Several
long moments passed and finally she heard shuffling on the other side of the
door. It was pulled open and a very tired, disheveled, and extremely good-looking
Abe stood on the other side. He only wore a pair of boxer briefs. They were
white and left nothing to the imagination. Although she had seen Abe naked
plenty of times, either swimming at the lake or by accidentally walking in on
him the morning after he had been with some girl, she never could get over how
everything was so…impressive.

Dark
brown hair, cut short but long enough that he could run his hands through it, stuck
up slightly around his head. He was big and muscular, so very muscular. She
supposed that was what happened when a man worked at a mechanics shop, lifting heavy
engines and pushing metal around.

His
arms were covered in tattoos, so many that only bits and pieces of his tanned
flesh were visible through the ink. His chest had tattoos also, one on each pec
and another that snaked around his side and disappeared to his back. She knew
the back was just as impressive as the front, all hard lines of sinew and
tendon that moved, with sharp lines and dark ink that covered the flesh. All in
all, he looked sexy and dangerous, and every time she saw him, her panties
became so wet they chafed.

“Kid?”
His voice was deep and rough, the kind that she imagined made all the girls
roll over in the morning and spread their legs. He scrubbed a hand over his
face and blinked a few times, his eyes opening wider despite the bright sun.
She could get lost in those blue depths. They were light, so very blue and
clear that they reminded her of still waters.

 
“Damn, girl, do you ever sleep in?” He stepped
aside and she entered. He smelled like booze and sex, and she fought the bile
rising in her throat. It wasn’t that it was a particularly unpleasant scent,
but knowing he smelled like sex because of what he did last night, probably all
night long, made her queasy.

“Why
do you act surprised when I show up?” Abe wasn’t the type of guy to cuddle with
his “women” after sex. She had seen them do the walk of shame as early as seven
in the morning. That was, of course, when she used to come over earlier than
nine. She had since learned that, if she didn’t want to see, she needed to
start making later trips to his house.

“I’m
not surprised, sweetheart.” He sat at the kitchen table and rested his head in
his hands. “You know I’m glad to see you, always.” He lifted his head and
smiled at her. “Hangover and all.” He winked and she felt her insides melt. Of
course she didn’t let it show on the outside.

At
first she had been coming over to make sure he was alright and still alive. She
would make him breakfast and get him back to the land of the living, and then
it just kind of turned into their thing.

“I
take it Maxi’s gone?” She opened the fridge to get the ingredients for an
omelet.

“Who?”

She
glanced over her shoulder and cocked a brow at him.

“Oh,
you mean the girl that I fucked last night.”

Sophia
turned away from him just as she winced.

“Do
you have to be so damn crass?” She knew her voice sounded hard, but she
couldn’t help it. Jealousy was an ugly bitch.

“Sorry,
Kid. I kicked her ass out at the crack of dawn.”

She
was used to the way he was and a part of her felt really bad for those girls,
but those girls knew how Abe Rochester was. Everyone in three neighboring towns
knew exactly that he was the bad boy. Despite all of that they flocked to him
like bees to honey.

 
She exhaled and put the ingredients on the
counter before grabbing a knife and mixing bowl. He now rested his head on the
table, and she knew he had to feel like shit, although he had been relatively
fine when he’d left Tiny’s.

“You
drank more when you got home, didn’t you?” She started cutting up the peppers
and tomatoes and tossing them in the bowl. He didn’t answer right away but she
heard him sigh. She cut up the ham and threw that in as well. The eggs were
next and then a little splash of milk. She always added a little milk.

He
finally made an affirmative noise and she shook her head. After pouring the
eggs into the pan, she grabbed a spatula. When the omelet was done, she cut it
in half, poured him a full glass of water, and grabbed two ibuprofens. She set
the plate, glass, and two oblong brown pills in front of him and took her seat.
He looked up at her, and even in his very hung-over state, he was the most
handsome man she had ever seen.

“Go
on, stud, eat.” She tended to tease him about his promiscuous ways, but she did
it to compensate for how she really felt. It was just easier that way. He made
a face at the food and grabbed the water and pills first.

“You’re
way too good to me, Soph.” He popped the pills in his mouth and downed half the
glass of water. He looked into her eyes and stared at her for several long
moments. She started to get a little uncomfortable with the attention, but
before she called him out on being a creepy douche, he dropped his head.

“Yeah,
I know.” She smirked and started eating her omelet. “I know you feel like shit,
but you need some food in your stomach.”

He
glanced up at her and smiled before picking up his fork and eating. She wanted
to ask him why he slept around so much, but deep down she knew that Abe was
fucked up. After his parents died, something changed inside of him. He had been
young and ended up living with his aunt and uncle until he turned eighteen and
moved into his parents’ house. He had slept with girls in high school, but
nothing like he did now. It was sad and tragic to watch but the only thing she
could do was be there for him. They finished their breakfast in silence, all
the things Sophia wanted to say lodged in her throat.

****

Sophia
left Abe right after breakfast, knowing that he needed to sleep off the
alcohol. Sometimes they hung out until he had to go to work. She didn’t have to
go to the bar that night and they had a movie night planned, just her and Abe.
After looking at the clock, she grabbed her purse and headed out of her duplex.
Her neighbor, an older man named Theo, waved at her as he planted a row of
daisies. He wore a lilac-colored hat and floral printed gardening gloves.

The
trip from her duplex to Red’s Bike and Motor Shop was only a ten-minute drive.
Their town, Northon, was on the small side and certainly not what one would
consider serene. There were industrial buildings all around and the land that
was used for farming was set miles outside of city limits. That was where her
mother’s old house was, the one that Sophia had grown up in, and the one that
was shattered, broken and condemned.

When
Children’s Services found her alone and dirty, thanks to a call from one of the
neighbors, they had taken her away from the only home she had ever known. Sure,
her life had been broken, but that was all she had known. It hadn’t been too
long after that that she met Abe and the two of them became inseparable. Once
she graduated high school, she went to work at Tiny’s and had been there for
the past four years.

She
made decent money, especially with tips, but she certainly didn’t want to spend
the rest of her life dishing out shots and margaritas. There was a community
college in Asper, the next larger city over, and she had really thought about
taking a few classes. Sophia didn’t have a lot of dreams in life, but doing
something that took her out of this shitty town with bad memories was on the
top of her list.

She
pulled into the parking lot of Red’s and cut the engine to her little Honda.
The small building that served as the office sat to the left. Three huge
garages were attached to that, the bay doors wide open, classic rock blasting
all around. Motorcycles were lined up on the side along with trucks and a few
cars. A truck was up on a lift in the center of the garage, and she could see
Abe’s grease-covered, tattooed back underneath it. It was almost seven in the
evening, and she knew he’d be getting off soon.

Sophia
shut the car off and climbed out. Credence Clearwater Revival blasted through
the speakers and all her focus was on Abe. He looked so good, so delicious
covered in sweat and grease. Who would have thought the combination would be
arousing? Bangs and clanks of tools being placed back in the toolbox drowned
out some of the noise.

“Hey,
Sophia.” She turned and smiled at Seth Red, the owner of the body shop. He was
in his late thirties, very good-looking in a sort of rough and rugged biker
way. His dark hair hung around his chin and his goatee showed a few greys. The
white shirt and jeans he wore were covered in grease stains and holes but
looked good on him.

“Hey,
Seth.” He went to give her a one-armed hug, but she held her hands up in
warning. “Oh no, you don’t! You are all greasy and sweaty, and I got plans
tonight.”

His
grin was all straight, white teeth, which was a stark contrast to the grime
that covered his face. “I hope you plan on cleaning Abe up because he smells
worse than I do. And he’s uglier too.” She laughed and stared at Abe. He
hoisted himself out from under the truck. The rag he used to clean his hands
was already filthy.