Caught Up in You by Sophie Swift Page A

that body come from? Had she been hiding it all along under those baggy sweatshirts? Or did that happen recently? Her legs are long and slender, her hip bones are just visible above the waistband of her loosely flowing, knee-length skirt. And her breasts look so perfect under that white tank top.
    No.
    You did not just think about Lia Smart’s breasts.
    That’s breaking pretty much every single unspoken rule in the gentleman’s handbook.
    After Alex delivers the news of our reunion, I watch Lia reach for a bottle of wine on the bar, pour herself a large glass and guzzle it.
    Lia? Drinking wine?
    The last time I saw this girl drink was when she was sixteen and I offered her a sip of my beer while Alex and I were lounging around the house during winter break. I laughed so hard at the face she made when she took that sip, I nearly shot beer through my nose.
    And now she’s downing wine like a Real Housewife of Eastbrook.
    I can’t help but stare as the liquid moves down her throat. I can’t help but remark at how dainty and feminine her neck is. How radiant her skin looks.
    Stop it, I command myself.
    This is Lia you’re talking about.
    And yet, she’s not Lia anymore. She’s someone else. Someone intriguing and mature and stunning.
    As she lowers the glass back to the bar, I notice the smudge of black ink on the side of her left hand and immediately feel a rush of relief.
    There it is.
    What I’ve been looking for.
    A lingering trace of the old Lia. The girl I used to know. The one who made fun of infomercials and people who dress their dogs in stupid costumes, and the desperate girls who go on The Bachelor .
    The girl who used to stay up late at the kitchen table drawing comic book characters in her sketchbook with black pen.
    That ink stain on her hand is exactly what I needed to see. To reassure me that she’s still in there. That not everything has changed.
    If I can just cling onto the memory of that Lia, I’ll be fine.  
    “I’m famished,” Alex says. “Let’s go. I made a reservation at Union Bistro.
    “Um,” Lia says quickly, a look of panic flashing across her face. “I kind of thought maybe we could eat here. You know, for old times’ sake.”
    But Alex scowls. “I’m not a fan of Italian food. I already texted Dad and told him to meet us at Union.”
    Lia bites her lip. “But I’m not sure I can just leave . You know, I kind of run the place now.”
    Alex lets out a cough of a laugh, which makes me cringe inside. She glances around the nearly empty restaurant. “I think they’ll manage without you.”
    I can see the internal war waging within Lia’s head. I recognize it only because it’s a war that often wages inside my own mind. The epic battle surrounding the question, “Is it worth the fight?”
    Lia clearly comes to the same conclusion I normally come to because her body seems to wither in defeat and she mumbles something about grabbing her bag and meeting us out front.
    As we head for the door, I glance briefly around the restaurant. It seems like forever since I’ve been here. It’s nice that Lia has managed to keep it afloat even after the whole fiasco with her and Alex’s mother.
    I’m just about to turn away when my eye snags upon a table in the far back corner. It’s set for three people and is far more decorated than the rest of the tables. Then I notice the white lilies in the vase—Alex’s favorite flower—and my chest clenches.
    I manage to catch Lia’s eye as she re-emerges from the back. I nudge my chin in the direction of the table. She seems to understand what I’m referring to but simply shrugs in response and follows her sister to the door.
    “Hey.” Lia stops and calls back to the only server in the restaurant. “Take the sixty-two dollars we made tonight and just split it between you and Blake.”
    Sixty-two dollars?
    That’s all they made? This place really has fallen apart since Marianne left.
    The server looks up from cleaning a table.