I didn’t bother to respond as I all but dragged Sophie out of the venue.

“Whoa, Mitch. Slow down. My legs are half the length of yours,” Sophie laughed once we were outside.

I let go of her and shoved my hands in my pocket, feeling like an idiot. “Sorry. I was just feeling a little claustrophobic in there. It’s a small venue, isn’t it?”

Sophie frowned. “Yeah, it’s a lot smaller than some of the other places you’ve played. Are you sure—”

“You hungry? I could eat a horse,” I interjected.

Sophie’s eyes narrowed. “What’s going on, Mitch?”

I shrugged and started walking towards a small diner at the end of the block. “Nothing. I’m fine. Just hungry and a little tired, I guess.”

Sophie sighed from beside me. “I had hoped that by now this wasn’t still going to be an issue,” she murmured under her breath.

I knew what she was referring to and I felt a rush of my old friend guilt.

“Soph—”

“Let’s get something to eat. Maybe you’ll feel better after that,” she said brightly. But it was fake. So fake.

Just like your entire relationship.

Wait a minute! Where did that come from?

I didn’t think that, did I?

I looked down at my girlfriend of over a year and the guilt became overwhelming.

I cared about Sophie.

But I didn’t love her.

No.

Maybe.

I wasn’t sure.

I only had my feelings for Gracie to compare it to. And there really wasn’t any comparison. But I wanted to love Sophie. It would be so much better than this giant lump of balled up bullshit in my gut that Gracie had left behind.

Fuck feelings. They sucked.

We remained quiet until we were seated in the restaurant.

“So Maysie and the other girls are coming up this weekend. That’ll be…fun,” Sophie hedged, looking at the menu.

Sophie really was pretty with curly brown hair that fell to her shoulders and nice brown eyes. She had a sweet innocence that was appealing. She was quiet and on the shy side and made me feel as though she needed protecting.

It seemed I had a thing for the girls I felt the need to take care of.

I had to stop thinking about Gracie.

It would only lead to all sorts of trouble.

Crap.

Now I was thinking about Gracie.

Her smile.

Her laugh.

The way she rolled her eyes at my lame attempts at jokes.

The cute little birthmark shaped like a heart on the inside of her thigh…

Stop it, fuck face! Look at your nice girlfriend!

Sophie looked nothing like Gracie.

Gracie.

Messed-up-but-I-couldn’t-get-enough-of-her Gracie.

Cue the minor heart attack and need to upchuck all over the table.

Sophie cleared her throat and pushed hair out of her eyes. I remember how much I liked her in high school. She had been the first girl I had ever gone on a date with. I had been a total dork back in the day. Talking to girls left me stuttering and unable to formulate sentences. And Soph had been the new girl who had taken pity on the socially inept dweeb who wore tube socks way past when it was acceptable to do so.

It hadn’t been a relationship by any means, only a few dates. She let me kiss her and touch her boob once and then it had fizzled out. No messy break-up or tears. We just sort of stopped hanging out.

The truth was that before she came back into my life, I hadn’t thought of Sophie Lanier in years. Not until the night we ran into each other at Barton’s.

“Sure,” I said, staring so hard at the menu I’d have the damn thing memorized.

“Is something wrong, Mitch? You’re really tense?”

I forced my shoulders to relax and I looked over at Sophie and gave her, what I hoped, was a sincere smile.

“Like I said, I’m just hungry. You know I can be a real diva until I up my calorie intake,” I teased.

Sophie’s face darkened. “Is this about Gracie?” she asked quietly. Too quietly.

I feigned surprise. “Gracie? What are you talking about?” God, I sounded like I had sucked down helium.

Sophie sighed and turned her attention back to the menu. “I’ll be glad when this tour is over. I think everyone is a little frayed around the edges,” she murmured. I was glad the topic of Gracie had been sidelined for the time being.

Crisis averted.

“Yeah, this tour has been pretty draining. It feels like no matter how much our shows rock, it just isn’t good enough anymore. At one time our music was the only thing that mattered. Now it’s all about ticket sales and single downloads.”

“Yeah, well you didn’t honestly think being a rock star was a long-term career goal, did you?” Sophie laughed and I looked at her in surprise, shocked and a little hurt by her dismissal.

“No, we didn’t think that, but it’s something we’ve always loved doing. And how many people can say they make money doing something they’re passionate about?” I threw back, feeling myself get defensive.

Sophie shrugged, looking back at the menu. “Well you’re not exactly making a whole lot of money anymore, are you?”

“Ouch. Tell me how you really feel, why don’t you,” I snapped.

What the fuck was this?

Sophie laughed again and shook her head. “Don’t get so bent, Mitch. It’s just an observation. You’ve got to be sick of being on the road all the time. Maybe you should think of something else to do with your life since pretending to be The Rolling Stones isn’t really working out.”

“If being on the road sucks so much, you could always go home. I’m not keeping you here,” I told her.

Were we having a fight?

We never fought.

Sophie was quiet and agreeable most of the time, so I didn’t know where all this shit was coming from. Had she always felt like this?

The realization that she didn’t have any faith in my music was a shock even though she had never taken much of an interest in the band. I just assumed it wasn’t her type of music, which was fair enough. I still thought she respected what we were doing and what we had accomplished.

Sophie had been on the road with us for the past month. I had been a little surprised when she had mentioned wanting to come along for the last leg of our east coast tour, but I had been happy to have her along. Maysie was always with Jordan and Riley and Viv spent a lot of time with Garrett and Cole so it would be nice to have someone there for me.

But Sophie had never really gelled with the rest of the group. I knew she felt it. I felt it. The guys probably felt it too. So maybe that’s where all this was coming from.

“Why are you getting so mad?” Sophie asked, looking confused.

“I’m not mad,” I said through clenched teeth.

“Are you two ready to order?” the waitress asked, appearing out of nowhere. I was glad for the interruption though. Because my sweet, unassuming girlfriend had majorly pissed me off.

When we were finished giving our orders Sophie put the menu back and looked at me. “Do you want me to go home?” she asked sharply.

“I didn’t say that,” I muttered.

Why was I getting so annoyed with her?

Sophie was safe.

Sophie was constant.

She didn’t have issues or demons.

Sophie wasn’t complicated.

And I needed that right now.

“You didn’t order me anything? There goes your hand job later.” Cole body checked me as he slid into the booth beside me.

Sophie gave him a tense smile. “Hi, Cole.”

“Hey, Tits McGee,” he greeted, using a nickname he had given her after walking in on her in the bathroom as she was getting out of the shower.

“I’ll give her one thing, she’s got a nice rack,” Cole had said with a leer, closing the door as she screamed.

No matter how many times I tried to get him to stop using it, the nickname had stuck. I had a feeling Cole continued to use it because he knew how much it annoyed me and Sophie. He was a dick like that.

“Please don’t call me that,” Sophie huffed. Cole of course ignored her.